NBA FanDuel DFS Targets: Wednesday November 7th

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 the Wednesday edition of NBA FanDuel Targets for NBA DFS. First, I will go over players to target at each position for tonight’s massive 10-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 DFS, 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.

What To Expect Tonight:

Well it was certainly tough to put together a decent lineup yesterday with just four games, but that will not be the case tonight. We have 20 teams in action tonight with ten games to sort through, so the options will be aplenty.

As always here, I will start with a few of the top match-up’s to watch, some injury situations, and anything else that may be of note to think about today when making your lineups.

Despite the large slate, only two teams will be on the second-leg of a back-to-back, and one will be the struggling and injury depleted Atlanta Hawks. After last night, it is fair to say there are no viable fantasy options on this team on a larger slate, so let’s move right along.

Biggest news maybe is the injury to Russell Westbrook. If you saw it, you probably looked away, as your ankle just doesn’t look like it is supposed to turn like that. Let’s hope it wasn’t as serious as it looked, and that he won’t miss any significant time.

For the time being, this will give a nice fantasy bump to Paul George and Dennis Schroder. We are still waiting for a few game totals for tomorrow to roll in, as games are still in progress Tuesday night while I am writing this, but here is what we know so far.

Jimmy Butler is listed as questionable once again, as Minnesota continues their west coast road trip and will face the dysfunctional Lakers. There seems to be so much turmoil surrounding both of these teams involving players, coaches and winning, that that fact alone makes this game interesting.

Butler it seems is just taking advantage of Minnesota, and playing when he wants. If the Wolves want a chance to stay in this game, something will need to change quick. In my opinion, Minnesota will be stuck in a rut until they trade Butler, and for DFS purposes, I think it is only hurting things as well, considering we never know when he will decide to not play.

On the Lakers side, basically it seems fans are upset because they have LeBron now and are only 4-6. Rumors swirl that James and coach Luke Walton don’t see eye-to-eye, and Walton will be out soon as Lakers coach. My take on this is simple… Really?!? It’s been 10 games people.. Relax.

James is not the only new face in LA, and they are still trying to find their rhythm, which is exactly what happened when James went to Miami, and back to Cleveland.

One last thing before we get to the targets today is that it seems this will definitely be a day to keep an eye on the news. At first glance, it shouldn’t be too tough of an injury day, but some top names are still a threat to sit out tonight.

First name that comes to mind here is Kawhi Leonard. He is listed as questionable, but if he misses his third straight game, it doesn’t really open up any fantasy options on a large slate, considering the Raptors will likely spread those minutes out as they have been doing.

One other name to keep an eye on is Donovan Mitchell, who missed Monday’s game against the Raptors with a sore ankle. His absence made Royce O’Neal a viable punt for a day, but that looks short lived as Mitchell is probable tonight, and looks poised to return.

Without further ado, let’s get to it!

NBA FanDuel DFS: Point Guards:

Ben Simmons – Philadelphia 76ers – $9,500 – (GPP)

Any time I play Sixers big man Joel Embiid, I usually like to pair him with Simmons. Philly got smoked by the Nets last time they took the court on Sunday, and now they travel to Indiana to face the Pacers as 2.5 point underdogs.

While this isn’t expected to be a huge scoring game with a Vegas total of just 217.5, the individual match-up’s we could see here for most of this game are what make it interesting from a DFS perspective, and that starts with Simmons.

I don’t expect the veteran Darren Collison to be able to keep up with Simmons, and it is possible that he could see some Victor Oladipo defense. If that happens, probably not good, but I don’t expect it.

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

Regardless of the status of Raptors teammate Kawhi Leonard, Lowry once again looks like the top cash play at the point guard position. Toronto will clash with the surprisingly hot 6-4 Sacramento Kings, who have won five of their last six games.

In fact, they had won five straight until the Bucks kind of put them in their place on Sunday, dropping 144 points on them and winning by 35 points. Meanwhile, the 10-1 Raptors will try to make it four straight wins on this road trip, despite Leonard missing the last two games.

Lowry torched the Lakers on Sunday for 58.7 FDP, and followed that with a solid 43.9 at Utah on Monday. He has double-doubled in points and assists in eight of the last nine games, and will remain one of my top point guard plays until he cools a bit.

***Value Plays:  Derrick Rose $5,500 – Ish Smith $4,600 – Jeremy Lin $3,800***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Shooting Guards:

Tim Hardaway Jr. – New York Knicks – $7,500 – (GPP)

While mine and yours favorite FantasyCPR writer @2lockSports is on vacation this week, it is my civil duty to write-up THJ in a revenge game against his former Hawks. This is new territory for me as I rarely roster Knicks, but I will do my best.

All jokes aside, this will be a fast paced game against a terrible defense that also happens to be injury riddled, and on the tail end of a back-to-back. The price is quite steep here, so ownership will be close to non-existent. Especially for a guy who was slated to come off the bench last time out, but was ultimately held out instead.

If THJ returns to the starting lineup, he is GPP viable. If he does not, I am not sure he will play at all, so it is not worth it to risk it. He carries no injury designation at the moment, which I take as he is good to go. Hardaway Jr. put up 51.7 FDP against the Hawks in the season opener, and if he pops off like that again, he could certainly guide you to the green.

