FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks

As you recall, SBNation has partnered with FanDuel this season to give our readers a chance to see what is the latest breaking trend in the fantasy basketball industry, Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS).

Even though this is a sponsored post with affiliate links, all of the opinions in this post are my own. And as an FYI, FanDuel gave me some cash to play its daily fantasy games.

The excellent thing about daily fantasy sports, and especially fantasy basketball, is that it's a new game every day. No worries about injuries, deadbeat owners in your league, etc. It's just day after day of heart pounding, game following excitement.

I am taking you guys through a season of NBA games from the daily fantasy point of view, complete with tracking my every day wins and losses. When will I bust out and lose it all? Come back and find out!

What Happened Tuesday?

Eric Bledsoe.

Bledsoe came into the game being the most consistent of all the Suns players. He left with multiple Daily Fantasy Support groups filling up wondering what happened as the guard finished with a season low in minutes played and only 8.5 fantasy points.

On a night when LeBron scored the lowest point total in a very long time and Coach Thibs in Chicago decided Mike Dunleavy should also take a seat on the Bulls bench against the Magic, it was a death knell, once again, to our cash future. If Bledsoe had even delivered 50% of what he normally does and scored a below-average 20FP, we win all games. As it was, he didn't and we didn't. Our beatdown goes on.

It's a good demonstration on why submitting a single lineup for multiple games isn't always a good move. Having a lineup that swapped Anthony Davis for LeBron and Kobe Bryant for Bledsoe would've cashed easily given the excellent other values (Jimmy Butler, Jordan Hill, Ed Davis) that did come across for us last night.

Bottom line is we're 2-17 in the money (btw, that's still, well, what's a word that's more awful than brutal, because that's what I am right now), and down $16.20 overall for a bankroll of $33.80.

Going Broke Pace: Veteran's Day.

Wednesday's Lineup:

We are into one tourney tonight and one $2 50/50 game:

Here is my lineup for tonight for the 50/50 game:

Here is my lineup for the tournament game:

I am obviously on the highest scoring game of the night, the Clippers/Warriors battle. The Warriors are sneaky defensive so far under Kerr, but the Clips aren't, therefore the Warriors stack of Curry/Thompson/Bogut, all of who should be able to clear their value number tonight.

I love Rondo in the up-tempo Boston offense and playing against the Raptors who are playing their fourth game in five days. Channing Frye goes against the Sixers, because they're the Sixers and they don't particularly like to defend the three point line, which is where Frye earned his free agent contract with the Magic. Patterson didn't play extensively in the entirety of this four-games-in-five-nights stretch, so he should be a good play against the Sixers, especially since Jonas Valanciunas is likely to miss tonight's game.

As for the Hawks/Spurs game tonight, the Hawks do not fare well in San Antonio historically, so I am betting even the value-friendly number Kyle Korver is carrying is in risk. I do, however, believe in disruptive ultra-talented players against the Hawks, so therefore the faith in Kawhi Leonard.

Hawks fans might be surprised I am rostering Joe Johnson, but his number is very reasonable and the Nets/Timberwolves game might be a sneaky high scoring ballgame, so Johnson can make value in this one.

LeBron obviously hates me and everyone in #DFS, but we're banking on a comeback game against the Jazz, who are, so far, the second worst defense in the league.

As always, I am very interested in hearing from others in the comments area about what they are doing in DFS and if you have any questions, feel free to chime in! Congrats to GG, a regular poster, for winning $3.00 at FanDuel last night. We may have to have him write these if I bust out before the week is out.

Jason Walker is the Managing Editor for Peachtree Hoops and is an avid fantasy sports player in both seasonal and daily sports leagues. You can read other fantasy related items at his site dedicated to such things, RotoAdvice.com and hit him up on Twitter @JasonWalkerRoto.

How to Play and The Rules of Engagement:

The way that FanDuel works is as follows:

1. Head over to FanDuel today, register and check out the NBA games they have running.

For example: One of the NBA games they have for pay is a $5 entry, 100 first place tourney.

2. Once you enter, you set a lineup based on a salary cap of $60K and enter 2 PG, 2 SG, 2 SF, 2 PF and a Center (yes, Horford is considered a center).

3. Once your cap-friendly lineup is complete, click Enter and BOOM!, the fun begins!

Now, a bit of bad news. Here are specific rules. They include this: "In order to deposit money to play paid entry games you must be able to represent and warrant that you are not a resident of any of the following states: Arizona, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana or Washington."

But there are still free games on the site, in which you can take part if you are from those states, and I know most of our readers don't fall into this category, but if you do, you can still have some fun!