Fantasy Basketball: NBA Draftkings Top Salary Value Plays 12/20

Hey guys! Apologies for not having any articles for the previous three slates but we are back! Now tonight we have a very small and “chalky” NBA DraftKings slate with just two lonely games. It’s really nothing to be overly excited about but we love DFS! So lets dive in and find the “Top Tier” play and the “Other Valuable” play. Since it’s such a small slate, we can’t really go too crazy with the tiers and risks. So good luck and cash out!

NBA Draftkings – The Breakdown

So as usually, with any NBA Draftkings slate, we’re going to look at a players stats, usage rate, previous game stats, the opposing teams defensive stats versus the players position, and their salary. A big part of daily fantasy sports is a players salary. We build our lineups around key players and if they are players like Lebron James, James Harden, Russell Westbrook, or Giannis Antetokounmpo then they come along with a hefty price tag. We need a player to hit at least five times their value with their salary to make it “worth it” in a sense but what we really want and need is for it to be around six or possibly even seven times their value. For example, the other night Russell Westbrook was priced at $10,900 versus the New Orleans Pelicans so we needed him to hit 54.50 fantasy points to return five times his value. Sadly, he did not. This is why we’re switching up the article format and trying to dig even deeper with our NBA Slates.

Now we might not always have multiple players (minimum two) discussed at every position on every article because the NBA has the weirdest schedule this season. Like @ThunderDanDFS stated to us, the NBA schedule has been 8-4-12-2-10 games for the week. We’re going to be looking at a showdown slate for just two games due to the NBA not knowing what a proper, nice schedule looks like.

Lets not waste any more time and kick off the research for this 2 game NBA Draftkings Slate. As always though, I will be sticking with Draftkings as I rarely play on Fanduel anymore. Good luck and lets cash out! Also don’t forget to participate in the Free Roll on FantasyDraft which FantasyCPR host daily!

NBA DraftKings Top Tier

Chris Paul vs. Miami Heat

Salary: $8,200 – Needs to score 41 fantasy points or more to exceed value

A lot of people tonight will most likely roster James Harden due to his impressive three game streak of domination. Now is it smart to fade James Harden with this very small slate? Probably not. But we’re going to look at Chris Paul at the point guard position due to his match-up and history of averaging a double double against the Miami Heat. To start off, this is the game with the lowest of both with just 210 total points. Plus when it comes to defending the point guard position, Miami allows them to average 21 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assist per game.

When facing the Miami Heat, Chris Paul is averaging 17 points, 10 assist, and 4 rebounds. That’s screaming for the double double and for CP3 to return his value tonight. The part that could make anyone hop off of Chris Paul tonight is his last few games. He has only returned value once in his past five games, scoring 40, 51.75, 35.25, 31.75, and 35.25 fantasy points. But he’s still a top play at the point guard position tonight but with the value or punt plays on this slate, you most likely can build a line-up with both, Chris Paul and James Harden.

Other Valuable Options

Patrick Beverley vs. Dallas Mavericks

Salary: $4,300 – Needs to score 21.5 fantasy points or more to exceed value

This is where the digging and punting comes in to play tonight. Now Patrick Beverly may not be a huge punt or surprise line-up move but he does come in with a nice streak and price tag. Beverly is only averaging 6 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assist off of 24 minutes this season. Nothing impressive. But he has played 30 minutes in his past two games and in his last one against the Portland Trailblazers, he scored a double double with 10 points and 11 assist. He has been heating up in his past two games due to his extender time on the court. Not only does he have a low fantasy point total to exceed his value tonight, he also has a nice price tag where he can help you roster other big players.

The Dallas Mavericks are allowing point guards to average 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assist on the season which is a good thing to notice when it comes to these small slates. Speaking of slates, this one with the Los Angeles Clippers and Dallas Mavericks, it is the largest points total with 221 total points. Beverly is fits what we need when it comes to building around the star athletes of this slate.

NBA DraftKings Top Tier

James Harden vs. Miami Heat

Salary: $11,600 – Needs to score 58 fantasy points or more to exceed value

Already explained the pure domination of this man in his past three games when we covered Chris Paul as a top play. James Harden and the Houston Rockets do have a the lower point total but it’s just hard to pass up someone who has scored 86.5, 69.5, and 71.5 in his last few games. There is a way to build a line-up around this man and his teammate. James Harden is averaging 31 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assist per game while seeing the floor for 36 minutes also. He is almost averaging a point a minute. Can’t pass that up.