Dennis Schroder – Oklahoma City Thunder – $6,400 – (Cash)

This one is going to be everyone’s chalk lock of the day, and will likely turn out to be close to 80% in cash games if I had to make a prediction. When building my cash lineups, I usually start with the obvious, and this is one you probably don’t want to overthink.

Schroder has been playing solid with his new team anyways, but now he looks to receive the bulk of Westbrooks minutes running the point with the starters. Schroder is already averaging close to 30 FDP per game, and considering this match-up with the Cavaliers, he should easily eclipse that given the extra run he should get.

***Value Plays: Garrett Temple $4,200 – Allonzo Trier $4,200***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Small Forwards:

LeBron James – Los Angeles Lakers – $11,200 – (Cash)

I am pretty sure that the consensus today will be that the top play of the slate is Anthony Davis as he will tangle with the Bulls, but after what happened to the Lakers the other day against the Raptors, I would hope James is eager to get back out there and at least keep his team in the game in the first quarter.

Toronto built an absurd 25-point lead at the end of the first quarter, and the game was so out of hand already, James got some extra rest. Now, the equally dysfunctional Timberwolves come to town, and they will likely once again be missing Jimmy Butler.

Something has to give in this game, and I could see both teams caring almost zero about defense, much like the first meeting between these two teams last week. The Wolves won that game 124-120 with Butler knocking down five three’s in the fourth quarter.

James was a force in that game as well, missing a triple-double by two assists, and putting up 60 FDP. For my money and overall quality of position today, give me James over AD by a nose, but only because I can play Blake Griffin at power forward.

Nikola Mirotic – New Orleans Pelicans – $8,400 – (GPP)

Other than LeBron’s tasty match-up with a potentially Jimmy Butler-less Timberwolves, the only other small forward worth targeting and paying up for is the red-hot Mirotic. Whether Davis is in or out, or Elfrid Payton plays or not, the one constant in this lineup has been the steady play of Mirotic.

Now averaging over 40 FDP per game, Mirotic has notched five straight double-doubles in points and rebounds, and has also eclipsed the 40 FDP plateau in each of those games.

Even though the Pelicans opponent the Chicago Bulls are struggling, I think this game will end up closer than the ten point spread suggests, and stacking the Pelicans is really always an option if you can make it work. Again, I don’t think I personally will go here tonight, but the play makes sense.

***Value Plays: DeAndre’ Bembry $4,900 – Kyle Anderson $4,800***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Power Forwards:

Anthony Davis – New Orleans Pelicans – $11,800 – (Cash/GPP)

It appears as though Davis is off of the injury report completely, but the shoulder still appears to be bothering him a bit. He only managed 20 points on Monday against the Thunder, but logged 37 minutes in a tough match-up with Steven Adams.

It should be much easier tonight, as the Pelicans will host the injury riddled Chicago Bulls. Rookie big man Wendell Carter Jr. has been playing good basketball of late, but the fact he got in early foul trouble on Monday with the Knicks could mean he could really have his hands full with AD.

I personally am not ready to play Davis in cash games, as my next target seems to have no problem carrying my cash teams every time he takes the court it seems.

Blake Griffin – Detroit Pistons – $9,600 – (Cash/GPP)

Griffin is still under $10K. That means his is still a stone cold lock for me regardless of opponent. Look until this guy slows down a bit can you really argue with that? My only guess here is that FanDuel looks at the Griffin/Andre Drummond situation in the same way that they see the Kevin Durant/Steph Curry situation.

It seems the thought would be that they maybe cancel out some of the others fantasy production, but it has not been going that way. Both Griffin and Drummond remain underpriced at under $10K, as both are capable of dropping 50 burgers, even on the same night.

***Value Plays: Larry Nance Jr. $4,800 – Trey Lyles $4,800***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Center Targets:

Andre Drummond – Detroit Pistons – $9,600 – (Cash)

While I understand Sixers big man Joel Embiid is in an absolute smash spot against the Pacers tonight, the savings on Drummond is just too good to ignore in cash games, so I am going to save Embiid for tournament play.

Drummond and the Pistons will head to Orlando to face the Magic, and like I said before with Griffin, these two remain in play nearly every night until they get a price bump a bit.

It is much more ridiculous how hot Griffin in terms of producing FDP’s, but Drummond is coming off of a monster 25-point, 24-rebound performance in the overtime loss to the Heat on Monday.

With a low Vegas total and a battle with Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon defensively, I might be the only one recommending the Pistons big men today, but I don’t care much about that really. Sometimes when guys are playing well and carrying a team you keep riding them along… Especially when they don’t even get the respect of a salary bump.

***Value Plays:  Bam Adebayo $5,600 (If Whiteside is out!)***

NBA FanDuel DFS: Sample Cash Lineup 11/7/18:

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 – Derrick Rose – $5,500
PG – Jeremy Lin – $3,800
SG – Dennis Schroder – $6,400
SG – Allonzo Trier – $4,200
SF – LeBron James – $11,200
SF – Kyle Anderson – $4,800
PF – Blake Griffin – $9,600
PF – Larry Nance Jr. – $4,800
C – Andre Drummond – $9,600

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