The final grades for the 2016-17 NBA season are in and the winner is… FantasyTeamAdvice! FantasyTeamAdvice finished the season as the only expert with a DailyOverlay score over 5.0 as they provided solid picks all season long (81 days graded). Rounding out the Top 5 included DailyOverlay – Value Index, RotoGrinders Lineup Builder, FantasyLabs and RotoGrinders Consensus. Here are the complete Final Standings.
The DFS experts we grade are getting better and better with each passing year making our Consensus list a strong tool to determine who the best plays are. Our Projected Ownership Percentages are also becoming a great tool to determine who the popular plays will be to help you determine your contrarian GPP strategy each night. It was a great season with epic player performances and it should be an interesting NBA playoffs this season. Be sure to check out our MLB content for this season including the Industry Expert Consensus list, Value Index and On the Hill columns.
Here are the final grades…
Overall Leaderboard
Our grading for the NBA season is complete. You can view the full NBA Overall Standings here.
#1) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 5.08) is the head of the class for the 2016-17 NBA season taking over first place for good with seven weeks left. They provided strong picks all season and are deserving of the title.
#2) DailyOverlay – Value Index (Score: 4.963) rode a sensational final week of the season to rise up five places in the overall standing to finish in 2nd place by a fraction of a point. Our very own Stephen provided very good NBA picks for the last three months of the season.
#3) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder (Score: 4.958) finishes in third place overall and is the top optimizer on the NBA leaderboard this season. It is a strong showing for an optimizer that just looks at crunching projections to find an optimized lineup.
#4) FantasyLabs (Score: 4.85) makes a strong debut in our NBA expert grading with a 4th place finish utilizing their NBA Breakdown article. They were consistently in the Top 5 most of the season.
#5) RotoGrinders Consensus (Score: 4.84) holds onto a Top 5 finish providing solid options for DFS players all season.
The rest of the Top 10…
#6) DraftKings Playbook (Score: 4.79)
#7) RotoGrinders NBA Grind Down (Score: 4.75)
#8) DailyFantasyNerd (Score: 4.73)
#9) FantasyAlarm (Score: 4.66)
#10) DailyOverlay Industry Consensus (Score: 4.61)
The Daily Overlay Industry Consensus picks performed well again this season providing good options for DFS players to use to construct their lineups each day.
Top DK Points/$1000 Leaders
Combining the total DraftKings points for every player selected this season divided by the total salary of every player selected to get each experts DK Pts/$1000.
#1) FantasyWired (now PokerNewsSports) (5.269x value)
#2) DailyOverlay – Value Index (5.245x value)
#3) RotoGrinders Lineup Builder (5.240x value)
Week in Review
Monday (March 27)
Monday consisted of a six-game slate of NBA action. The experts had a great night with 11 out of 20 receiving a DailyOverlay score of 5.0 or higher.
Industry Consensus Picks
The Industry Consensus picks didn’t fare too well despite the strong performance by the experts finishing in 14th place out of 20 experts graded with a solid DailyOverlay score of 4.53.
A+ – Rudy Gobert, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook, Zach Randolph, Kristaps Porzingis, Anthony Davis, Derrick Rose, Nerlens Noel, Ish Smith, Cory Joseph, Rodney Hood, Jonas Valanciunas, Joe Johnson
F – Harrison Barnes, Kyrie Irving, Tony Parker
Top Experts of the Day
#1) Sportsline (Score: 9.00) tops the list receiving six “A+” grades out of their seven selections. Their top picks included Russell Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Joe Johnson, Kristaps Porzingis, Zach Randolph and Jonas Valanciunas.
#2) Rotowire (Score: 6.67) grabbed second place on the night with five out of nine selections receiving an “A+”. Key selections included Derrick Rose, Kawhi Leonard, Joe Johnson, Rudy Gobert and Zach Randolph.
