DraftKings NBA picks December 7: Will Embiid Dominate The Lakers Again?

We are down to four NBA games on our Thursday night, but there are still plenty of great options on DraftKings. the position eligibility is going to help tonight. There is marginally less value tonight, but two of the games promise to be high scoring. Should we target those?

Point Guards

Best Bets:

Russell Westbrook ($12,000): Westbrook lit up a Jazz team that had kept him under wraps in two previous meetings this year. It’s hard to fade Westbrook right now, even against a Nets team that has held their own defensively. Dinwiddie is a better defender than Russell, but I doubt he stops Westbrook either.

Ben Simmons ($9,900): The Lakers are still a work in progress defensively. They have improved to fifth worst in the league against point guards. This is going to be a fast paced game, which favors athletes like Simmons. The rookie put up 57.25 DraftKings points in the first meeting with the Lakers. He is going to get somewhere near that again.

Honorable Mention:

Chris Paul ($7,600): The middle tier is plagued with bad matchups. The Jazz are a top five team against point guards, but they got torched by Westbrook on Tuesday. Paul isn’t going to drop a triple double on the Jazz, but the biggest thing that stood out to me about Westbrook’s big game was the amount of open shots he got? Paul’s shot is looking good so far, and we all know what a good passer he is. If I’m taking a risk at this level, it’s on Paul. Lonzo Ball had no chance against Simmons in the first meeting.

Ricky Rubio ($5,100): Rubio was held scoreless on Tuesday, and he still came up with 22 DraftKings points. That illustrates what a good floor that Rubio has. He’s going to need it against Houston, but his low prices still makes him worth a look on a short slate.

Dark Horses:

Alec Burks ($4,800): The return of Sefalosha cost Burks some minutes, which was a bit surprising considering how hot Burks was coming into the game. Hood’s status remains uncertain for tonight. If Hood is back, I don’t trust the Jazz to keep playing Burks, even though they should. He may be worth taking a chance on if Hood is out though considering the amount of open shots Houston allows to shooting guards.

Tomas Satoransky ($4,100)/Tim Frazier ($4,000): I’m still avoiding the Phoenix point guard situation. Satoransky doesn’t start, but he does outplay Tim Frazier for fantasy purposes, and often in minutes as well. However, given Frazier’s better offensive talents, this would be the game to use him over Satoransky since this is going to be an offensive game.

Shooting Guards:

Best Bets:

James Harden ($11,000): The Beard put up 83.5 DraftKings points in the first meeting against Utah. Harden likely wont pick up 13 assists again with Paul back, and we should temper our expectations on the 56 points as well. That said, Harden has the Jazz’s number. He is worth paying for on a small slate.

Bradley Beal ($8,100): Beal dropped 51 on Portland, picking up a bulk of the scoring with Wall out again. However, Beal still only ended up with 59.25 DraftKings points. Beal’s value lies in his scoring ability. Which makes him a must play against the Suns.

Honorable Mention:

Donovan Mitchell ($7,200): MItchell has averaged 36 DraftKings points over his last 10 games, or right at 5x value. If he winds up spending most of his time off the ball, which has been the norm lately, I like Mitchell quite a bit with Harden guarding him. I would think that the Rockets would at least toy with the idea of having Harden guard the offensively challenged Rubio and put Paul on Mitchell. If that happens, this matchup isn’t nearly as good.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($5,600): Redick is not a good defender at all, which plays right into the hands of KCP. Caldwell-Pope racked up 30.75 DraftKings points in the first meeting, and should clear 5x value with relative ease again tonight. SG is the easiest place to pick on the Sixers, so KCP has pretty nice upside too.

Dark Horses:

Jordan Clarkson ($4,900): Clarkson had a big game against Philadelphia in the first meeting. He put up 39 DraftKings points and took 21 shots in that game. Clarkson’s usage rate promises to be high once again as he lights it up for the second unit. He is a strong value play with decent upside tonight.

Thabo Sefalosha ($4,000): Thabo looked really good in his first game back to his regular minutes. He put up 33.5 DraftKings points against a pretty solid Thunder defense. Burks may continue to eat some minutes, and as with Burks, I’m out of this one if Hood returns.

Small Forwards:

Best Bets:

Paul George ($8,300): George has fallen on a bit of a rough patch lately, but I think that the competition had a lot to do with it. The Spurs and Jazz are both tough defenses. I’m hoping that ownership is lower because of his past two games, but I like George in this situation against the third worst defense against small forwards in the league.

