§ NBA — The record
Each projection is saved before the game tips off and never edited. After the game it is graded against the box score, players who did not play included. The good nights and the bad ones stay on the page.
All three methods are scored on the identical 932 players, so none of them gets an easier test. Lower error is better. The baseline to beat is simply the player's DraftKings season average.
| Method | MAE (pts) | Bias (pts) | Correlation |
|---|---|---|---|
| This model | 8.43 | +2.44 | 0.70 |
| Model without injury logic | 8.34 | +2.27 | 0.71 |
| DraftKings season average | 8.25 | +1.55 | 0.70 |
MAE is the average miss in fantasy points. Bias is the average of projection minus actual, so a positive number means the method ran high. The 80% range is the model's floor-to-ceiling band; it should contain the actual score about 80% of the time (973 players here).
Minutes. Projected minutes missed by 6.1 on average, against 5.9 for a plain recent average (973 players).
Availability. Of 695 players projected for 20+ points, 11% did not play: 8% of those with no injury tag, and 82% of the 28 listed as questionable or doubtful. A projection for someone who sits is graded as a miss.
Confirmed lineups. A DraftKings lineup flag existed before tip-off for 56% of projections. Of the 258 players flagged as starters, 100% started, and 100% of players who started had been flagged.
Each night the model picks its best points-per-dollar plays. A pick counts as a hit when the player returns 5x salary or more; a pick who does not play counts as a miss. The comparison picks use the same rule on DraftKings season averages.
| Picks by | Picks | Hit rate | Avg. actual pts |
|---|---|---|---|
| This model | 130 | 22% | 13.1 |
| DraftKings season average | 130 | 46% | 23.7 |
Rule: top 10 per slate by projected points per $1k (min 15 projected); a hit is 5x salary or more; a pick who did not play counts as a miss.
| Date | Players | Model MAE | DK avg. MAE | Value picks | Hit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-24 | 167 | 7.85 | 8.92 | 30 | 23% |
| 2026-10-23 | 279 | 8.21 | 8.74 | 30 | 13% |
| 2026-10-22 | 39 | 8.77 | 8.97 | 10 | 20% |
| 2026-10-21 | 384 | 9.10 | 7.92 | 40 | 18% |
| 2026-10-20 | 104 | 7.13 | 7.04 | 20 | 45% |
The full record, one row per graded projection with its save time, is published as scorecard.json so you can recompute every figure above. Last updated October 25, 2026. Model: v1 (2026-10-07): EWMA minutes + absence-band correction x 30-game points/minute.
This is a research record, not a promise of results. DFS involves risk, and a model that is accurate on average can still lose money.