FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Thursday, 12/6 – Uncle Drew Time?

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown

Welcome back, NBA DFS players, to the Thursday edition of the FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown! I’m “Thunder Dan” and I love writing about FanDuel NBA DFS more than I like to sleep, considering the fact that I’m usually either writing this very late at night or really early in the morning.

As always in this article, my goal every day is to give you my top targets every night for GPP contests for FanDuel NBA.  When making these picks I always take into account salary, ownership, and match-up and I always do my best to give you a clear rationale for why I believe each player makes an elite GPP target.

Tonight we have a super small, somewhat tricky 3-game slate. I’ll be going game-by-game instead of position by position today since it’s such a small slate. Two of the three games tonight have double-digit spreads and the FanDuel pricing has presented us with quite a challenge in roster construction.

"For tournaments, we’re not satisfied with just 5x return on a player’s salary, we’re looking for players who can hit 6-7x value or greater."

Remember, this is a first look article that is intended to get you pointed in the right direction with your research. There will be information that comes out during the day that will likely push us onto certain plays or off others.  As the season goes along, we run into more and more injury and rest situations that can entirely change the slate so my best advice is to never settle on a lineup at 6 AM (a friendly reminder that the sample lineup is often constructed about 6 AM) and be flexible enough in your roster construction to change your lineups close to lineup lock if necessary. Let’s take a look at what this slate has in store for us tonight!

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: New York @ Boston

The good news is this game has the highest total on the slate. However, it’s only one point higher than the other two games and the Celtics are 12 point favorites at home. We simply don’t have the luxury of trying to predict a blowout here since we only have three games to choose from and we are going to have to use some players from this game.

Let’s start with the Knicks, who should have some backcourt minutes available again with Trey Burke out of the lineup.  Emmanuel Mudiay has played 35 and 36 minutes in the last two games and is in play at his 5700 price tag, especially considering Kyrie Irving is not known for his defense.  The only primary beneficiary of Burke’s absence has been Damyean Dotson (5800) who got serious price hike here but has gone for 30+ FD points in three straight.

The other two Knicks I’m considering are Noah Vonleh (5000) and Enes Kanter (7100) as both could do some damage inside against Boston, a team that is known to give up some big games to opposing big men. Vonleh scored 41 FD points in this matchup last time and Kanter just needs the minutes (only 26 per game in his last 3 games) to hit value as we know he’s a solid FPPM contributor. If the Knicks are able to keep it close, it’s likely because of major contributions from these guys.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: New York @ Boston

For Boston, the question is “to Kyrie, or not to Kyrie.” Irving (9000) has had two very different outcomes against the Knicks this season, going for 58 FD points in their last matchup, but also only being held to 28 in their first meeting. The Celtics should be at full strength tonight with Jaylen Brown (a solid value option at 4700) back in the lineup. I’m usually more inclined to favor the Celtics cheaper role players instead of paying for Kyrie here, but this is still a pretty elite spot for Irving and he is a major pivot off Damian Lillard for 1400 cheaper. I will be using him and several other Celtics in some lineups tonight.

Those role players that I am interested in besides the aforementioned Brown would be Gordon Hayward (6400), who’s fresh off a 56 FD point outing against Minnesota, and Marcus Morris (5700). Al Horford (6900) is in a good spot here as centers can do work against the Knicks, but it’s hard to bring myself to pay almost 7k for him with Boston at full strength.

If the Knicks can keep this game close until the fourth, then I think this is game we can that will have some really solid value in and I’m going to be targeting it heavily tonight.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Phoenix @ Portland

I’m going to keep my analysis of this game pretty short. The Suns are going to be without Devin Booker and T.J. Warren and we saw the other night just how bad they can be without their two main scoring options. I would caution everyone against stacking this game as I think the odds of Phoenix getting blown out by Portland are much greater than the Knicks getting blown out by the Celtics.

De’Anthony Melton (4500) came out of nowhere to score 32 FD points against Sacramento and he’s likely to be a really popular choice for cap relief if he draws the start over Elie Okobo tonight. I’m not interested in either of these young guards tonight as point guards really tend to struggle against the Blazers this season. I am also not playing Josh Jackson (5500) because I think he will be chalky and also likely to bust, as he did on Tuesday.

The two Suns I have some interest in are Trevor Ariza (5800) and Mikal Bridges (4900) as small forward is the position that I like to target against Portland. I prefer Bridges because he’s cheaper and more likely to play even in mop-up duty if the game does, in fact, get out of hand. He played 30 and 34 minutes in their last two games and had 5 blocks/steals.

