Site
Choose DK or FD. Player salaries, eligible roster slots, and available slates follow the selected site.
How It Works overviewHow to use the
NBA tool guide · about 8 minutes
How to use the
NBA DFS Optimizer.
Choose your slate, tell the optimizer how you want to build, and review the lineups it creates. Start with one small build and learn the controls as you go.
01
Choose the contest you’re building for.
Open the optimizer and match these three selections to your contest before editing players.
Style
Choose Classic for a multi-game slate or Showdown for a single game. Start with Classic for this walkthrough.
Active slate
Check the date, time, and slate type. Main, Turbo, and Night have different player pools.
Choose your site, style, and slate
Refresh data before your final build. NBA injury news and starting lineups change the slate quickly. Refresh the projections, review your saved edits, then build again. Your existing manual edits can remain after refreshing.
02
Build your pool for tonight.
A good pool gives you players you understand, enough salary flexibility, and options at every position. Start with a focused comparison, then fill the gaps your lineups need.
Start with A Projection Tier + A Value Tier.
Open NBA Projections and choose the correct site and Classic slate in Current. Start with ALL positions, All Games, and an empty search box. In Proj Tier, select A. In Value Tier, select A too.
The table now shows players who carry both an A projection grade and an A value grade. That brings strong projected scoring and salary efficiency into one focused research view. The filters narrow the table; they do not add players to My Pool or change an optimizer build.
Start your research with A Projection + A Value
What this example teaches
The captured Main slate narrows to nine players, priced from $6,900 to $7,900, with no shooting guards in the view. The group gives you several players to research, but it needs cheaper options and position coverage before it can support a complete DraftKings lineup.
A/A is the first pass. A lower-salary player can provide useful value without an A projection grade, while an expensive ceiling option can matter without an A value grade. Expand the comparison to answer those construction needs.
Check the minutes and role
Read projected minutes beside projection and salary. Check injury status, expected starting assignments, and minutes restrictions. A strong grade loses relevance when the workload behind it changes.
Fill salary and position gaps
Review each eligible position and your spending options. Clear the Projection Tier filter to explore A Value players at lower salaries. Clear the Value Tier filter to compare A Projection players with more expensive raw scoring. Then widen grades where the build still needs alternatives.
Match the pool to the contest
For cash, prioritize dependable minutes, role, and projected scoring. For GPPs, add ceiling, ownership, and players who support different constructions. Lower ownership needs a scoring case, and a popular player still needs to fit the lineup.
Save the players you want to build around.
Click + Pool beside each player you want to keep researching. Review the Core Plays page for additional Cash and GPP foundations and add selections there too. Core Plays uses its own qualification process; the A/A filter and Core labels answer different research questions.
Open My Pool to review salary, projected minutes, projection, value, and ownership together. Remove players whose role or price no longer supports your plan. Pool selections stay private and separate by site and slate.
Check the combinations, not just the names. Can the pool fill every required position under the salary cap? Does it include credible salary relief? For several lineups, are there enough alternatives to support your uniqueness and exposure settings? Having eight DK players or nine FD players does not by itself guarantee a legal Classic lineup.
In the optimizer, Boost My Pool increases priority while leaving the wider player pool available. Use Only My Pool restricts the build to your selections. Start with a small build and inspect what repeats before adding tighter rules.
Core badges are research context. Cash Core, GPP Core, and Cash + GPP Core labels match the Core Plays page for the selected site and Classic slate. Click a badge to read the research. Labels and view filters do not automatically lock players or change their projections.
Recheck before lock. Refresh the projections, revisit injury news and projected minutes, review your pool and any manual changes, then rebuild. A pool built earlier in the day should reflect the roles available tonight.
Your repeatable process: A/A first pass → check minutes and availability → fill salary and position gaps → match the contest → add to My Pool → build and review. Use Showdown’s separate CPT/MVP and FLEX pools when playing a single game.
Use the optimizer’s player controls.
Use position buttons, game cards, and search to find players. These controls change the rows you see; they do not remove the other players from the build. Use Exclude when you want a player out.
Read Proj and Own together
Proj is the scoring estimate used for the build. Own is expected field popularity, not your personal exposure. Sort the column headings to compare players.
Thumb preferences
Each step changes build priority by 5%, up to three steps in either direction. The fourth click clears it. A thumb up increases preference; it does not guarantee inclusion.
Lock or Exclude
Lock requires a player in every lineup. Exclude removes him from the build. Leave enough eligible players and salary flexibility to fill every roster slot.
Read the player controls and build settings
Projection edits and game logs
Click a player’s name to open his completed-game history. Use the game log alongside current minutes, role, injury news, and the matchup.
The Proj field is editable and includes your thumb preference. Adjust it when your research supports a different expectation. Reset player edits clears your player changes, including preferences, exposure edits, locks, and exclusions.
Use NBA Projections and Projected Lineups for the minutes and player context behind your choices.
03
Tell the optimizer how to build.
For your first pass, build a few lineups with simple settings. Review the result before adding restrictions. Every additional rule reduces the combinations available.
Lineups and Unique players
Lineups sets the requested count, from 1 to 20. Unique players controls the minimum player difference between lineups. More uniqueness creates more roster variation and can reduce projected points.
Min % and Max %
A player’s minimum requires inclusion in at least that share of the portfolio. A maximum limits inclusion. A 100% maximum allows a player in every lineup; it does not require it.
