NBA FanDuel DFS Targets: Monday October 29th

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 today’s nine-game slate, starting at our usual time of 7:00 PM ET. I will give two targets at each of 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, I can’t stress enough how important it is to not just plug-and-play these sample lineups. There is so much info that will drop over the course of the day for NBA, and you never truly know what to expect. If you want to be a consistent winner for NBA, lock starts at 7PM 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.

Well we are a solid week into the NBA season, and while he hasn’t left a game early yet, Anthony Davis missed his first game of the year on Saturday, and the Pelicans were handed their first loss of the season by the Jazz because of it. He remains questionable to this point for tonight, and your guess is as good as mine whether or not he will play. Davis is not the only game-time decision to keep an eye on though, as injuries are starting to pile up for teams, and it’s time to figure out who isn’t going to play, because that is likely where our best value will come from.

The other major injury to watch is that to Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo. He left the Bucks last game early after a blow to the head, but word is that he avoided a concussion, which is great news. He hasn’t been cleared, but I think he is more likely to play than Davis. For the sake of the article, I am going to take the approach Davis will not play. I have a feeling he misses one more game, considering his history. If he doesn’t go, a myriad of already decent Pelican plays become good plays.

NBA FanDuel DFS: Point Guards:

Kyle Lowry – Toronto Raptors – $8,800 – (Cash)

I would hate to admit it, because Lowry has always been a streaky player, but he has been one of the most consistent point guards in the early goings this season. Shipping out DeRozan for Leonard seems to have been the right move, as Lowry looks to playing much more comfortable this season thus far. He has racked up four straight double-doubles, and is averaging 43.4 FDP through six games. For $1000 less than Stephen Curry who is on a back-to-back, give me Lowry in cash games. Lowry does not have the ceiling of the top point guards on the slate in Ben Simmons and Dame Lillard, but the consistent 40+ FDP games make him a great cash play in my opinion.

Rajon Rondo – Los Angeles Lakers – $5,800 – (Cash/GPP)

Rondo returned from his suspension on Saturday, and played 29 minutes off the bench, scoring 12 points, grabbing four boards, and dishing out five assists. While those are not great numbers, I like the fact that Lonzo Ball was on the first team with LeBron, and Rondo was running the second team. To go further, Brandon Ingram is set to return from his suspension, and the Lakers should be back to full strength. This should move Kyle Kuzma back to the second team, and I like the idea of him playing with Rondo. Before the suspension, Rondo had two double-doubles in the first two games of the season in points and assists. I don’t think it will take the veteran Rondo long to adjust to his role in Los Angeles, whatever that might be.

Also Consider: Damian Lillard $10,200 – (GPP), Darren Collison $4,600 – (Cash/GPP)

NBA FanDuel DFS: Shooting Guards:

Jrue Holiday – New Orleans Pelicans – $8,000 – (Cash)

First of all, it is worth mentioning Elfrid Payton has been ruled out for this game. AD is questionable of course, and we all know by now if you have played any NBA DFS to play Holiday when Davis is out. But if they both sit, Holiday will be in a situation to take over. The match-up is as tough it can be with Denver, but the usage factor when Davis is out is too hard to ignore. Now couple that with the fact that Payton is certainly cutting into Holiday’s production a bit as well and this has the recipe for the Holiday ceiling game. I wrote this up as cash play, but that is assuming Davis is out as well as Payton. DeMar DeRozan may actually be the better cash play should Davis give it a go.

Rodney McGruder – Miami Heat – $5,600 – (GPP)

Well Justise Winslow came back, but McGruder still logged another 30 minutes and had another fantastic game crushing value. Wayne Ellington was supposed to return Saturday, but didn’t see the court. All McGruder has done in with his opportunity to start with all of the Heat injuries, is notch two double-doubles, while averaging a solid 33.1 FDP per game. In 33 minutes against the Trail Blazers on Saturday, McGruder scored 14 points, and grabbed ten rebounds. The Heat will host the Sacramento Kings tonight, and unless we get some pre-lock news that McGruder will not be starting, I love the GPP upside here.

Also Consider: DeMar DeRozan $8,800 – (Cash/GPP), Damyean Dotson $5,200 – (GPP)

NBA FanDuel DFS: Small Forwards:

LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers – $11,800 – (Cash/GPP)

With all of the injuries to consider, I am going to pair up James with Embiid as my top plays on the slate. The Lakers are travelling to Minnesota, where the news is not if but when will Jimmy Butler be traded. The Wolves are mess. Last time out against the Bucks, Karl-Anthony Towns basically looked like he didn’t want to be there while they got destroyed by 30. If this team will be looking up to him for leadership after Butler is traded, this franchise is heading in the wrong direction.

