NBA FanDuel DFS Targets: Monday October 22

Welcome to this edition of NBA FanDuel Targets from FantasyCPR.com. Here you will find players to target for tonight’s action, geared for cash games and tournament plays on FanDuel.

Welcome to the first ever edition of my NBA FanDuel Targets for NBA DFS. For those of you familiar with my PGA targets piece I do weekly here for FantasyCPR, this will be very similarly structured. First, I will go over players to target at each position for tonight’s nine-game slate starting at 6:30 ET. I will give two targets at each of the five positions. Some plays will be geared toward cash games, and some for GPP. Some of course will also technically qualify as both. As we break each play down, I will be sure to specify which type of contests I am targeting that player in.

As I get settled in and hope to get into a rhythm of writing this piece daily, I will normally use this spot to talk a little bit about how yesterdays picks turned out. As a daily fantasy sports writer, when I follow columns like this, I always appreciate when the writer can be transparent about making the wrong choices, because obviously, nobody gets them all right. And on top of that, I am firm believer in going over what went wrong, and what I could have done differently. With that said, next time you read this article there will be a short recap of our sample lineup, before we get to today’s targets.

One other thing I see a little bit of here at FantasyCPR and something I do myself that I am a big fan of is sample lineups. Always remember to be careful with those, but also remember they are a great place to start your research for the day. With NFL it’s a little easier, and mine for my 1PM only article I have been doing a few weeks are doing fairly decent, but again, I play them just for the sake of the recap, and I don’t play much on them… Unless I like them of course.

With NBA however, really take these sample lineups with a grain of salt. There is so much info that will drop in the course of the day for NBA, and you never truly know what to expect. Anything from late scratches for rest after lock, and leaky roofs forcing cancellations, NBA DFS is truly not for the faint of heart at times. Because of my commitments around lock every night, I could never go hard at NBA DFS. If you want to be a consistent winner for NBA, lock starts at 6PM ET on most week nights. Plan on being ready to tinker those lineups last second, accounting for all of that fabulous NBA news that nobody was expecting five minutes before whenever lock time might be. It happens all of the time, so if you set your lineup now and forget it, it probably won’t work. Let’s jump into tonight’s targets!

NBA FanDuel: Point Guards:

Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors – $10,200 – (Cash/GPP)

You might hear plenty of folks say to fade Warriors today in fear of the blowout, but I wouldn’t pass on this opportunity to play Curry and Kevin Durant today. The Suns are playing fast this year, and that will play right into the type of game the Warriors may struggle to defend. I’m not saying the Suns have a chance here, but the fear of the starters sitting the fourth quarter shouldn’t be an issue this early in the season. We have a monster Vegas total of 228.5 at the moment, and I bet by the time this is published, that will be up to 230.  While Golden State is favored by 13, we also have four other games with double-digit spreads so the blowouts can happen anywhere. The Warriors are on a back-to-back as they return home from a tough loss at Denver in which Steph dropped 30 points with six assists. Curry should be a monster in all formats once again, as he looks for his fourth straight 30-point game to start the season.

Bryn Forbes – San Antonio Spurs – $4,300 – (Cash)

This is simply a minutes move here, as the new starting point guard for the Spurs has been doing a pretty good job thus far through two games. It seems clear coach Gregg Popovich wants Forbes to play with the first team, while veteran Patty Mills leads the second team, but you can never be too sure when he will switch it up. For a point guard, the assists haven’t been there up to this point, as he has just five in two games, but he has scored 11 and 17 points in those games, and managed to at least crack 20 FDP points in both games. The Spurs will be facing a depleted Laker team, as Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram have been handed suspensions for Saturday’s fight against the Rockets. I look for Forbes to get me at least 20 FDP for cash games. Anything more is a bonus.

***Also Consider: John Wall – $9,800 (GPP), Lonzo Ball – $6,800 (GPP), Cameron Payne – $3,900 (Punt)***

 NBA FanDuel: Shooting Guards:

DeMar DeRozan – San Antonio Spurs – $8,200 – (Cash)

The Spurs look like a completely different team this year, as DeRozan is likely to become the face of the franchise if he keeps playing the way he has to start the season. This isn’t a position I normally pay up for in cash games, as there always seems to be plenty of value here. DeRozan though has scored 28 points in each of his first two games as a Spur, while averaging 36 minutes per game. With a floor of about 35 and a ceiling of who knows this early season, DeRozan is a guy who break a slate with a huge game. His price is a bit steep for cash games but the question will likely be whether you want to pay up here or at Center.

Antonio Blakeney – Chicago Bulls – $4,100 – (GPP)

This is nothing more than a punt here, but even with Justin Holiday playing 37 minutes on Saturday against the Pistons, Blakeney still managed 10 points and four rebounds in just 21 minutes. Holiday is only $400 more, and even though he is coming off of 35 FDP game, I think he will be a bit chalky. If you want a punt GPP pivot off Holiday or someone else in this range, Blakeney should at least continue to get run, as long as Denzel Valentine remains on the sideline. NOTE – Kris Dunn is expected BACK for this game.

