Welcome to the FanDuel NBA edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best FanDuel NBA lineup!
The purpose of this FanDuel NBA 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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Tonight is the final preseason slate for the NBA season so we get one last tune up before the real deal starts on Tuesday night! Thursday night was highly successful for Picks and Pivots as other than a late swap of Tim Frazier for the resting Goran Dragic, all our picks were locked and loaded and put up 298 FanDuel points on the night! For any of you who played Anthony Davis last night, we should all send him a thank you card!
The going in strategy for tonight is to keep an eye out for news around minutes as at this point many teams are using starters “regular minutes” as a tune up for the regular season and these are the spots we want to identify. One key-note – Charlotte and Miami are blacking on the tail end of back to backs and I would expect significant scratches due to rest so these may be spots to either fade or target late breaking value!
Friday’s Main NBA preseason action kicks off at 7:00PM EST with seven 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: Top Point Guard Plays
Kyle Lowry ($7,400) As I stated in the opening, I am looking to target players who will likely have their regular season allotment of minutes and the Raptors are an early game target I will look to have a lot of exposure to.
As a quick aside, tonight may be strategically a good night to weigh the early games a bit more in your roster construction as with 3 of the 7 games going off at 9pm EST or later, we run significant risk of post lock roster news that can sink your lineups. My strategy for tonight is to build one lineup around the early games and one lineup stacking the late games so that I can counter some late game risk with early game production across two separate entries.
Back to Lowry – over the last two games, Lowry has seen his production spike as he has played 20 and 29 minutes and put up 25 and 27 points in those starts. If the Raptors utilize this game as a dress rehearsal for the starters than locking in Lowry at this price point is an easy plug and play across all formats.
John Wall ($8,200) Sticking in the same game, this may be the game to target the Wizards star as he looks to get in his first extended game action prior to the regular season. Wall has yet to play over 24 minutes but is still averaging 11.3 points per game, 5.3 assists and 2.8 steals. If we can get confirmation that Wall will play over 25 minutes tonight, he makes for a great PG play to pair with Lowry in the early start games.
FanDuel NBA: Top Shooting Guard Picks
DeMar DeRozan ($7,300) Even with limited minutes during the preseason, DeRozan has been one of the most efficient and productive players and if we can get confirmation of extended minutes, becomes an absolute must play. DeRozan in only 19.3 minutes per game this preseason has averaged 18 points and 1.5 steals per game with no game less than 11 field goal attempts.
James Harden ($9,200) The one late game player I am willing to roll with regardless of minutes confirmation is James Harden as his preseason performance continues to reflect that this man may be the best fantasy basketball player in the NBA. Over 29.6 minutes this preseason, Harden is averaging 21 points, 10.8 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 1 steal per game. Are you fading that? Just look back at Thursday night at what a superstar can do as if you faded Anthony Davis, well….we would all like to thank you for padding our bankroll!
UPDATE: James Harden, along with Trevor Ariza, Clint Capela and Eric Gordon will NOT play tonight. Devin Booker ($6,900) makes for a great late game pivot or if you want to play it safe in the early games you can roll with Zach Lavine ($4,500) as part of a mini-Sota (get it) stack!
FanDuel NBA: Top Small Forward Picks
Kelly Oubre Jr. ($4,000) Now this pick is dependent on the health of Otto Porter (ribs) but assuming Porter sits out on Friday, Oubre is one of my favorite value plays as the starting SF for the Wizards. Oubre put up a stinker last time out so I am all about jumping back in here as others will likely be scared away but do not overlook the fact that in his previous start at SF, Oubre put up 15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 steals in 27 minutes which would far exceed his value at this minimum price point.
Andrew Wiggins ($5,400) Wiggins was a late “illness” scratch on Wednesday and considering I had him in every single lineup, it made for some difficult last-minute switches but my hope is Wiggins is back in the lineup tonight for a final dress rehearsal. According to reports, the illness was actually just allergies and he was back at practice on Thursday so the hope is we see Wiggins get a full complement of minutes.
In his two preseason contests, Wiggins has been the team leader in shot attempts with 14.5 attempts while racking up 20.5 points per game. Wiggins is a scoring dependent option but the price point is such that you can fit in the high-end stars easily around him while still locking in a player capable of scoring 20+ on any given night.
Frank Kaminsky ($4,700) If you had to guess who the Hornets preseason scoring leader is I assume Frank the Tank would not have been your first guess, but suprise – he is!
With Marvin Williams out with an injury, Kaminsky is playing all the minutes he can handle, averaging 28.7 minutes per game with 32+ in his prior two contests. Kaminsky is averaging 13.3 points and 6.3 boards a game and although there is risk with the Hornets coming off a game Thursday night, we should get lineup confirmation before lock and Kaminsky presents one of the best point per dollar values on the board with his extended minutes!
Gorgui Dieng ($5,000) The Twolves PF was a monster in his last game and a big reason for Wednesday night’s profits as his 19 point, 11 rebound and 4 block effort in only 23 minutes found him to be the top PF on winning GPP lineups.
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Again, I am looking to lock in early game lineups here with so much uncertainty and if Dieng is confirmed as the starting PF with normal minutes, he is a tremendous value at only $5k. The Hornets are coming off a game on Thursday night so this is a spot where the TWolves starters may be facing the JV lineup and could out up big time numbers even without full starter run!
Karl-Anthony Towns ($7,200) For the same reasons I am going back to the well with Dieng, I am ready to lock in KAT as my center on Friday night. Towns put up a monster 31 point, 9 rebound performance in only 24 minutes against the Grizzlies on Wednesday which was good for 44.8 FanDuel points. Even with “restricted” minutes the TWolves big men are showing they can do major damage and I am happy to roll them back out on Friday night!
Next: Is James Harden the top Fantasy Basketball Pick?
Best of luck in the final preseason contests tonight – Follow us on Twitter @FantasyCPR and on Facebook as we look to get you all the late breaking lineup news! We will see you back here for the regular season opener on Tuesday – enjoy your weekend!