Top DK Pts/$1000 Expert of the Day
Sportsline (6.62 DKPts/$1000) – Best pick: Zach Randolph (8.35x value)
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Darren Collison (RotoGrinders Lineup Builder)
A+ – Delon Wright (FanSided)
A+ – JJ Barea (FanSided)
A+ – Yogi Ferrell (FantasyPros)
A+ – Anthony Tolliver (FantasyPros)
Top DK Pts/$1000 Player of the Day
Cory Joseph (9.06x value) – DailyRoto, RotoGrinders NBA Grind Down, Scout Fantasy, FantasyGuruElite
Tuesday (March 28)
Tuesday night featured another six-game slate of NBA action. The experts had another big night with 18 out of 20 finishing with a DailyOverlay score of 5.0 or higher.
Industry Consensus Picks
The Industry Consensus picks couldn’t keep up with the experts again on Tuesday finishing in 14th place out of 20 but had a very strong DailyOverlay score of 5.84.
A+ – Karl-Anthony Towns, Ish Smith, Taurean Prince, Ersan Ilyasova, James Harden, Dennis Schroder, Brook Lopez, Stephen Curry, Jeremy Lin, TJ Warren, Robert Covington, Trevor Ariza, Gorgui Dieng, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kris Dunn, Paul George, Monta Ellis
F – Tim Hardaway Jr., Shawn Log, Nicolas Batum
Top Experts of the Day
#1) DailyOverlay – Value Index (Score: 10.00) tops the list with a Perfect 10 from their four selections of Dennis Schroder, Robert Covington, Brook Lopez and Ersan Ilyasova.
#2) DailyFantasyNerd (Score: 7.43) took home second place on the night with five “A+” grades from their seven selection including picks of Ish Smith, James Harden, Taurean Prince, Jeremy Lin and Ersan Ilyasova.
Top DK Pts/$1000 Expert of the Day
DailyOverlay – Value Index (6.71 DKPts/$1000) – Best pick: Brook Lopez (7.43x value)
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Malcolm Brogdon (DailyRoto)
A+ – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (Sportsline)
A+ – Tony Snell (FanSided)
A+ – Spencer Dinwiddie (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Jared Dudley (Scout Fantasy)
Top DK Pts/$1000 Player of the Day
Jared Dudley (9.61x value) – Scout Fantasy
Wednesday (March 29)
Wednesday consisted of a big slate of 10 games. The experts didn’t fare as well as they did on Monday and Tuesday with only two experts hitting the 5.0 DailyOverlay mark.
Industry Consensus Picks
The Industry Consensus picks finished strong however with a 4th place finish out of 20 experts graded with a 4.53 DailyOverlay score.
A+ – Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Dwight Howard, Blake Griffin, Steph Curry, Chris Paul, DeMarcus Cousins, DeAndre Jordan, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Nik Stauskas
F – Monta Ellis, Buddy Hield
Top Experts of the Day
#1 tied) Sportline (Score: 5.00) finishes at the top for the second time this week with four selections receiving a grade of “A” or better out of their eight selections. Top picks included a trio of Clippers with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
#1 tied) Rotowire (Score: 5.00) also gets their second Top 2 finish of the week with three “A+” grades out of their eight selections. Key selections were John Wall, Anthony Davis and Jonas Valanciunas.
Top DK Pts/$1000 Expert of the Day
Sportsline (5.67 DKPts/$1000) – Best pick: DeAndre Jordan (7.87x value)
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Jonas Valanciunas (Rotowire)
A+ – Thaddeus Young (FantasyPros)
Top DK Pts/$1000 Player of the Day
Kent Bazemore (9.50x value) – DailyRoto, DailyFantasyNerd
Friday (March 31)
Friday night brought us a huge 12-game slate of NBA action for the last grading period of the season. The expert finished on a high note with five experts receiving a DailyOverlay score of at least 5.0.
Industry Consensus Picks
The Industry Consensus finished near the middle of the pack in 12th place out of 20 experts with a DailyOverlay score of 4.48.
