NBA FanDuel Daily Picks and Pivots – December 2
Welcome to the NBA FanDuel edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best NBA FanDuel lineup!
The purpose of this NBA FanDuel Picks 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 33 slates, we have seen the average winning GPP score at 373.4 a night which means we have needed 6.22x value to win big!
Friday’s Main NBA FanDuel action kicks off at 7:00PM EST with nine 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!
NBA FanDuel – Top Point Guard Picks
Rajon Rondo ($5,900) The $5-$6k range at PG is loaded with high upside plays on this slate and will be a spot I look to pay down at so I can afford two of the high-priced studs on Friday night.
Rondo comes into this game on a roll and frankly his price has not yet adjusted to his level of play. Rondo has eclipsed 31 FanDuel points in 5 straight games, hitting 5x value each and every night while hitting 6x value in two of those five games.
Rondo is averaging nearly a triple double over his last five games as he has put up 9.2 points, 9.2 rebounds and 8.8 assists for 34.84 FanDuel points (5.9x value) per game. The Bulls see a slight uptick in pace in this game against the Cavaliers and Rondo gets to face Kyrie Irving and a Cleveland team that is 21st in the NBA in DvP to opposing PG’s.
Dennis Schroder ($5,900) Schroder has struggled for much of the season but he may be finally hitting his stride as the Hawks starting PG. Over his last two games, Schroder has hit 6x value by putting up 35.2 and 46.3 FanDuel points against the Suns and Warriors.
The Hawks take on a Pistons team that is tied for 21st in the NBA in DvP to opposing PG’s so this is a spot where Schroder should be able to continue his recent success.
If you are looking for a pivot off either of these two guys, Emmanuel Mudiay ($5,800) is a great way to get exposure to the highest scoring game on the night between the Nuggets and Rockets. The Nuggets are the second highest projected scoring team on the night and with a 1.5 spread this game should stay close throughout giving Mudiay a chance to see extended run and crush value. I am happy to mix and match all three of these point guards across my lineups tonight!
NBA FanDuel – Top Shooting Guard Picks
James Harden ($11,500) The Rockets-Nuggets game is going to be the top stacking option on this slate and one I will have exposure to across all formats. This game has a 222 combined team total with the Nuggets and Rockets both with top 3 projected team totals. The Nuggets are 29th in DvP to opposing PG’s and 30th in DvP against opposing SG’s so considering the high team total and elite match-up, this is a spot where Harden appears to be worth EVERY penny!
I am writing this early on Friday morning so there is no word yet on any minute limitations for the Rockets after their double OT game on Thursday night but keep an eye throughout the day to ensure there is no news that adversely affects our targeting of this game!
Eric Gordon ($5,000) Back to Houston we go! For all the same reasons I want to play Harden, I want to get exposure to Eric Gordon as well as his price point is incredibly reasonable and is a great way to get added exposure to this game.
Gordon is playing consistent minutes off the bench for Houston, having played 28+ minutes in each of his last seven games while playing over 30 minutes in 4 of those 7! Gordon’s shot is starting to fall as well and the production continues to increase as he has put up 31.8 FanDuel points per game over his last three games which would exceed 6.3x value at this price point!
NBA FanDuel – Top Small Forward Picks
Danilo Gallinari ($6,000) I have mentioned the Nuggets-Rockets game enough already to know this is a spot I intend to stack heavily and part of the reason is the price points outside of James Harden all sit in the mid-range which makes a stack VERY easy to build!
Gallo returned to action after missing three games with an injury and stepped right back in to play 36 minutes against Miami. Gallinari is locked into major minutes and faces a Rockets team that is 22nd in the NBA in DvP to opposing SF’s so this should be a spot that he can exploit.
Brandon Ingram ($4,000) With Nick Young and D’Angelo Russell out with injury, Ingram got the start for the Lakers in their last game and played a whopping 41 minutes against Chicago while putting up 21.1 FanDuel points (5x value).
Ingram continues to struggle with his shot, hitting only 1 of 9 shots from the floor in that game but frankly that is what is most encouraging when using him for DFS purposes. The floor is relatively safe as he has the ability to rack up stats across categories and is now locked into major minutes for the Lakers. If Ingram can get his shot to fall than the upside here is tremendous and if the Raptors choose to sit DeMarre Carroll than this becomes an even better spot for fantasy production!
NBA FanDuel – Top Power Forward and Center Picks
Nikola Jokic ($5,100) One more player from this game, I promise! Jokic was highlighted in his last contest as his minutes quietly had been trending up and he responded with a 17 point, 14 rebounds 39 FanDuel point (7.6x value) outing against Miami.
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Jokic now has back to back double doubles and games over 30 FanDuel points and his price point remains far too low relative to his recent production. There is news to monitor here as Jokic surprisingly popped up with an injury and his questionable for tonight so stay tuned to Fantasy CPR Twitter as we post updates throughout the day and get you ready before lock. If Jokic is a confirmed go, he will be in every single one of my lineups tonight!
Tobias Harris ($5,700) Harris has been very quietly producing for the Pistons as he has put up 32+ FanDuel points in three straight and has scored over 20 real life points in each game while playing major minutes. Harris and the Pistons see one of the biggest pace bumps of any team on this slate and his price point is easy to slot in while locking in the big name stars.
One of the themes of this roster construction is that I can lock in two high-priced studs while building a team of 30+ FanDuel point players around them. If you can get the steady 5-6x production from these mid-tier guys and hit on your studs than you should be in for a big night!
DeMarcus Cousins ($10,900) Let’s hope the court in Boston is nice and dry for Boogie and the Kings so they can actually take the court this time!
Boogie continues to play at an elite level with 60+ FanDuel points in back to back games and gets to face a Celtics team that is 27th in the NBA in DvP to opposing centers. I expect the majority of players to flock towards Karl-Anthony Towns who is coming off a 75 point FanDuel game and faces the same Knicks team he did in that contest so Cousins may go over-looked in this spot.
Let the masses chase points and I will lock in a guy who combined with James Harden give this roster massive GPP upside!
Best of luck tonight in NBA FanDuel and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR Twitter all day for late breaking lineup news and roster updates! Good luck all!