James has been consistent, and the salary is actually too low here in my opinion. After a slow start, James has eclipsed 50+ FDP in four straight games, with two 60 burgers. I see no reason James shouldn’t be over $12K at this point, and I am guessing he will drop another 50-60 FDP on the Wolves tonight easy.

DeAndre’ Bembry – Atlanta Hawks – $4,400 – (GPP/Punt)

I have kind of been keeping this pick to myself to start the season, but with back-to-back games with 26+ minutes off the bench for the Hawks, Bembry is getting noticed. He was ridiculous on the glass last Wednesday against the Mavs, grabbing 16 rebounds and amassing 44.7 FDP in 29 minutes of action. While that is most certainly a ceiling game, Bembry should be good for 20-25 FDP at the very least if he continues to get this type of run. The 23-year-old will likely see his minutes decrease once John Collins returns from injury, but for now, this is another solid value play.

Also Consider: Kawhi Leonard $9,800 – (GPP), Nikola Mirotic $7,300 – (Cash if Davis is out!)

NBA FanDuel DFS: Power Forwards:

Noah Vonleh – New York Knicks – $4,400 – (GPP)

First thing to say about the power forward position today is ish. If LaMarcus Aldridge was not coming off of a mediocre game where he seemed to cool off, he would be high on my radar today. But with a nice big slate and a couple of other places to spend up, I likely will not be paying over $4,500 for either power forward today. So let’s start with Vonleh.

It is tough to target the Knicks for DFS purposes because they seem to have so many moving parts. Other than #PicksAndPivots favorite Tim Hardaway Jr., it doesn’t seem anyone else on this team can be relied on for starter type minutes. In fact, in their home loss to the Warriors on Friday, THJ was the only Knick that played over 30 minutes. Vonleh entered the starting lineup, played 22 minutes, and managed to put up 27 FDP. He won’t score a lot of points, but his defense can create blocks and steals, and he should match-up well with Brooklyn.

Ersan Ilyasova – Milwaukee Bucks – $4,100 – (GPP/Cash/Punt) (Cash if Giannis is out)

There will be a ton of eyes on this game in Milwaukee tonight, as the undefeated Bucks will host the undefeated Raptors in a “someone’s 0 has got go” game. Both teams are 6-0, and the big question everyone will want to know before tip-off will be the status of All-Star Giannis Antetokounmpo. The Bucks are deep, and the reason I have my eye on Ilyasova, is because he picked up some extra minutes after G went out with the head injury last game, and ended up playing five more minutes than starting center Brook Lopez. He only scored two points, but was able to grab ten rebounds, and dish out six assists. I don’t think he will get a lot of looks as a scoring option, but his all around game can give you a solid DFS line in the event Antetokounmpo sits, and there are extra minutes to go around.

Also Consider: Trey Lyles $4,700 – (Cash), Zach Collins $4,500 – (GPP)

NBA FanDuel DFS: Center Targets:

Joel Embiid – Philadelphia 76ers – $11,000 – (Cash/GPP)

My favorite match-up of the day and pretty much the spot where I started my lineup today is right here with Embiid. The Sixers will host the Hawks, who will have guys like Dewayne Dedmon and Alex Len trying to stop Embiid here in this one.

More from FanSided

What he has done to start this season is nothing short of remarkable, as he as amassed six straight 25 point, 10 rebound games while playing huge minutes, as if his ankle problems are a thing of the past. Four of six of those first games were 30 and 10 games, and Embiid has also racked up three 60+ FDP games. With the questions surrounding AD and G, lock in Embiid and go from there.

Also Consider: Nikola Jokic $10,300 – (GPP)

NBA FanDuel DFS: Sample Cash Lineup 10/29/18

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 – Rajon Rondo – $5,800

PG – Darren Collison – $4,600

SG – Jrue Holiday – $8,000

SG – Rodney McGruder – $5,600

SF – LeBron James – $11,800

SF – DeAndre’ Bembry – $4,400

PF – Noah Vonleh – $4,400

PF – Ersan Ilyasova – $4,100

C – Joel Embiid – $11,000

Next. NBA DFS Picks and Pivots. dark

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