Otto Porter ($7,000): Porter struggled a bit against Portland and Utah, but he is a good enough rebounder to keep his floor at a respectable level. I do like Porter and a large percentage of his teammates tonight against Phoenix. There will be plenty of points to go around tonight.

Honorable Mention:

T.J. Warren ($6,500): Warren lit up the Wizards for 61.5 DraftKings points in the first meeting. And that was with Devin Booker in the lineup! With Booker out, Warren is going to have a huge night again. I wont go as far as to say that Warren will top his performance in the first game, but he could get close. There is going to be really high ownership on Warren, but I don’t care. Warren will be in all of my lineups.

Brandon Ingram ($6,400): It was a big game for a lot of Lakers and Sixers in the first meeting. Ingram had one of those. He put up 48.75 DraftKings points in that one. Ingram has been the most consistent Laker this season, but he has managed to come up with some big games here and there. At any rate, Ingram has only been under 30 DraftKings points three times in the last ten games.

Dark Horses:

DeMarre Carroll ($5,400): The Thunder are strong on the wings, but Carroll has been over 25 DraftKings points in eight of the last ten games. Carroll has been one of the most consistent offensive forces for the Nets this year. And his price is low enough that he carries pretty low risk.

Joe Ingles ($4,900)/Trevor Ariza ($4,900): These two are practically identical. How identical? The Jazz and Rockets are tied for 13th in the league in points allowed to small forwards. Their season averages are just 0.2 points apart. Choose one. Choose both if you like. You know exactly what you are getting here.

Power Forwards

Best Bets:

Carmelo Anthony ($6,500): It’s usually a good plan to start whomever plays against Melo, but tonight I’m turning the tables. The Nets are pretty weak up front. They are the third worst team against power forwards. George and Anthony are both solid bets tonight. Though I don’t know if I trust it enough to play both of them.

Derrick Favors ($6,200): Statistically, the Rockets are the best team in the league against power forwards. Favors did manage to put up 20.5 DraftKings points in the first game against Houston. Gobert is back, so that pushes Favors back to the power forward slot. I like this matchup a lot less, but Favors came up big with Gobert out. He can handle a larger part of this offense.

Honorable Mention:

Kyle Kuzma ($5,500): Kuzma had a big game in the first meeting with the Sixers. The only issue is that Larry Nance was out. Nance is taking some of Kumza’s minutes and fantasy value, but Kuzma is still playing enough to get value at this price.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ($5,400): RHJ has turned himself into a really good rebounder and a capable scorer this season. The Thunder are still weak up front. Come on now, you didn’t think I wasn’t going to target Anthony, right? Hollis-Jefferson is a really good low rent option tonight.

Dark Horse:

Markieff Morris ($4,700): Morris returns to Phoenix in a different uniform once again. This is a good spot for Morris, but his inconsistency worries me. The Suns are the second worst team against power forwards, but with Chandler back, that could put Monroe on Morris. That would make this a much worse place for Morris. There is risk involved here.

Center:

Best Bet:

Joel Embiid ($10,100): Do you guys remember what happened the first time Embiid took on the Lakers? I do. 90.75. That is not a typo. 90.75 DraftKings points. In just 34 minutes! Embiid is going to be very highly owned tonight, but I’m okay with that. He deserves to be.

Honorable Mention:

Steven Adams ($6,100): Adams is rolling right now, averaging 37.7 DraftKings points in December so far. What’s more impressive is that two of those games came against Utah and San Antonio. The Nets don’t have a lot to work with up front, so Adams could be in for a good game.

Marcin Gortat ($5,100): Gortat racked up 30.75 DraftKings points against the Suns in the first meeting. Gortat is even more of an afterthought in the offense than he was last year, which makes him even more of a risk in DFS formats.

Dark Horse:

Tyson Chandler ($4,500): Chandler sat on Tuesday, so he should be well rested for this one. Washington isn’t a great matchup for Chandler, but his rebounding prowess makes him a decent bet. Greg Monroe has more upside if you’re hell bent on using a Phoenix center. Honestly, there is a steep drop in center tonight. You are better off paying up.

Next: FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots

Stay tuned for our FanDuel picks! We even have some EPL picks coming your way! For you college football fans, we have all of the games picked against the spread along with ESPN college pick em picks.