NBA FanDuel DFS Targets: Thursday October 25

Welcome to this edition of NBA FanDuel DFS 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 today’s 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 four-game slate, starting at 7:00 ET. I will give two targets at each the guard and forward positions, and one center. Following the picks, will be the ever popular “sample lineup” we like to do here at FantasyCPR.  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.

With NBA however, I can’t stress enough how important it is to not play these sample lineups as silly as it sounds. 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 or even AFTER lock. It happens all of the time, so if you set your lineup now and forget it, it’s probably not going to work out for you in the long run.

Since we like to be on top of things here at FantasyCPR, and get you the best content possible, as early in the day as possible, I am going to scrap the idea of doing the recap. It is probably best NOT to track it after Tuesday’s disaster anyways! In all seriousness, recaps are everywhere, slate overviews are everywhere… I think since I want to try my best to keep on this article daily, lets try to make this last paragraph something different, and perhaps even fun every day instead. Truthfully, I can probably finish this at a decent hour the night before, and still be content with the product if I don’t wait up to do the recap. Sometimes honesty is just funny in itself.

NBA FanDuel DFS: Point Guards:

Russell Westbrook – Oklahoma City Thunder – $12,500 – (GPP)

Westbrook made his 2018 season debut on Sunday at home, in an incredible loss at home to the Sacramento Kings. They say defense is really down this year. I would actually go the extra mile and say in a lot of games that I have seen, defense is optional, and mostly non-existent. In the 11-point 131-120 home loss to the Kings, Westbrook was a little rusty shooting, as he was just 1-6 from 3-point range, but he did finish with 32 points, 8 assists, and 12 rebounds. That pretty much means same old Russ. 50 FP floor and 80-90 point ceiling on most nights. However, I think he is cash fadeable tonight, even on the four game slate. He could also go surprisingly low-owned in GPP’s.

Lonzo Ball – Los Angeles Lakers – $7,300 – (Cash)

I personally don’t think I will go here, as I don’t want to go too crazy on Lakers today. However, this is easily the highest total on the slate tonight as it stands at 239 right now, and certainly a game to target in cash games. The Lakers will the host the Nuggets, who will be looking to remain undefeated. The Lakers remain thin, as starters Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo continue to serve their suspension from their altercation with the Rockets last week. Ball was slightly underwhelming in the overtime loss to the Spurs in the Lakers last game, as he managed 14 points, with 6 assists and 6 rebounds. All in all, I think I would rather target the cheaper second unit of the Lakers today, but Ball should have a safe floor for cash games.

***Also Consider: Damian Lillard $9,800 – (Cash/GPP), Ish Smith $5,100 – (GPP), DJ Augustin $4,500 (Cash/GPP/Punt)***

 NBA FanDuel: Shooting Guards:

Gary Harris – Denver Nuggets – $7,100 – (Cash/GPP)

Shooting guard is pretty thin today, so I think Harris will be a very popular target. Averaging almost 35 FDP per game so far this season, Harris is contributing more and more offensively which is helping his bottom line. He poured in 28 points against Golden State last week, and now an already fast paced team will get a bump in play against the Lakers in that game we want to target. Again, not much depth here, and not an absolute lock here. With Westbrook and LeBron on the slate, I think it’s plenty OK to punt this position completely, with players like our “others to consider.”

Josh Hart – Los Angeles Lakers -$6,800 – (GPP)

With the Lakers dealing with the suspensions, Hart has once again taken the lead of the Lakers second unit, similiar to the way he did at times last season. His salary is a bit high, but the fact that he should play close to 25 minutes at the very least gives him starters value in a sense. He played 38 minutes in the overtime loss to the Spurs on Monday, but put up a ridiculous stat line, with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The next closest bench player in minutes even in an overtime game was Lance Stephenson with 17. While I can get behind playing Hart here, Caldwell-Pope should turn it around soon, and he is a viable punt and much cheaper option.

***Also Consider: Reggie Bullock $4,700 – (Cash), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope $3,900 – (GPP/Punt)

NBA FanDuel DFS: Small Forwards:

LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers – $12,000 – (Cash)

Not only am I going to stay in the Lakers/Nuggets game for this position, I’m actually going to recommend both Lakers. James seemed to have to the attitude that he has the whole city of Los Angeles on his shoulders after two fellow starters were suspended, and with a winless start to this point, I guess I can’t blame him. LeBron gave all he could in the overtime battle with the Spurs, playing 42 minutes, and amassing 63.6 FDP. But it wasn’t enough. Until LeBron can get these Lakers in the win column, I like the idea to keep playing him in DFS. The floor is always safe enough for cash games, and he could drop 70+ at any time. On a small slate with Westbrook and LeBron to choose from, I’ll take James today.