***Also Consider: Zach LaVine – $7,600 (GPP), Josh Hart – $5,800 (Cash)***

NBA FanDuel: Small Forwards:

Kevin Durant – Golden State Warriors – $10,800 – (Cash)

I think we have touched a bit on having some exposure to this game. Not only that, Durant is on fire to start the season, and is still underpriced. There seems to be no reason to pay up for Giannis Antetokounmpo or LeBron James in cash games today, considering we can save some much needed salary by paying down for Durant. Durant has already had a 60+ FDP game this season against the Jazz, and his lowest total of 45.7 FDP came yesterday in Denver. His three-game average is 52.5 FDP to start the season, and I look for him to exceed that once again.

Trevor Ariza – Phoenix Suns – $5,500 – (GPP)

Staying in this game again, we have another player here on a new team, and playing well with his new teammates. Never a big scorer, he was welcomed warmly into Phoenix, as he dropped 21 points with eight rebounds and seven assists in the season opener. In typical Ariza fashion however, he followed that up with a 10.1 FDP dud. He is never a “safe” play, but that opener with the Suns when he dropped 44.1 FDP at least showed us he has something left in the tank. Points will come from somewhere against the Warriors tonight, and if Ariza can break that 40+ FDP threshold again it could turn into a great tournament play.

***Also Consider: Giannis Antetokounmpo – (GPP), Joe Ingles – $7,100 (Cash), Evan Turner – $4,000 (Punt)***

NBA FanDuel: Power Forwards:

Jayson Tatum – Boston Celtics – $7,000 – (Cash)

It’s been a hot start for Tatum and the Celtics, and tonight they welcome the 1-2 Orlando Magic into TD Garden Center. With superstar point guard Kyrie Irving struggling a bit to start the season, Tatum has no doubt picked up the slack, leading the Celtics in scoring in two of their first three games. Boston is coming off a nice road win against the Knicks, in which they were able to hold off a late push and win by two. The sophomore Tatum is playing like a vet, and he should be in a good spot to have another 40+ fantasy point game tonight. You may want to spend down a little more at power forward in cash because the position is kind of weak, however, no player under $5K really has the floor I am looking for cash games.

Ersan Ilyasova – Milwaukee Bucks – $4,700 – (Cash/GPP)

Speaking of not safe for cash games, Ghostface Ilya is never cash safe per se, but the veteran is still playing decent minutes off of the bench to garner some attention. While he played 23 minutes on Friday, he only took three shots. The Bucks were +13 while he was on the floor though, so I am guessing the minutes will at least continue for now. When he gets comfortable in his role for his new team, I am guessing the shots will come. He is coming off a just an 11.6 FDP game, but he did manage a decent 26.8 FDP in the Bucks season opener. I don’t think I will play him in cash, but there really isn’t any other punts I am interested in at this point at this position.

***Also Consider: Josh Jackson – $5,300 (Cash/GPP), Dwight Powell – $4,600 (GPP)***

NBA FanDuel: Center Targets:

DeAndre Jordan – Dallas Mavericks – $8,300 – (Cash)

Jordan seems to be comfortable in Dallas, where he is now scoring a little more and playing good all around basketball. He always gets the huge price reduction salary wise because he isn’t known as a scorer. He still will get you double-digit rebounds night in and night out, and he already has six blocked shots through the first two games. He has a pretty safe floor, as his situation with the Mavericks seems to be a little easier for him to accumulate fantasy points. Jordan and his Mavs will take on the Bulls at home, who just had a tough time dealing with Blake Griffin, who scored 33 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. I like Jordan in all formats, but the recent start of JaVale McGee will likely make him the more popular play,

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***Also Consider: Enes Kanter – $7,500 (Cash/GPP), JaVale McGee – $5,500 (Cash), Damian Jones – $4,600 (GPP)***

NBA FanDuel: Sample Cash Lineup 10/22/18:

The line-up below is meant to be illustrative only to further back-up the logic laid out in previous slides. It is not an optimal line-up. It is in fact, just a “Sample Lineup.”

PG – Stephen Curry – Golden State Warriors $10,200
PG – Bryn Forbes – San Antonio Spurs – $4,300
SG – Josh Hart – Los Angeles Lakers – $5,800
SG – Antonio Blakeney – Chicago Bulls – $4,100
SF – Kevin Durant – Golden State Warriors – $10,800
SF – Evan Turner – Portland Trail Blazers – $4,000
PF – Jason Tatum – Boston Celtics – $7,000
PF – Josh Jackson – Phoenix Suns – $5,300
C – DeAndre Jordan – Dallas Mavericks – $8,300

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