A couple weeks ago, I posted an article with interactive team graphs that showed player correlations for all NBA players who average at least 15 minutes per game. There were some instructive findings, and we’ve since discussed those on our podcasts, in our breakdowns, and in other pieces, like Bill Monighetti’s excellent DFS scouting report on James Harden.
I’ve been asked quite a bit to update these graphs with current data, so here you go:
Last piece I discussed cash-game implications with Harden and the Rockets. Here I quickly want to touch on some tournament findings. Let’s take the correlation graph for the Minnesota Timberwolves:
And let’s say you were very high on Karl-Anthony Towns last night after seeing him rate so highly in our NBA Player Models and seeing his large home/splits:
Per the NBA Trends tool, Karl-Anthony Towns has sizable home/away splits this season: https://t.co/SGxhCHPYDt pic.twitter.com/kSLc4GcYKl
— FantasyLabs (@FantasyLabs) January 9, 2017
The player who has the highest correlation with Towns this season has been Ricky Rubio. Perhaps this is no surprise, but Rubio also has noticeable home/away splits:
Rubio had struggled going into last night, failing to reach 28 DraftKings points in five straight games. Then, in a tough matchup against the slow-paced Mavericks, Towns — at home — went for 62.75 DK points on 34 real points and 11 rebounds. Rubio? He had perhaps his best game of the season, going for 51.75 DK points thanks to 13 real points and a whopping 15 assists. Per NBA.com, 73.3 percent of Town’s shots were assisted last night. If you were high on Towns, there was also reason to be intrigued by Rubio in tournaments.
For what it’s worth, Towns was 33.6 percent owned in the DK $500,000 Four Point Play with 147,058 entries. Rubio? Only 7.3 percent. And in the winning lineup.
Enjoy perusing the graphs above: There are a lot of interesting correlations to be found and exploited in tournaments.
