DraftKings NBA Picks for December 2
By Mike Marteny
DraftKings NBA Picks for December 2
We have nine games tonight, which means that there are plenty of stars to pepper our DraftKings lineups with. Don’t forget to follow @fantasycpr on Twitter for lineup updates as we get them leading to the tipoffs of the games! I am not always able to get back in here and fix my picks when someone sits for the night, but we will update it on Twitter.
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We will still provide DraftKings picks while they are still a separate entity. The DraftKings/FanDuel merger may even force some of us onto smaller DFS sites like Yahoo, but we wont have to deal with that until baseball season at the earliest. So let’s enjoy the unique perks of DraftKings while we still can!
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Point Guards
Best Bets:
James Harden ($11,900): Denver is pretty weak at every defensive position, and Harden is the whole Rockets offense. Expect the Beard to be all over the place tonight, while the game is still a game anyway. He should hit 5x value before he rests when this becomes a blowout.
John Wall ($8,400): The Spurs have allowed the most fantasy points in the league to opposing point guards. Wall has at least 50 DraftKings points in five of his last six games. He should have no trouble making it six of seven.
Honorable Mention:
Isaiah Thomas ($7,500): Thomas has scored at least 23 points in six straight games, which has kept his value right around 5x. He is a solid option against the Kings tonight in what could be a high scoring game.
Jrue Holiday ($6,900): Holiday’s minutes have picked up lately, and so has his production. He has 94.5 DraftKings points over his last three games. That puts him right around 5x value. He should hit that mark tonight against the Clippers if the Pelicans can keep the game somewhat close.
Dark Horses:
Elfrid Payton ($5,000): Payton has been very consistent since being relegated to a bench role. He has been at or above 5x value in five of his last six games. The one he wasn’t, he still came very close, and it was in a game in which he returned from rolling his ankle. Keep an eye on the ankle, but it looks as though Payton will still see around 28 minutes, which is plenty of time for him to his 5x value again.
Patrick Beverley ($4,600): Beverly was ice cold from the floor last night, but he still put up 24 DraftKings points against the Warriors. Beverley also played only 29 minutes, so he could be used a little more to rest Harden, who played 46. He does enough things well that he should be a sure 5x value.
My pick: Wall(PG), Payton(G)
Shooting Guards
Best Bets:
Bradley Beal ($7,000): Beal has been on fire lately, putting up 135.75 DraftKings points in his last three games. Tonight he takes on a Spurs team that is in the bottom five defensively against shooting guards. Expect another strong night from Beal, especially since he hasn’t played less than 38 minutes since November 17th. He will have plenty of chances.
Zach LaVine ($6,000): LaVine is mostly a scorer, but he does have moments where he picks up rebounds and assists. The problem is that he is not very consistent in doing so. He only picked up 22 DraftKings points against the Knicks on Wednesday in Minnesota. Look for him to improve on that tonight.
Honorable Mention:
DeMar DeRozan ($8,300): The Lakers have been tough on opposing guards, but DeRozan has been on such a roll this year that it would be foolish not to mention him. He has only missed 5x value three times on the season, however, two of those have been in the last six. He may be cooling down, which scares me a bit against the Lakers. That said, he was superb against the Grizzlies, making six of nine shots, on Wednesday.
Avery Bradley ($6,000): Bradley is a more consistent version of LaVine at the same price, but what lands him here is his lower ceiling. Bradley’s rebounding totals have suffered since the return of Jae Crowder and Al Horford, a trend that will likely continue. Bradley will always be around 5x value, but LaVine has topped 40 twice in the last three games. There is little chance of Bradley doing that anymore with the Celtics at full strength.
Dark Horses:
Lou Williams ($5,800): Williams has been the biggest benefactor of the absences of D’Angelo Russell and Nick Young. LouWill has 94 DraftKings points over his last three games, which is well over 5x value. I can’t give you a good reason not to use him.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($5,200): KCP has been on fire over the last two games, putting up 84.5 DraftKings points. He has another great matchup with the Hawks tonight, who have struggled against opposing shooting guards. KCP could be in for another big game.
My pick: Williams(SG), Caldwell-Pope(UTIL)
Small Forwards
Best Bets:
Jimmy Butler ($8,700): Yes, LeBron is out there at his lowest price of the season, but I’m staying away? Why? He has had two straight games in the low 30’s for DraftKings points. That kills your lineup. Butler has been in the high 30’s over his last two as well, but he is $700 cheaper and he has a much better matchup tonight. Butler may still have a hard time hitting 5x value, but I would bet he outscores James.
Rudy Gay ($6,900): Gay isn’t as consistent as he was early on, but when the matchup is right he is putting up big numbers. The Celtics are in the middle for defense on small forwards. Gay only needs 34.5 DraftKings points for 5x value. He should hit that tonight.