A+ – DeMarcus Cousins, Kemba Walker, Andre Iguodala, Justin Anderson, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, DeMar DeRozan
F – Greg Monroe
Top Experts of the Day
#1) DailyOverlay – Value Index (Score: 7.00) finishes in first place for the second time this week with three “A+” grade from their five selection. Top picks included Andre Iguodala, DeMarcus Cousins and Nikola Jokic.
#2) FantasyTeamAdvice (Score: 6.60) grabs second place with four out of five selections receiving a grade of “A” or better. Their picks were led by LeBron James and DeMarcus Cousins.
Top DK Pts/$1000 Expert of the Day
DailyOverlay – Value Index (6.57 DKPts/$1000) – Best pick: Andre Iguodala (8.42x value)
Sleepers of the Day
A+ – Troy Daniels (DailyRoto)
A+ – Aaron Gordon (DailyRoto)
A+ – Ron Baker (Scout Fantasy)
A+ – Kenneth Faried (FanasyPros)
Top DK Pts/$1000 Player of the Day
Aaron Gordon (11.57x value) – DailyRoto
Ownership Percentage Tracking
Here are the final Ownership Percentages for the 2016-17 NBA season. Using the number of experts that select a player is still a good indicator of the higher owned players. At every price level the ownership percentage rose along with the number of experts that recommended them. Shifting to an ownership percentage by price level model at the All-Star break also helped highlight that inexpensive players carry a higher ownership percentage than more expensive players, especially in Cash games.
Cash
| Count | $9k+ | $7k – $9k | $5k – $7k | $3k – $5k |
| 15 | 72.40% | 60.00% | 58.50% | 81.70% |
| 14 | 36.35% | 61.68% | 45.27% | |
| 13 | 48.67% | 48.89% | 48.02% | 75.30% |
| 12 | 40.32% | 41.86% | 40.17% | 29.70% |
| 11 | 34.35% | 36.64% | 42.85% | 46.09% |
| 10 | 28.45% | 30.61% | 34.90% | 54.79% |
| 9 | 22.31% | 25.61% | 24.14% | 34.72% |
| 8 | 19.15% | 19.21% | 21.84% | 33.23% |
| 7 | 13.82% | 18.65% | 18.93% | 25.75% |
| 6 | 14.48% | 13.48% | 15.69% | 23.07% |
| 5 | 10.21% | 11.57% | 10.41% | 19.23% |
| 4 | 8.81% | 8.26% | 9.23% | 14.35% |
| 3 | 5.14% | 6.70% | 6.35% | 9.74% |
| 2 | 2.52% | 4.31% | 3.85% | 5.03% |
| 1 | 3.00% | 3.16% | 2.57% | 2.55% |
GPP
| Count | $9k+ | $7k – $9k | $5k – $7k | $3k – $5k |
| 15 | 49.05% | 38.05% | 51.00% | 59.60% |
| 14 | 27.95% | 39.10% | 27.23% | |
| 13 | 34.70% | 34.56% | 34.65% | 50.20% |
| 12 | 31.41% | 31.36% | 26.45% | 23.00% |
| 11 | 26.34% | 26.88% | 28.99% | 32.09% |
| 10 | 21.76% | 22.14% | 26.09% | 33.11% |
| 9 | 19.80% | 20.85% | 19.92% | 24.49% |
| 8 | 17.95% | 17.96% | 18.60% | 23.52% |
| 7 | 13.75% | 16.39% | 16.93% | 18.44% |
| 6 | 14.00% | 12.96% | 14.06% | 16.23% |
| 5 | 11.17% | 11.94% | 11.05% | 14.46% |
| 4 | 10.29% | 9.43% | 9.40% | 11.21% |
| 3 | 7.67% | 8.30% | 7.59% | 8.32% |
| 2 | 4.60% | 5.68% | 5.67% | 4.99% |
| 1 | 5.24% | 4.70% | 4.31% | 2.75% |
Thanks for a great NBA season! Be sure to check out our MLB, NFL and Golf content until next NBA season rolls around.