Global max %
Caps each player across the build. Player and position caps can make the effective limit lower. A player’s minimum must fit within those limits; check locks against global caps too.
Exposure in lineup counts
In a 20-lineup build, a 40% maximum allows a player in at most 8 lineups. In a 5-lineup build, every lineup represents 20%: a 50% maximum allows at most 2 lineups, while a 50% minimum requires at least 3. The counts below the inputs show how the percentage applies.
The other build settings
Min salary / Max salary: Define the spending range for each lineup. A high minimum removes salary-saving constructions. Leave it open until you have a reason to restrict it.
Projection randomness: Varies the projections used during lineup generation to explore different combinations. It is not a ceiling simulation or a guarantee of low ownership. The available range is 0–50%.
Position settings: Override exposure caps and randomness by position. Blank fields inherit the global setting. For multi-position players, the lowest eligible-position cap and randomness apply. These settings follow player eligibility, not simply the roster slot where a player lands.
Maximum players from one team: Limits same-team concentration in each lineup. NBA does not require an NFL-style quarterback stack; use team limits to express your construction decisions.
Max total ownership: Caps the sum of player ownership percentages in a lineup. It is not a duplication estimate or a probability of winning. Lowering the limit forces a different ownership mix and can sacrifice projection. The tool shows the value that leaves it uncapped for your selected roster.
Optional: use Groups for a specific construction rule
Open Groups, click Add group, name it, and select its members. Set Minimum and Maximum for the number of selected members allowed in each lineup. Matching minimum and maximum values require an exact count.
Choose Every lineup in When for an unconditional rule. Choose Only when [player] is used for a conditional rule. The trigger player is separate from the selected members and does not count toward the member minimum or maximum.
Example: select three players whose minutes depend on the same rotation decision and set minimum 0, maximum 1 to prevent using more than one together. Use the rule only when your research supports that relationship. Check that your groups show Ready before building.
Cash and GPP builds start with different research priorities. For cash, review minutes security, role, and projection. For tournaments, add ceiling, ownership, and the risk shared across your lineups. Randomness alone does not turn a cash build into a tournament portfolio.
04
Build, inspect, then export.
Click Build lineups. When the build finishes, check both the lineup cards and Portfolio exposures before downloading.
Review lineups, exposures, and export
Inspect each lineup
Review salary used, salary remaining, projected points, and the players together. Ask whether the construction reflects the slate and your research.
Review the whole portfolio
Check which players repeat and how often. Exposure measures your concentration; compare it with the risk you intended to take. Five different lineups can still depend on the same core.
Rebuild, then export
Change Next build exposures or other settings, then click Rebuild lineups. Export DK CSV or Export FD CSV downloads the completed portfolio for the selected site.
Edits do not update an existing portfolio automatically. “Previous build · edits pending” means the displayed lineups belong to the earlier build. Export stays disabled until you rebuild. Refreshing data also requires a new build.
Before uploading your CSV
Confirm the site, slate, lineup count, player availability, and contest entry limit. Use the site’s lineup upload workflow and inspect the imported lineups before submitting entries. Exporting a file does not enter a contest.
NBA news can invalidate the assumptions behind a completed build. Check late injury news and starting lineups, refresh data, review any manual overrides, and rebuild before lock when needed. This guide covers building and exporting; it does not promise automatic late swap.
A few useful answers
How does Showdown work?
Select Showdown and the correct game. Switch between FLEX and CPT on DraftKings or MVP on FanDuel to inspect that role’s salary, projection, and ownership.
Total min % / Total max % apply to the player anywhere in the lineup. CPT/MVP min % / max % apply specifically to the featured role. A featured-role maximum is part of total exposure, not additional exposure.
The Lock and Exclude controls follow the role currently displayed. Excluding someone at CPT/MVP still allows FLEX, and excluding FLEX still allows the featured role. Check both views to remove a player from both roles. Switching the view alone does not change selections.
Why did my build fail?
Read the displayed message, then check for conflicting locks, exclusions, exposure minimums above effective maximums, restrictive salary limits, group rules, or excessive uniqueness. A small pool combined with low exposure caps can leave too few appearances to fill the requested lineups.
Relax the rule tied to the error and rebuild. If there is no active slate or player pool, check site and style, then refresh after that slate’s data is available.
Does low ownership mean a better lineup?
No. Ownership describes popularity. A lower-owned construction needs enough scoring potential to justify the projection and reliability it gives up. Review ownership together with minutes, ceiling, salary allocation, and the rest of the lineup.
How do My Pool and Core labels work?
Use + Pool in NBA Projections, Core Plays, or the optimizer to save your research shortlist. Open My Pool to review and remove selections. Your pool is private to your account and separate by site, slate, and Classic/Showdown. Showdown keeps CPT/MVP and FLEX choices separate.
Boost My Pool applies the chosen thumb preference to your selected players. Use Only My Pool restricts the next build to the selected players and Showdown roles, while keeping your existing exclusions and exposure rules. Rebuild after changes.
Cash Core, GPP Core, and Cash + GPP Core badges match the Classic Core Plays page for the selected site and slate. Click a badge for research context. Core and My Pool view filters only change the table; labels do not lock, boost, or exclude anyone.
Will my edits be saved?
Player edits and build settings are stored in this browser for your user, site, style, and slate. Groups have their own save-status indicator. Check the status messages and review restored settings before each build; a new slate has its own settings.
Put your research into a build.
Choose the right slate, start with a small build, and review the concentration before adding more rules.