Honorable Mention:
Wilson Chandler ($6,800): Did you guys see what Kevin Durant did to the Rockets last night? I’m not saying that Chandler will do the same, but the chances of him getting plenty of open looks are great. Chandler had huge games against the Thunder and Suns before Miami shut him down. He should be back to 5x value easily tonight.
Andrew Wiggins ($6,600): Wiggins put up 36.75 DraftKings points on the Knicks on Wednesday. Can he do the same in the Garden? Even if he doesn’t, his should still hit 5x value.
Dark Horses:
Jae Crowder ($5,800): Crowder has been very consistent over his last four games. Crowder is averaging right at 30 DraftKings points in that span, which means he will get you 5x value. The Kings are right in the middle of the pack against small forwards, so nothing should change tonight. Expect right around 30-33 DraftKings points.
Sam Dekker ($3,000): Dekker has racked up 51 DraftKings points over his last two games, putting him at an impressive 8x value. He is getting good bench minutes, and could see more if the Rockets elect to rest some guys after the overtime thriller last night.
My pick: Crowder(SF), Dekker(F)
Power Forwards
Best Bets:
Anthony Davis ($11,700): Over the last four games, Davis has been over 62 DraftKings points in all of them, with a whopping 79 on Tuesday against the Lakers. The Clippers are solid up front, but the way Davis is playing right now, do you dare fade him? He is matchup proof right now.
DeMarcus Cousins ($10,700): Well, Cousins is a reason to fade Davis. Cousins has had at least 55 DraftKings points in four straight. He also dominated the last time he took the court on Monday with 72.5 against the Wizards. Cousins has a great matchup tonight with Boston, so if I’m spending big, I’m gonna Boogie.
Honorable Mention:
Kristaps Porzingis ($7,900): Porzingis ripped the Timberwolves for 50 DraftKings points on Wednesday night. There is no reason to think that he can’t do the same at home tonight.
Julius Randle ($6,800): The game that Porzingis had against the Timberwolves two days ago will likely have people using him in a high number of lineups. Randle put up an impressive 44 DraftKings points on Wednesday against a pretty good Bulls interior. He tied a career high with 20 rebounds, and took plenty of shots with Russell and Young out. Randle is a great alternative to Porzingis if you want to buck the trend since Toronto is below average against power forwards.
Dark Horses:
Serge Ibaka ($6,200): It has been a while since I have mentioned Ibaka in this column, but he is starting to settle in in Orlando. Ibaka has scored double digit points in four straight games, while piling up 11 blocks in that span. He is back! Well….maybe. We don’t need to get too far ahead of ourselves. He does look like an enticing play against Philadelphia tonight though.
Montrezl Harrell ($3,300): Harrell had by far his best game as a pro last night, racking up a double-double and 29 DraftKings points. The bad news? That is more than double his output over the last three games combined. It is hit-and-miss with Harrell, but they might need his big body in there with all of the size Denver has.
My pick: Porzingis(PF)
Center
Best Bets:
Karl-Anthony Towns ($8,900): 80. Enough said. Okay, for those of you that don’t know, that is the amount of DraftKings points that Towns dropped on the Knicks in his career game on Wednesday. I’m not saying you can count on 80 again, but do you really think the Knicks figured out how to stop him in two days? I have my doubts.
Dwight Howard ($7,300): Howard has cooled some after a hot start, but he is still right around 5x value nearly every night. As tough as Detroit has been on forwards, you would think the same would apply to centers. It does not. The Pistons are in the bottom eight in the league in fantasy points allowed to centers.
Honorable Mention:
Nikola Vucevic ($6,800): Frank Vogel moved Vucevic to the bench, but it hasn’t negatively affected his fantasy output so far. Vucevic racked up 52.5 DraftKings points in his first game against the Sixers this year, but Embiid didn’t play in that one. Expect a lower output, but he should still be at 5x value at least.
Joel Embiid ($6,700): The Sixers have said that Embiid will play Friday and rest Saturday. They have also stated that they will up his minutes limit to between 28 and 30. If you look at what he has done in 25 minutes and add the projections of a few more minutes to that, he could be a monster tonight. The only problem is Orlando has given up the seventh fewest fantasy points to centers so far this year.
Dark Horses:
Al Horford ($6,500): The Kings are the second worst team against centers so far this year, and while Horford is not the offensive force he used to be, he still does a lot of things well. 5x value for him is an absurdly low 32.5 DraftKings points. He should exceed that by the end of the third quarter tonight.
Marcin Gortat ($5,200): Gortat has a great matchup tonight against the Spurs. The Thunder are similarly bad against opposing centers and Gortat put up 32.25 DraftKings points on them Wednesday night. That leaves him at 6x value. He should be right around there tonight as well.
My pick: Towns(C)
Stay tuned for our FanDuel picks, our DFS NHL picks, and plenty of NFL advice heading into your weekend. We will also have the college football picks against the spread. You don’t want to miss any of this!