FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots – Friday November 24

Welcome to the Friday 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!

Wednesday’s winning tournament line-ups scored nearly 430 FanDuel points including monster nights from Russell Westbrook (65.5), Khris Middleton (64.3), Eric Bledsoe (46.7) and Paul George (51.7).

Over the first 35 NBA regular season slates it has taken 379.4 FanDuel points on average to take down a GPP which means on a $60,000 salary cap, we need 6.3x per player to take down a big time tournament in FanDuel NBA!

Over the first 35 NBA regular season slates it has taken 379.4 FanDuel points on average to take down a GPP which means on a $60,000 salary cap, we need 6.3x per player to take down a big time tournament in FanDuel NBA!

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 Point Guard Picks:

First things first – I hope all of you had a very Happy Thanksgiving and were able to spend the day with family and friends enjoying food and football! We had a nice day off from the NBA but we get an interesting nine game slate to dive right back into while we pick through our leftovers (arguably the best part of Thanksgiving).

Rajon Rondo ($5,500) and Tyler Ulis ($4,400): Each day when I open up a slate the first thing I do is open up the totals/lines as it gives you an interesting overview of how Vegas sees the day shaping up and allows you to identify some trends before stepping into the details of the slate. The first thing you notice is the Pelicans/Suns game has a monster 230 total, nearly 15 points higher than the next closest game while only having a 6 point spread which makes it ideal for stacking!

What really makes this game stand out to me however is how it compares to the rest of the slate. The next closest game total (Golden State/Chicago) has a near 20 point spread and frankly is a game I have NO interest in targeting considering the price points on the Warriors star players. The Pacers/Raptors game has a solid 215 total and is a legit pivot option but after that the next closest game total is Denver and Memphis at 208 which is over 20 points lower than the Suns/Pelicans.

I am never one to say that we should treat Vegas totals/lines as the key metric when building our DFS rosters but the underlying data here suggests that we should prioritize New Orleans and Phoenix players on this slate and I plan on writing this article with that context in mind.

Rondo has been slowly ramping up his playing time since returning from injury with between 22 and 30 minutes in each of his last three games and it will be interesting to see if we get any pre-game confirmation that Rondo is a full go as this is the BEST pure match-up for an opposing PG as the Suns rank dead last in DvP versus the position.

Rondo has put up just under a fantasy point per minute of production since his return from injury, racking up 84.4 FD points in 91 minutes of court time (0.92 FP/M) which if we get a 30+ minute night from Rondo would give him a great opportunity to hit GPP target value in this match-up.

On the other side of this game, Ulis has regained the starting PG job in Phoenix and responded with 6x value in two of his last three games. Ulis has the ability to rack up assists/steals which gives him a safe DFS floor and substantial upside at his price point and as we saw in his start against the Lakers a few days ago, he is not afraid to take on an expanded offensive role as he put up 15 shot attempts in a fast paced game environment similar to what he will see tonight!

FanDuel NBA – Top Shooting Guard Picks:

Devin Booker ($7,200): If you are stacking the Phoenix/Pelicans game than Booker is a clear core play and considering the Pelicans rank 25th in DvP versus opposing SG’s the match-up could not be much better for the Suns star SG. What I love about Booker from a DFS perspective is that he has elite usage/volume which gives him a very safe floor but also presents you with 50-60 FanDuel point upside on any given slate! Booker has put up 22 or more shot attempts in four of his last six games and will be tasked with carrying the Suns offense against the Pelicans again tonight.

Tim Hardaway Jr. ($6,600): Although Jrue Holiday ($6,400) would seem like the ideal stacking partner, the return of Rajon Rondo to the line-up has really capped his upside so I am going to likely look elsewhere for my second shooting guard and start with a Picks and Pivots favorite going up against his old team in the Atlanta Hawks. Now normally I love me some revenge narrative but I doubt Hardaway has any ill will towards the team that gave him a chance to shine which resulted in im getting a massive free agent deal from the Knicks. THJ does get the benefit of playing a Hawks team ranked dead last in DvP to opposing SG’s and 26th versus SF’s so their struggle against wing players is something we can look to exploit tonight and Hardaway is coming off a 50 burger at essentially no ownership his last time out!

Jeremy Lamb ($5,500): The big injury news I am waiting for (absent a Warriors star “rest game”) is Nicolas Batum tonight who is questionable to play against the Cavaliers which would vault Jeremy Lamb into near must play status against a Cleveland team ranked 29th in DvP to opposing SG’s this season! Batum only was able to play 13 minutes before re-injuring himself against the Wizards which pushed Lamb into 37 minutes of court time to which he responded with 47.9 FD points. If Batum is confirmed out, Lamb is a great source of salary relief and upside at the SG position tonight!

