FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots November 3
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!
For those of you that are new to Picks and Pivots, we will go through the season tracking trends in this space by looking at the winning GPP lineups each day.
One of the most basic questions when starting out the NBA season is how many points should I be targeting for tournament entries? A good rule of thumb is that you want your players to exceed 6x their salary so on a $60k team salary you are looking for 360+ points. If you spread that out over a roster of 9 players, that is an average of 40 points per player.
A good rule of thumb is that you want your players to exceed 6x their salary so on a $60k team salary you are looking for 360+ points. If you spread that out over a roster of 9 players, that is an average of 40 points per player.
Now it is unreasonable to expect every player to hit that target, especially when you are utilizing value plays but remember that is the average you need over the course of your roster!
To start the year, I would simply build your roster with the simple 6x rule in mine and do the math quickly. Can I see player X hitting 6x their salary? For example, LeBron James is priced at $9,600 so in order to return value he would need to exceed 57 points.
This is not a hard and fast rule, but as we go through the season I will track the trends each night to understand the target multiplier we should use as our baseline.
Over the first 8 slates, we have seen the average winning GPP score at 369.7 a night which means we have needed 6.2x value to win big!
Thursday’s Main NBA action kicks off at 7:00PM EST with five 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 Guards
Russell Westbrook ($12,200) On a short slate I do not see any way you can even think about fading Westbrook in this spot as he gets a game against Golden State with a massive 223 combined team total which is by far the highest of the night.
The stats are well-documented, Westbrook is averaging a triple-double to start the year and racking up 68.6 FanDuel points per game. Do not try to get cute here, this is a must play – just lock in the $12.2k and move on!
Kris Dunn ($4,900) Point Guard is probably the easiest spot to build your roster construction as you have the unquestioned stud at the top and the elite value near the bottom. Dunn stepped into the starting PG spot for Minnesota on Tuesday and responded with 30.8 FanDuel points (6.2x value).
Dunn was able to put up 10 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals which shows you the kind of all-around game that the impressive rookie has. Many gamers took a wait and see approach on Dunn in his first game and after a great outing and this being a short slate, I would expect he will be highly owned. However, considering Dunn only took 7 seven shot attempts in that game I believe there is still significant upside at this price point and I will lock Westbrook-Dunn into all my lineups on Wednesday!
FanDuel NBA – Top Shooting Guards
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($9,700) Looking over this slate, the roster construction certainly has a but more stars-scrubs feel to it as we have the ability to lock in 2-3 studs and balance them out with a few select value plays. Giannis is not going to be priced under $10k much longer the way he is performing as he is averaging 47 FD points per game which is the third highest of any player on this slate. ‘
So far this season Antetokounmpo is averaging 23.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal per game while leading the team in usage as their point-forward. The shooting guard spot is ugly on this slate so paying up for the clear-cut best option will allow you to not only lock in a safe floor but give you exposure to one of the best multi-category contributors on the slate!
If you have the salary, the $5k-$6k range has a variety of solid options including Zach Lavine and Evan Fournier at $6,000 so if you want to fade Giannis you can go with those two options in a more balanced approach.
If you are looking to go stars/scrubs, I will tell you that the low-end of the SG spectrum is UGLY and we may need to keep an eye on the news to see if any cheap plays emerge. Ben McLemore ($3,500) may be the best of the bunch at least initially as he is getting guaranteed minutes(18-26) over his last three games and is tasked with being one of the key scoring options on the Kings second unit.
FanDuel NBA – Top Small Forwards
Kevin Durant ($9,700) Outside of Westbrook, no player on this slate has averaged more points than Kevin Durant. Even with a pedestrian 37 FD points in Tuesday’s blowout, Durant is still averaging 52.3 FD points on the season.
As I noted in the opening, this Golden State-OKC game has a massive 223 total and I want to ensure I have exposure to the top stars from both of these squads as my late night hammer. The price point remains under $10k for Durant and he is an easy plug and play in all lineups at this price and in this match up.
Tony Snell ($3,800) After coming over from the Bulls, Snell had his best game last time out as a member of the Milwaukee Bucks. Snell racked up 13 points and 10 rebounds in 33 minutes which was good for 27 FD points which exceeds 7x value at this price point.
Jason Kidd has talked openly about getting Snell more run and if he continues to get 30+ minutes he makes for one of the best value plays on a short slate!
FanDuel NBA – Top Power Forwards and Center
Gorgui Dieng ($6,500) Dieng continues to put up impressive numbers night after night and frankly is priced to cheap on FanDuel relative to his output. Dieng is averaging 36.2 FD points per game, is getting 30+ minutes every night and is averaging a double-double to start this season. Dieng is a must play in cash games and considering his price point he is in play for GPP’s as well!
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Amir Johnson ($4,000) With Al Horford out with a concussion, Johnson stepped into the starting lineup as a great value play on Wednesday Night and I will look to go back to him on Thursday night as well! Johnson played 30 minutes on Wednesday, racking up 23 points, 6 boards, 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks for 44 FD points! The Dieng-Amir combo will be a core play of mine across all formats!
Jusuf Nurkic ($5,600) Nurkic is well on his way to a breakout campaign and the price on FanDuel has been slow to adjust. Nurkic is averaging the second most points per game of any center on this slate (36.9) but has only the 7th highest price at the position.
Nurkic is coming off a massive 13 point, 18 rebound game against Toronto and makes for an ideal upside center play that you can easily pair with Westbrook-KD – Giannis as part of a stars/scrubs roster!