FanDuel NBA: Picks and Pivots
Welcome to the NBA edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best FanDuel NBA lineup! The purpose of this column is to first identify key building blocks that can be used for any roster construction and then identify pivot points to help differentiate your lineup in hopes of a big payday!
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Typically, many fantasy basketball players will shy away from diving into preseason action but as we inch closer and closer to the regular season tip-off this is a great way to start to get your exposure to the NBA!
Playing Preseason DFS is an entirely different animal as the minutes and roster constructions can fluctuate wildly and its important to keep up on late breaking news before lineups lock. However, one common misconception is that we need to avoid starters and focus on the unknown bench players to take down a pay day.
For reference, here is the winning roster from Tuesday Night’s $1 Single Entry FanDuel Tournament:
- Damian Lillard
- Goran Dragic
- Victor Oladipo
- Jordan Clarkson
- Evan Turner
- Robert Covington
- Julius Randle
- Zach Randolph
- Hassan Whiteside
Similar to Monday night’s results, we see that the winning roster is comprised of superstars and known NBA starters who put up solid numbers all around while Mr. Whiteside went off (as expected)! So what does that prove? We do not have to shy away from the stars who may only get 20-25 minutes, in fact at this point in the preseason that is exactly who we want to target!
Wednesday’s Main NBA Pre-Season action kicks off at 7:30PM EST with four games on the main slate and no shortage of superstars to choose from. Without further ado – let’s get into our top picks for the day!
FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots – Top Point Guards
PG – Elfrid Payton ($5,000): Payton is expected to make his preseason debut on Wednesday against the Spurs after missing the first two exhibition contests with a hip injury. The Magic are one of my favorite teams to target on this slate as Frank Vogel has already come out and said that Payton will play “alot” on Wednesday night. As the day goes on hopefully more clarity will come out around how many exact minutes we can expect Payton to get, however with this being the first game for their star point guard with a new cast of teammates, I expect Vogel will look to give Payton extended run to increase the chemistry prior to the regular season kick-off.
PG – Emmanuel Mudiay ($5,900) Mudiay’s production has been slow to surface thus far however there is no question that Mudiay’s role in this offense is a focal point and when building a preseason roster, I am looking for safety in minutes and offensive opportunities. Mudiay is averaging 25 minutes per game, over 11 shot attempts and nearly 4 three-point attempts per game. Mudiay is only averaging 8.3 ppg due to a sub 30% FG percentage and has hit on .091% of his threes. The opportunities are there for Mudiay, if he can find his stroke on Wednesday we could be looking at a big time GPP performance.
FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots – Top SG
SG – Will Barton ($5,400): Get to know Will Barton as he is one of the best NBA FanDuel tournament plays due to his ability to go off on any given night. Thus far in the preseason, Barton has averaged a team high 28.7 minutes per game and a team high 12.7 field goal attempts per game while racking up almost 16 points per contest. Barton should continue to be a big part of this offense and makes for a great play at the always tough to fill SG position!
SG – Rodney Hood ($5,300) Hood disappointed us last game but I am going back to the well on Wednesday with the Jazz shooting guard. Hood is averaging the most minutes played per game on the team and is putting up 9 shot attempts per contest. With the news that Gordon Hayward will be out with an injury, Hood will become the focal point of the offense and I always love to target players who burned you (and others) last time out as you may get them at a lower than expected ownership percentage!
***Update: Rodney Hood and Derrick Favors have been ruled out tonight! With Hood out, I will look to lock in Devin Booker. Booker is going to be very chalky but without Hood available, Booker becomes a safe core play. Booker is averaging 22 points per game and with the Suns offense funneling through him, he is an easy plug and play!
FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots – Top SF
SF – Paul George ($8,500) The Small Forward position is absolutely loaded with top end talent on this slate so this is certainly the place to burn your salary and I am happy to start with Paul George. George is averaging 24 minutes per game and after sitting out Saturday should be well rested in this game. He did miss practice on Monday with an illness so if he is confirmed to miss this game, pivoting to Kawhi Leonard ($7,900) is an easy switch as Kawhi has put up 17,14 and 20 points in his last three contests in limited minutes!
***Update: George appears doubtful for tonight due to illness which would put Glenn Robinson III in a nice spot, especially with C.J. Miles out as well. My preference is still to pivot to Kawhi at the top of the salary range but Robinson is a nice salary saving pivot!
SF – Giannis Antetokounmpo ($8,400) I will be honest, I really want to play him every night but typing his name out is exhausting! The Greek Freak is set to take over as the point-forward for the Bucks this season and with the offense essentially running through him, he should put up consistently solid numbers across the board. Giannis is a multi-category contributor and assuming he continues to see around 25 minutes per game, he is an easy plug and play at this spot!
FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots – Top PF and C
PF – Aaron Gordon ($4,600) Aaron Gordon, much like Elfrid Payton, will make his season debut on Wednesday and Frank Vogel as already confirmed that Gordon will get significant minutes in this contest. Gordon is one of the most dynamic young players in the game and will be playing more small forward this season with the addition of Serge Ibaka to the Magic and I am interested to see how playing on the wing is able to suit this high flying talent!
PF – Jabari Parker ($6,100) Parker has been very impressive so far this season, putting up 17 points per game while playing nearly 25 minutes a contest! In the second half of last year, Parker put up 18.9 points per game and over 6 boards and 1 steal and with Khris Middleton out with injury we should expect Parker to continue to expand his offensive game in this Bucks rotation.
C –Karl-Anthony Towns ($8,000) Towns let us down on Monday playing only 21 minutes and scoring 4 points, but this is the same player who put up 20 and 10 in his first preseason contest over the weekend! There are a variety of center options that are viable on this short slate but I would argue that none have the upside of the big KAT and I am happy to lock him in and hope that many will be scared away by his last outing!
Next: Is James Harden the top Fantasy Basketball Pick?
Good luck tonight and keep an eye out during the day for late breaking news on starting rosters and pivot as needed!