FanDuel NBA – Top Small Forward Picks:

T.J. Warren ($7,600): Heading right back to the Suns, Warren continues to shine as the Robin to Devin Booker’s bat man but in reality it may be Warren is the top option on this Suns squad from a DFS perspective. Although Booker is the top dog from a usage perspective, Warren’s ability to rack up boards, blocks and steals gives him even great DFS appeal and his recent game logs of back to back 40+ FD points backs up that claim! As I mentioned with Booker, the Pelicans struggle to contain opposing SG/SF’s ranking 25th and 28th from a DvP perspective so pairing these two tonight could pay some big time dividends.

Darius Miller ($3,300): I mention this often in my articles, but one of the tools I use in my DFS research is to review trends and try to find top fantasy point per dollar plays over recent timeframes (last week to two weeks etc) to help identify players that may gave us some nice bang for our buck. Often through this exercise you uncover players you may not necessarily have thought to roster and Darius Miller is a great example of that as he has been putting up 5x value quietly over the last two weeks.

Digging a bit deeper you will find a player that is logging at least 21 minutes in each of his last five games and has crushed GPP value (6.3x) in three of those five starts! If you need value tonight than Miller makes for an interesting punt that will likely be ignored by the masses!

LeBron James ($11,900): Not to bury the lead here, but we have a small(er) slate tonight with some widely unappealing games so targeting The King at home versus a Hornets team he already dropped 56 FD points against this season feels like a great place to start! The injury to Nicolas Batum could have big time implications here as it would take one of the best Hornets defenders off the court and give King James a clear path to another big night!

FanDuel NBA – Top Power Forward and Center Plays:

Anthony Davis ($11,400) and DeMarcus Cousins ($11,400): One of the reasons I am opting to move away from King James tonight as my top play is that I am going to prioritize the two big men from a Pelicans team that has the highest team total on the board and build around my New Orleans/Phoenix stack!

Phoenix has added some big bodies on the interior with Greg Monroe joining Alex Len/Tyson Chandler and they will need all of them tonight to slow down Boogie and Brow but the fact is that the Suns rank 30th in DvP to opposing PF’s and only 16th against Centers so we should feel free to fire up both Pelicans big men tonight!

Dragan Bender ($3,100): If you need value tonight and want to build off this game stack, Bender is a player that continues to see his minutes and production trend up for the Suns having played 20 or more minutes in five straight including a 33 minute/25 FD point outing his last time out. In fact, Bender has hit GPP value (6.3x) in three of his last five games and makes for an exceptional punt play this evening.

If you are looking outside of this game, we can continue to target the Nuggets without Paul Millsap but it is clear that Kenneth Faried is a player to avoid after he failed to even get off the bench against the Rockets. Mike Malone was absent the first game without Millsap when Faried got the starting nod so it is interesting to note that with Malone back on the sideline, Faried stayed glued to the bench and we saw the Nuggets use Wilson Chandler at the 4. Trey Lyles ($3,800) may actually be the ideal PF punt from this game tonight against Memphis as he logged 23 minutes against the Rockets and could be asked to play even more against Marc Gasol/ Jamychael Green in the Memphis front court!

FanDuel NBA – Sample GPP 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. 

More from FanSided

• MLB Rumors: White Sox offer ‘small opening’ in Dylan Cease, Luis Robert trade talks
• LAST CHANCE: $250 Guaranteed Bonus for Your Week 1 College Football Bet at DraftKings and FanDuel!
• MLB Rumors: Justin Verlander has a clear suitor, but it comes with a catch
• MLB Rumors: Braves trade grade, Cardinals trade bait, Red Sox selling
• USMNT news: Turner to Forest, Trusty to Sheffield, Reynolds to Westerlo

PG: Rajon Rondo ($5,500)

PG: Tyler Ulis ($4,400)

SG: Devin Booker ($7,200)

SG: Jeremy Lamb ($5,500)

SF: T.J. Warren ($7,600)

SF: Darius Miller ($3,300)

PF: Anthony Davis ($11,300)

PF: Dragan Bender ($3,100)

C: DeMarcus Cousins ($11,400)

Slate Overview: My initial thought looking over tonight’s slate is to lock in a game stack centered around the Suns/Pelicans as the high total and close spread and lack of other ideal game environments make this a great spot for GPP upside. With this roster build you still have $700 left over and one of the reasons I wanted to keep it that way is we have some unknowns with Jeremy Lamb and the minutes for Rajon Rondo so this allows me to have flexibility to adjust as needed! Good luck tonight!

Next: Euro Leage DraftKings Basketball Picks

Best of luck in your FanDuel NBA contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest DFS news and analysis!