NBA FanDuel Daily Picks and Pivots – December 9
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 40 slates, we have seen the average winning GPP score at 371.6 a night which means we have needed 6.19x 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
Russell Westbrook ($12,700) Wow, look at the price on Westbrook. I am not going to spend time here telling you to play Westbrook, at this point we all know how good he is and what he can mean for your NBA FanDuel roster with his nightly triple-doubles.
The issue tonight is whether you should pay up for Westbrook and after looking over the slate, my answer is yes. This slate is littered with mediocre totals but one game stands out above the rest – the Oklahoma City and Houston game which has a massive 224 total and a 1 point Vegas spread!
OKC is actually projected to see a slight pace increase in this game and is expected to score over 4 points more than their season average. I understand the price is astronomical here but there is no other game on the slate with the upside that this match-up has so I want exposure to it.
Think about it this way – you can roster Westbrook and James Harden and still have $5.1k/player to spend. Is there enough value on the slate to do this? The next game I think is the key to unlocking this stack!
Jordan Clarkson ($5,000) The Lakers and Phoenix have the second highest team total on the slate and with a 1.5 point spread we can expect an up-tempo, high scoring close game that is chock full of value plays!
The Lakers see the biggest increase in pace and the largest point increase above their season average of any team on the entire slate so this is an ideal spot to target GPP upside!
Clarkson is a lock for major minutes, having played 30+ in six of his last eight games and gets a match-up against a Suns team that is 26th in DvP to opposing PG’s. Clarkson has elite scoring upside at a bargain price relative to his role and match-up and is a player I will ensure I have GPP exposure to!
NBA FanDuel – Top Shooting Guard Picks
James Harden ($11,500) As I mentioned earlier, I am looking to stack Westbrook-Harden tonight as I believe we have enough value across this slate to maximize exposure to the best game of the night and its two biggest stars!
Houston has the highest point total on the night, will see a slight pace increase and Harden gets to face a OKC team that is 27th in the NBA in DvP to opposing PG’s. With Giannis Antetokounmpo priced $1.2k less, I expect many gamers to drop down and lock in savings with may leave Harden under-owned in comparison! Lock in the Westbrook-Harden stack tonight and sit back and watch the fantasy points roll in!
Devin Booker ($5,900) Heading back to Phoenix/LA, we can lock in another high upside scoring guard in this high paced, high scoring game. The Lakers are 28th in the NBA in DvP to opposing SG’s and you only need to look at Booker’s game logs to find that in their earlier match-up this season, Booker had his best game of the year!
Booker dropped 51.1 FanDuel points on the back of 39 points, 7 assists and 3 rebounds and at a price point under $6k provides us the exact kind of upside we are looking for at value prices to pair with our stud back-court stack!
NBA FanDuel – Top Small Forward Picks
Harrison Barnes ($6,100) The Mavericks are one of my sneaky teams to target tonight and I expect they will go overlooked in this game against Indiana which has one of the lowest team totals on the slate.
Dallas actually gets a pace increase and a 5.7 point increase over their season average so this spot against Indiana may actually provide some sneaky value. The Pacers are 23rd in DvP to opposing SF’s this season and with so many Mavericks players out with injury, the usage for Barnes has been insane.
Look at his game logs and specifically the shot attempts in each game over his last six contests – 16, 21, 21, 20, 15, 24. Barnes has eclipsed 40 FanDuel points in two of his last six games and with the amount of shot attempts he continues to take, this is a great spot to target a high usage player at a bargain price in an elite DvP match-up!
Brandon Ingram ($4,200) Ingram continues to be my go-to value pick and SF and tonight against Phoenix he is going to be a cornerstone of my lineups. As I mentioned, the Lakers have one of the highest team totals and see the biggest pace increase on the slate and the prices to me are the key to unlocking a Westbrook/Harden stack.
Ingram is playing massive minutes with at least 33 minutes in four of his last five games as Luke Walton has utilized him both on the wings and as a point guard. The Suns are 27th in DvP against SF’s and 26th against PG’s so either spot that Ingram plays at he finds himself in an advantageous match-up.
NBA FanDuel – Top Power Forward and Center Picks
Ryan Anderson ($4,500) Anderson is always in play as a GPP pivot in up-tempo high scoring Houston games and tonight is a spot I will look to get exposure to him. Anderson is a lock each night for 25-30 minutes and actually played 33 minutes against the Thunder earlier this season.
More from FanSided
- 3 reasons the Blazers should trade Damian Lillard to the Heat and 2 reasons they shouldn’t
- LeBron James, Giannis, Damian Lillard all want that Mbappé money
- Is this Alex Morgan’s last Women’s World Cup with the USWNT?
- 3 reasons the NY Giants won Saquon Barkley contract negotiations
- MLB rumors: Nolan Arenado suitor, Tim Anderson landing spots, Mets reliever not enjoying trade talk
In that game Anderson struggled with his shot but keep in mind he attempted 13 field goals including 9 three-point attempts so if he shot is falling he has 30+ FanDuel point upside and makes for a great tournament play tonight!
Dwight Powell ($4,000) Heading back to Dallas, I am looking towards Dwight Powell as a value option to fill out the PF spot on my roster. Powell continues to log consistent minutes in the absence of Dirk Nowitzki, and has exceeded 6x value in each of his last three games making him a top point per dollar play.
Indiana struggles to contain opposing big men, ranking 26th in DvP to opposing PF and C so Powell so be in a position tonight to continue hitting 6x value and makes for a great value play on this slate!
Clint Capela ($5,900) One position I will look to get additional exposure to Houston-OKC is at the center spot and I expect Steven Adams will be a popular value target tonight against Houston who is 24th in DvP to opposing centers.
We typically do not look to target centers against OKC but earlier this season, Capela racked up 13 points, 14 rebounds and 35.8 FanDuel points which would exceed 6x value at this price point. Capela is a reasonably priced way to get additional exposure to this game and fits nicely into the mold of value plays with 6x upside to fit into my Westbrook-Harden roster construction!
Best of luck tonight in your NBA FanDuel contests – stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking line-up news and roster updates!