The big news we need on the Portland side is the status of CJ McCollum (7200), who is questionable with an ankle sprain. This is somewhat problematic as this game is two hours after the slate locks on FanDuel and we may not have news by then. If he sits, then Damian Lillard (10400) will be massive chalk and will be a necessary cash game play. But I’m likely to fade Dame in GPPs as I think he has a hard time paying off that price tag as this game has blowout written all over it. The only other Blazer I’m considering is Al-Farouq Aminu (5900) as he has been on a nice hot streak and I think he can pay off his tag even if he only plays 28-30 minutes.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Houston @ Utah

This is the game that should be heavily targeted tonight by DFS players as it projects to be the most competitive contest of the evening. The two teams met once already way back in October and Utah came out on top 100-89, but the Rockets were without Chris Paul in that game.

For the Rockets, I am mainly looking at two players – Chris Paul (8100) and Clint Capela (9100). I simply don’t see a reason to try to cram in James Harden (11400) at that salary as he has failed to hit 6x value all season long when the Rockets are at full strength.

Paul seems way too cheap today and is a nice pivot off the ownership of Kyrie and Dame. Ricky Rubio is not known for his defense and Paul is always a triple-double threat and a guy that averages over two steals a game.

Meanwhile, Capela is playing is his best basketball of the season and continues to crank out double-doubles and big games lately. Most people would never target an overpriced center against Rudy Gobert, but Gobert has given up big games to opposing centers this season and I love Capela as a pivot off Harden and Gobert. He’s my favorite Rocket to roster and I think he’ll thrive in what could be a slower-paced game tonight.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Houston @ Utah

The Jazz are in a good spot here tonight, and most of their players are pretty affordable other than Rudy Gobert (9800).  I think Donovan Mitchell (8500) is the play from the Jazz tonight as he should draw James Harden defense. He crushed the Rockets in their first matchup with an impressive 38-5-7 line and maybe he’s sneaky here tonight as the game-log watchers may avoid him based on two sub-30 FD point outings in a row. Mitchell is the ultimate GPP play.

I’m avoiding Ricky Rubio (Chris Paul defense) and targeting Joe Ingles (6200) as my other main target here for Utah. I think Ingles has a nice floor and ceiling here and should be able to get open looks behind the three-point line against the Houston defense.  He also could take on ball-handling duties if CP3 puts the clamps on Rubio, which could help him rack up more assists.

Jae Crowder (5500) and Derrick Favors (5100) are trading starts for the Jazz and splitting the minutes at the four. Figuring out which one will have a good game can be frustrating but I lean towards using Crowder in this matchup. Kyle Korver is a cheap near min-priced option at 3600 who could get hot off the bench if you absolutely need a punt.

FanDuel NBA GPP Breakdown: Sample Lineup and Slate Overview

I try to include as many of the players that I write-up in my lineups, but once in a while I can’t always make it work with the salary cap. Today I was able to get everyone I mentioned in there and I really like this build.

More from FanSided

• USWNT vs. Vietnam: Key takeaways before they take on the Dutch
• NFL rumors: 49ers trending toward contract drama with defensive star
• Steelers avoid any camp drama with latest roster move
• MLB Rumors: Potential Braves reunion, Lance Lynn no-trade clause and Orioles deadline intentions
• Caesars, BetMGM and PointsBet Promo Codes Give $1,850 Bonus for ANY World Cup or MLB Game!

My strategy will be to target the Houston-Utah and New York-Boston games for the majority of my players and I’m trying to limit my exposure to the Phoenix-Portland game as much as possible. The pricing on FD is tough today and I think we will winning scores that are a lot lower than last night (seriously my 343 cash lineup didn’t even hit in 50-50’s!)

Keep in mind these sample lineups are for illustrative purposes are not intended to be plug-and-play lineups. There’s still a lot that could happen that could change roster construction during the course of the day.  Here’s what I am looking at this morning.

PG: Emmanuel Mudiay (5700)
PG: Kyrie Irving (9000)
SG: Donovan Mitchell (8500)
SG: Damyean Dotson (5800)
SF: Joe Ingles (6200)
SF: Mikal Bridges (4900)
PF: Noah Vonleh (5000)
PF: Marcus Morris (5700)
C: Clint Capela (9100)

Thanks for reading and make sure you check out all the other great content @fantasyCPR! Good luck in your contests!