FanDuel NBA Daily Picks and Pivots – December 28
Welcome to the FanDuel NBA edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best NBA FanDuel lineup!
The purpose of this FanDuel NBA 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 58 slates, we have seen the average winning GPP score at 370.9 a night which means we have needed 6.2x value to win big!
Wednesday’s Main FanDuel NBA action kicks off at 7:00PM EST with ten 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 Picks
Jeff Teague ($7,500) Teague was a massive disappointment in his last game out and torpedoed my Monday Night DFS lineups as a result but I am going back to the well tonight against the Wizards. Prior to his letdown against the Bulls, Teague had put up 40+ FanDuel points in five straight game and gets a match-up against a Wizards team he has already dominated this season.
In their last meeting, Teague dropped 23 points, 10 assists and 46.8 FanDuel points which would exceed 6x value and after this let down on Monday I would expect he will fly under the radar tonight which makes him an intriguing GPP play!
Austin Rivers ($4,600) This play is clearly injury dependent as we need confirmation that Chris Paul will be out but with CP3 and J.J. Reddick both questionable, the Clippers back court is a great spot for DFS value on this slate.
Rivers started the last game in place of Raymond Felton and put up 27.1 FanDuel points over 42 minutes of action! The Clippers take on a Pelicans team that is 27th in DvP to opposing PG’s which would make Rivers an elite DFS bargain play if we can get confirmation CP3 is out again!
FanDuel NBA – Top Shooting Guard Picks
C.J. McCollum ($7,400) With Damian Lillard doubtful for tonight’s game against the Kings, McCollum should be primed for another big night against a Kings team that has struggled to contain opposing back-courts all season!
McCollum took over as the starting PG with Lillard out last game and responded with 41.1 FanDuel points against the Raptors as the primary offensive weapon for Portland. The price point is reasonable and in this match-up just a week ago, he was able to drop 44.4 FanDuel points against the Kings so do not be afraid to roll him out again tonight!
Allen Crabbe ($3,600) I am doubling up on the Portland SG on this slate! Crabbe entered the starting line-up with McCollum shifting to PG and played 35 minutes in his last contest which marks the 4th straight game he has played 30 or more minutes!
The Kings are 23rd in DvP against starting SG’s this season and with the minutes Crabbe is playing he has a great opportunity to crush value. When looking for DFS punt plays we need to target as many minutes as we can and Crabbe should continue to get major run tonight!
FanDuel NBA – Top Small Forward Picks
Otto Porter ($5,800) The Wizards-Pacers game is a sneaky spot to target as both teams see a pace increase and projected point increase on this slate. Porter is coming off one of his best games of the season when he dropped 32 points and 13 rebounds for 49.1 FanDuel points against the Bucks and gets to take on an Indiana team he had success against earlier this year.
In the last game, Porter was able to rack up 34.8 FanDuel points and at this price point makes for an ideal mid-range play with solid 6x upside!
Dante Cunningham ($3,700) Cunningham is never the sexiest player to roster but with his minuntes restriction a thing of the past, he has now played in back to back games with 34 and 37 minutes while putting up 20 FanDuel points in each contest.
At this price point, Cunningham is a solid play who is putting up 5.4x value and with his extended run allows you to save salary while targeting a player with a relatively safe floor!
If you are looking for some pivot options, as the day goes on I am finding myself more intrigued by Aaron Gordon ($4,300) & Michael Kidd-Gilchrist ($4,700). With injuries to Evan Fournier and Marco Belinelli both players are seeing 30+ minutes and are both coming off 30+ FanDuel point outings!
FanDuel NBA – Top Power Forward and Center Picks
Anthony Davis ($11,300) Looking over this slate, the Power Forward position is a tough spot to navigate and I believe The Brow will outperform the rest of the field by such a significant margin that he is worth the pricey investment.
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Without Blake Griffin on the floor, the Clippers interior defense is one we can aggressively target as Nikola Jokic was able to show in his last game when he dropped 46 FanDuel points against the Clippers on the back of 26 points and 10 rebounds. Davis has gone four straight games with 50+ FanDuel points and although the price is high, there is value across the board that makes it easy for him to roster!
Markieff Morris ($5,000) Even as a type his name out, I am envisioning my regret tomorrow morning when I look back and wonder where my entry fees went. Markieff is a polarizing DFS boom or bust play but I find myself constantly targeting his upside! The Pacers are 26th in DvP against PF’s and this is a spot where Morris should be able to excel. His game log is all you need to look at to see his volatility as over his last 5 games he has a high water mark of 44.3 and a low mark of 15.4. Proceed with caution here but don’t be surprised if Markieff is on the winning tournament roster tonight!
If you want a “safer” pivot, look to Tobias Harris ($5,600) who although he is coming off the bench has hit 6x value in each of his last two games with 33 & 34 FanDuel points!
DeMarcus Cousins ($11,000) This pick is simple – Portland simply cannot defend opposing big men and Boogie is an absolute force that can take down a GPP on any given night. These two teams met just a week ago and Boogie put up 76.3 FanDuel points. Yes, read that again! I am all over the Boogie man tonight and suggest you find the salary to do the same.
Best of luck in your FanDuel NBA contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter all day for the latest news and roster updates!