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DraftKings daily picks: Fantasy basketball lineup-January 2

By Zachary Thompson

Dec 31, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) takes a shot by Indiana Pacers guard C.J. Miles (0) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Milwaukee defeats Indiana 120-116. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 31, 2015; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Michael Carter-Williams (5) takes a shot by Indiana Pacers guard C.J. Miles (0) at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Milwaukee defeats Indiana 120-116. Mandatory Credit: Brian Spurlock-USA TODAY Sports /
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My upgraded 2016 DraftKings daily picks can help you get off to a strong start to the weekend with a big Saturday night of DFS Fantasy basketball.

December 25, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) shoots the basketball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) in the third quarter of a NBA basketball game on Christmas at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 89-83. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
December 25, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) shoots the basketball against Cleveland Cavaliers guard Kyrie Irving (2) in the third quarter of a NBA basketball game on Christmas at Oracle Arena. The Warriors defeated the Cavaliers 89-83. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

The NFL is closing out its regular season tomorrow, but the NBA regular season is in full swing. After celebrating the New Year yesterday, I’m back with my DraftKings daily picks to help you assemble your DFS fantasy basketball lineup for tonight’s schedule.  The NBA has a pair of afternoon games on the 11-game schedule for the day, so I’ll focus on the nine games taking place tonight that make up the main competition on DraftKings.

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As we start the new year, we’re going to use some new designations to help you understand my selections a little bit better in both my DraftKings daily picks and my companion FanDuel daily picks available each morning. Each of my selections will be ranked on a scale of one to five stars. Picks that I give five stars (∗∗∗∗∗) are players that you almost have to own and that I have no reservations about owning at their price.  Players that get four stars (∗∗∗∗) are players that I think are strong picks to build your roster around.  Three-star players (∗∗∗) are middle-of-the-road solid picks who are fairly reliable to produce a good game. Picks receiving two stars (∗∗) are high-risk, high-reward players who do offer enough upside to be in my picks, but also have a significant risk factor that makes them dangerous.  One star (∗) players are picks that are the best option around that price point, but who I don’t think are great options.  I would take any one-star player over any option not in my picks, but they aren’t picks that I would build my roster around. As part of my new ranked coverage, my plan is to track the points-per-dollar return from each of the categories in the coming month and report how many fantasy points are returned for each star-level of picks. If you have any feedback on the new star system or any other formatting changes that would be helpful to you, feel free to reach out on Twitter or in the comments section at the bottom of the page.

The NBA schedule for tonight is a pretty solid one with nine games starting at 7:00 or later making up the bulk of the DraftKings competitions.Most of today’s opponents know each other pretty well and are meeting for at least the second time this season.  There are a few exceptions to that with the Hornets-Thunder, Bucks-Timberwolevs, and Sixers-Clippers providing some interconfertnce action.  Most of the teams are familiar foes though including the Rockets and Spurs, the Nuggets and Warriors, the Pelicans and Mavs, the Cavs and Magic, and the Pacers and Pistons.  Past history against the team players will face is one factor to consider in tonight’s nine games.

With 18 teams in action, there are lots of different ways to build your roster for this Saturday night. To see the players I think are best set up to succeed, scroll through my DraftKings daily picks on the following slides where you will find a slide for high-salary options and a slide for high-value options at each position. On each slide, you’ll find at least two players with a few extras thrown in wherever possible. I base my picks on the current form of each player and the positional matchups each player will face.  To see how I’m putting together the best of my picks into my lineup for tonight’s contests, scroll to the last slide of the post where you’ll find a pair of FanDuel lineups that I’m putting money on tonight.

In this post, all salary references and references to “fantasy points” refer to FanDuel pricing and scoring.  If you are looking for similar coverage specifically for DraftKings, check the box above for related posts or find the latest on our fantasy basketball hub.

If you have any questions about my picks for today or any of our Fansided fantasy coverage, you can leave them at the bottom of the page in the comments section.  For an even quicker response, you can almost always find me on Twitter @FansidedFantasy. Remember, there are no late lineup adjustments allowed on FanDuel since the whole roster locks when the first games get underway at 7:00. Make sure to check before then on any players dealing with injuries, and I’ll let you know on Twitter if I adjust my lineup before tipoff.

If you find my picks and analysis helpful for today and would like to check out my daily posts each morning, the easiest way to find the FanDuel daily picks is to drop a bookmark on our fantasy basketball hub or follow on Twitter where I’ll tweet out the links each day when my picks go live.

Let’s start the first edition of the 2016 FanDuel daily picks with these expensive point guards.

Next: High Salary PG

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