Fantasy basketball hasn’t been fun to play for years now. You can read more about the reason for that here. Long story short, the game on the court has evolved while the fantasy version has not. On the other hand, DFS basketball has usually been okay. However, it is getting stuck in a quagmire of DNPs and rest days.
When the NBA went to an injury designation system similar to the NFL, it was an attempt to provide more clarity on an area that had very little regulation. You literally had no idea about small injuries that would require a player to miss a game here or there during the regular season.
However, the NFL has teams submit their active rosters 90 minutes before game time. As we know, not all active players see the field, but at least you have time to adjust your daily fantasy lineups accordingly. Injury announcements in the NBA just sort of happen whenever.
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Look no further than the December 3rd contest between the Milwaukee Bucks and Toronto Raptors. Giannis Antetokounmpo was declared out six minutes before tip-off. Basically, everyone was screwed apart from those hardcore players and those DFS bot account.
But this issue goes beyond that annoyance. DFS basketball is now stuck in a quagmire of DNPs and rest days. You never really know who is going to play. It often feels like half the available players have some sort of injury designation. And then there are others who don’t even take the court, instead earning the ‘DNP – Coach’s Decision’ status in the box score.
DFS basketball isn’t fun for casual players anymore because of this. If you aren’t following everything closely, the lineup you submit will be total junk. That’s lame.
It is also lame that so many minor injuries are stopping players from suiting up. The Bucks, Dallas Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets have each started 10 different players this season. The Miami Heat have started nine as have the Sacramento Kings and Chicago Bulls. Good luck setting a half-decent DFS lineup without closely monitoring Twitter for updates all day.
At the end of the day, the NBA should require teams to announce active players at least an hour before tip-off. Considering just how much money the league and teams are raking in from the likes of FanDuel, DraftKings and gambling companies, it is the least they could do.
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