Welcome to the Tuesday’s edition of FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best core lineup for this slate of DFS action!
For those of you finding us for the first time, the concept behind FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots 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!
Monday’s slate was another reminder of the cruel beast that NBA DFS can be as we had TONS of players sit out which meant having to pivot before lock when building our lineups. First off, make sure you have a player pool for each slate – don’t get locked in on 1-2 guys at a position, have pivot plays around the same price point so you can adjust on the fly. Secondly, PAY ATTENTION TO NEWS. This one is critical if you want to be successful – for example, Tobias Harris was ruled out roughly an hour before lock last night per the team’s awesome beat reporter and yet across the GPP’s I played he was 20-30% owned – pay attention to news and you essentially get a shot at free money for the people who don’t!
Over the first eleven preseason slates, it has taken 277.6 FanDuel points to take down a GPP which means we are roughly shooting for 4.6x value
Over the first eleven preseason slates, it has taken 277.6 FanDuel points to take down a GPP which means we are roughly shooting for 4.6x value at this point in the season which once the regular season kicks off will ratchet up to 5-6x value!
Picks and Pivots is not a simple “best plays” column but rather it focuses on slate strategy and roster construction to help give you insight into how I will look to play this slate! The goal of this article is to dig through the slate, highlight our top plays and give you a sample line-up as an example of what our core roster build could look like using the analysis we lay out in the coming pages!
As always, we will look to update our picks and final lineup thought prior to lock on our twitter account @FantasyCPR so make sure to give us a follow for all the late breaking lineup news.
Without further ado, let’s get into today’s slate!
FanDuel NBA – Top Guard Plays:
Russell Westbrook ($11,800) is the most expensive player on the slate but similar to last night with James Harden, we have entirely too many value plays across the board (with certainly more to come as news breaks) to not play the best player on the slate. Westbrook played only 9 minutes in his first game action on Friday but saw that number spike to 28 minutes on Sunday and if he is assured of getting that many minutes, you simply play him and move on!
The Nuggets point guard battle continues into their final pre-season game tonight and this is a spot I will be watching intently for news as I would expect the starters to get a dress rehearsal which could give us an idea of which player is leading the race for Nuggets starting point guard. Jamal Murray ($4,500) and Emmanuel Mudiay ($4,000) both make for elite value plays depending on who is starting tonight and it allows you to fit in Westbrook and other stars with ease!
Shooting Guard is the perfect spot to save some salary on this slate and I will continue to ride the mid-range price point of Gary Harris ($5,400) who is leading the Nuggets in points per game and field goal attempts per contest with 11. Will Barton ($4,800) makes for an interesting pivot play off the bench for the Nuggets as he is playing over 25 minutes a game and averaging double-digit shot attemps as the clear lead dog for the second team usage!
With Lonzo Ball sidelined, the Lakers back-court is a great spot for value, specifically Jordan Clarkson ($3,900) who should continue to play 20+ minutes for the Lakers with their star rookie sidelined. Overall, shooting guard is a spot I would look to pay down at and utilize the news that comes out closer to lock to find some cheap plays with guaranteed minutes as I personally do not feel the opportunity cost is high enough to “lock in” any high cost SG’s like DeMar DeRozan when it means having to miss out on the true superstars on this slate!
FanDuel NBA – Top Forward and Center Plays:
The lead story on this slate is that LeBron James ($10,400) will make his preseason debut and likely see minutes in the mid 20’s which puts him in near must play status on this slate. As I mentioned with Westbrook, I think for preseason DFS you prioritize the stars with 20+ minutes and mix in the value plays which are plentiful to make your roster work!
The Orlando Magic gave us the old 2 minutes post lock news that they would sit some of their starters on Monday night, a DFS right of passage it seems, so I want to keep an eye on the news here today. The Magic has already said they would rest some of their starters on Monday/Tuesday so it is possible that the guys who rested last night, like Evan Fournier ($5,400) could return to the court tonight! The other play at a similar price point we can target is Tobias Harris ($5,600) who got the night off on Monday night and assuming he is back in the line-up tonight makes for a safe mid-range play with upside!
The Nuggets play their final preseason game tonight before opening the season for real next Wednesday and with a full week before that game I have a feeling we will see the starters get a full complement of minutes tonight. Nikola Jokic ($8,700) and Paul Millsap ($8,000) have both been solid this preseason, putting up double-digit shot attempts and contributing across a variety of categories which makes them ideal targets at these price points.
The Lakers forwards make for interesting pivot plays as well due to their price points and minutes consistency as Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle as they both continue to see minutes in the mid-20’s but it is preseason darling Kyle Kuzma ($3,000) that will continue to be a staple of my FanDuel NBA preseason lineups. Kuzma has played at least 26 minutes in every preseason game, out up double-digit shot attempts in three of his four outings, averaging 19.5 points, 4 rebounds and 5 three-point shot attempts per game!
FanDuel NBA– Sample Line-Up and Slate Overview
Please Note: This is NOT an optimized line-up, it is simply illustrative to show the type of roster build we can have using the logic previously laid out in Picks and Pivots. My actual line-up may differ from the line-up shown here.
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PG: Russell Westbrook ($11,800)
PG: Jamal Murray ($4,500)
SG: Will Barton ($4,800)
SG: Kyle Korver ($3,200)
SF: LeBron James ($10,400)
SF: Tobias Harris ($5,600)
PF: Paul Millsap ($8,000)
PF: Kyle Kuzma ($3,000)
C: Nikola Jokic ($8,400)
Slate Overview: Looking over this slate my goal is to lock in the two top superstars in Westbrook and LeBron and utilize the value across the slate to make it work! The Nuggets are the team I am looking to build my core around as they play their final preseason game tonight and have a full week before their first regular season game!
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Best of luck in your FanDuel NBA contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all your DFS news and analysis across the NBA, NFL, NHL and EPL!