NBA is a nightly sport where minutes and late news decide most slates. DFS Hero supports it on DraftKings and FanDuel in classic and single-game formats. The Player Pool adds minutes, usage, and starter columns that no other sport gets.
Sites and formats
| Site | Format | Roster | Salary cap |
|---|---|---|---|
| DraftKings | Classic | PG, SG, SF, PF, C, G, F, UTIL (8 players) | $50,000 |
| DraftKings | Showdown | CPT, UTIL, UTIL, UTIL, UTIL, UTIL (6 players) | $50,000 |
| FanDuel | Classic | PG, PG, SG, SG, SF, SF, PF, PF, C (9 players) | $60,000 |
| FanDuel | Single-game | MVP, UTIL, UTIL, UTIL, UTIL, UTIL (6 players) | $60,000 |
Slot rules that matter:
- DraftKings G takes a PG or an SG. F takes an SF or a PF. UTIL takes any position.
- The CPT and MVP slots score 1.5 times the player's points and cost 1.5 times the salary.
Team and game limits:
- DraftKings classic needs players from at least 2 games.
- FanDuel classic allows at most 4 players from one team and needs at least 3 teams.
- Showdown and Single-game allow at most 5 players from one team.
The Player Pool
NBA adds these columns to the grid:
| Column | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Start | A green check for a confirmed starter, a yellow circle for a projected starter, a gray X for a bench player. Classic slates only. |
| Vegas | The game's betting line and total. |
| Mins | Projected minutes. You can edit this cell. |
| FPPM | Fantasy points per minute. |
| USG | Usage rate. |
When you edit Mins, DFS Hero recomputes My Proj as minutes times FPPM and keeps Projection Source on My Projection. This is the fastest way to react to a late scratch: raise the minutes of the players who gain the role.
The Filters popover adds a Player Status section with Confirmed Starter, Projected Starter, and Non-Starter, and value filters for Minutes, FPPM, and Usage. A player with more than one position, for example PG/SG, gets a dropdown in the Pos column so you can force one slot.
Build Settings
Sport Rules
Open Build, then expand SPORT RULES on the Basic tab.
| Control | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Center Per Team | Allows only one center from a team in a lineup. | Off |
| UTIL Position | Limits the UTIL slot to the positions you pick: PG, SG, SF, PF, C (DraftKings classic). | Off |
Min Unique Players goes up to 7 on DraftKings and 8 on FanDuel.
Stacks
NBA uses Team Stack rules only. Each rule sets a Stack Size, an optional Max exp %/team, and a For Teams list. Showdown and Single-game slates use the Showdown Distribution table instead. No stack is on by default.
Min/Max
On classic slates, MAX PLAYERS PER TEAM and GENERAL PER TEAM default to a maximum of 7 on DraftKings, the most the site allows, because a lineup needs players from at least 2 games. FanDuel classic caps at 4 per team. On both sites the setting can only go lower. The Groups tab's metric filter adds Minutes for NBA.
Features that apply
| Feature | NBA support |
|---|---|
| Late Swap | Classic slates on both sites. |
| StackIQ | Not available. |
| Game Sim | Classic and single-game slates on both sites. |
| Hero Chat pivots | Yes, on the Power plan. |
Stack shapes
NBA stacks are smaller than football stacks. A sharp GPP build pairs 2 or 3 players from a fast-paced game with a high total, or 2 players from a team that just lost a starter to injury. A Team Stack rule with Stack Size 2 and a For Teams list of the teams with the best matchups is the common shape. Cash lineups skip stacks and take the best value per slot.
Tips
- Sort by Optimal and then check Mins for every player near the top. A projection built on 34 minutes is only as good as the minutes.
- Use the Player Status filter to show only Confirmed Starter before you build a cash lineup. Set the pool to the visible players with Pool = visible.
- After a late scratch, edit Mins for the players who gain the role instead of editing projections one by one.
- In a large GPP, raise Min Unique Players to 3 or 4 and use Moderate Smart Randomness. NBA pools are short, so lineups repeat fast without it.
- On a slate with an early game, keep the late games in mind for Late Swap. Re-optimize after the early lock can replace a player who was ruled out late.
- On FanDuel, watch the 4 per team cap. A 3-player stack plus a value play from the same team is the limit.
Related
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