Lance Stephenson – Los Angeles Lakers – $3,900 – (GPP/Punt)

Pretty crazy pick here, considering he only played 17 minutes in the overtime game on Monday, but the Lakers will be on the second leg of a back-to-back after facing the Suns last night, and will likely need to go a little bit deeper than normal on their bench. Stephenson managed 20.7 FDP against the Rockets last Saturday, while playing 22 minutes off the bench. If I knew he was going to get 22-25 minutes, sign me up and I am confident he hits value. If he only gets 17 minutes again, good thing he is only $3,900, and we can drop our worst score now right??!! Ugh. I though Shooting guard was bad today, but I like nobody at this position today.

***Also Consider: Cedi Osman $6,900 – (Cash), Evan Turner $4,600 – (GPP)***

NBA FanDuel: Power Forwards:

Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets – $10,300 – (Cash)

While I am still trying to decide if I pay up for LBJ or the Joker here, one thing is for sure is that there are at least 3 or 4 more good plays here at the power forward position. First of all, Jokic is not a power forward so no idea what Fanduel is doing here, second, this price is too low. This is a triple-double type situation game for Jokic, and he should have no problem meeting his 51.35 FDP per game average in this one. If Jokic was still a center, he would be a lock. Force him in with James, fade Westbrook and Blake Griffin, and balance out the rest. However, Jokic is a power forward I guess.  So much for that idea.

Blake Griffin – Detroit Pistons – $9,200 – (GPP)

There is nobody hotter to start the season, yet Griffin is still getting pretty much no respect. His ownership is staying down as I am guessing most are banking on that flop game soon, but I am looking at this the other way, and playing him over and over again until he cools off, or his salary catches up to his production. There’s no doubt he has the greenest green light on the planet, as he chucked up 35 shots the other night in the overtime win against the 76ers, making 20 of them. The final result in case you missed it was a 50 point game, with 14 rebounds and six assists. When it was all said and done, Blake led his team to a 133-132 victory in overtime, and totaled 77.8 FDP. I love him in all formats, especially in this above-average match-up with the Cavaliers.

***Also Consider: Kyle Kuzma $7,200 – (Cash/GPP), Trey Lyles $4,400 – (GPP/Punt)***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Center Targets:

Andre Drummond – Detroit Pistons – $9,500 – (GPP)

With the move of Jokic to power forward by Fanduel, which makes no sense by the way, Drummond easily should be the top dog at the center position this evening. He cost $1,300 more salary wise than the next closest in Nikola Vucevic, and I think safer floor makes Drummond the right play. Vucci Mane may have a high ceiling, but he will have a tough go with the versatile Jusuf Nurkic on him all night.

The Pistons are just too powerful here with Griffin and Drummond, when you consider they will get to hammer on Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson and the Cavs, who are on a back-to-back and well on their way to being throttled at home right now against the Brooklyn Nets. Four game slate with this duo, facing a weak frontcourt on a back-to-back, AND underpriced?!? Sign me up!

***Also Consider: Jusuf Nurkic $7,500 – (GPP), JaVale McGee $6,200 – (Cash)***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Sample Cash Lineup 10/25/18

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 – Ish Smith – Detroit Pistons – $5,100
PG – DJ Augustin – Orlando Magic – $4,500
SG – Reggie Bullock – Detroit Pistons – $4,700
SG – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – LA Lakers – $3,900
SF – LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers – $12,000
SF – Lance Stephenson – Los Angeles Lakers – $3,900
PF – Blake Griffin – Detroit Pistons – $9,200
PF –Kyle Kuzma – Los Angeles Lakers – $7,200
C – Andre Drummond – Detroit Pistons – $9,500

Thank you for giving this a read to get your NBA research for the day started, and I hope you come back again! You can find me on Twitter with the link at the top of the page. We have TONS of FREE content here from many incredibly talented writers at FantasyCPR, and new stuff to check out constantly. Stick around and come back often as have articles post all throughout the day! Good luck at your grind!