Now can he get to 58 fantasy points tonight and return value or exceed that $11,600 price tag? Most likely, he’s on a different level right now. Plus the Miami Heat are allowing shooting guards to average 23 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assist per game. Now that isn’t anything amazing or to go crazy over, but certainly James Harden will exceed that stat line.

Other Valuable Option 

Dwayne Wade vs. Houston Rockets

Salary: $5,900 – Needs to score 29.5 fantasy points or more to exceed value

His farewell tour is something else and it’s sad to know one of the best guards of all time is retiring at the end of this season.  Now Dwayne Wade doesn’t average a crazy stat line versus the Houston Rockets but he his shot does drop. Shooting almost 50% against the Rockets, Wade averages 24 points, 6 assist and 4 rebounds in 27 games versus them, Also on the season, Wade is averaging 14 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assist while seeing the floor for 25 minutes per game.

He hasn’t been the most consistent this season and in his past five games he has scored 6.75, 46.50, 40.75, 10.25, and 28.5 fantasy points. If Dwayne Wade can get his shot to drop like his previous 27 games, he can easily exceed value versus the Rockets who allow shooting guards to average 23 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assist per game.

NBA DraftKings Top Tier

Harrison Barnes vs. Los Angeles Clippers

Salary: $6,000 – Needs to score 30 fantasy points or more to exceed value

This is a very dry and tough position to fill for the small forwards position. Luckily we have some history between the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Clippers, since they just played on December 2nd. We’re hoping for very similar result as Harrison Barnes dropped 30 points, 9 rebounds, and just one assist. If he repeats that performance, he’ll easily exceed the 30 fantasy points mark.

He is averaging 18 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist with 30 minutes per game on the season so far. Barnes hasn’t hit value that often lately with only 2 out of his 5 games doing so. He does get to face a Clippers team that allows small forwards to average 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assist per game this season. This game does have the highest total of the two with 221 points meaning that Harrison Barnes may have more opportunities to hit and exceed his value tonight.

Other Valuable Option

Danilo Gallinari  vs. Dallas Mavericks

Salary: $6,600 – Needs to score 33 fantasy points or more to exceed value

Really, this is a tough position to call. We have Danilo Gallinari as the other valuable option but you can also look at his teammate, Tobias Harris, who can do equally or more than him tonight. Gallinari is averaging 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assist per game this season and he also has a nice history when facing the Dallas Mavericks. In 16 games, Danilo Gallinari has averaged 17 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assist.

He has only hit his value once in the past five games, scoring 35.75, 22.25, 27.25, 42.25, and 32.25 fantasy points. The Dallas Mavericks allow small forwards to average 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assist per game. There are really no options besides Harrison Barnes, Tobias Harris and Danilo Gallinari unless you’re going punting and praying for a big hit from another option but that’s a huge risk.

NBA DraftKings Top Tier

Tobias Harris vs. Dallas Mavericks

Salary: $7,800 – Needs to score 39 fantasy points or more to exceed value

Doesn’t Tobias Harris look like J. Cole? I believe so. But back to basketball, we just said that Tobias Harris was the only other option for the small forward position. But he’s also the top play for the power forward position. These games are very difficult to choose from just because we’re playing with chalk. Harris has scored 52.5, 14.75, 25.25, 36.75, and 58.75 fantasy points in his past five games.

He is almost averaging a double double on the season with 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assist in 34 minutes per game. Harris has been one of the biggest, if not the biggest, impact for this Los Angeles Clippers team that is in a rebuild mode. He gets to face the Dallas Mavericks who allow power forwards to average 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assist per game. That gives Tobias Harris the opportunity to earn a double double but we have to hope he improves his performance since the December 2nd match-up. Harris only recorded 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assist. We’ll need a little bit more from him to have him exceed his salary value for the night.

Other Valuable Option

Kelly Olynyk vs. Houston Rockets

Salary: $4,700 – Needs to score 23.5 fantasy points or more to exceed value

I really don’t expect Kelly Olynyk to be that much of chalk but I could be completely wrong. Olynyk has exceeded value in 4 of his past 5 games with fantasy point totals of 39.5, 25, 33, 36.75, and 16.5. That gives up for us. Olynyk is averaging 10 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assist while seeing the floor for 20 minutes per game. Olynyk has only faced the Houston Rockets 7 times in career but he is averaging 7 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 assist per game.

When facing power forwards, Houston allows them to average 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assist per game as a unit. This play is a risk, possibly big, but Olynyk has been in double-digit scoring in 8 games out of the last 10 but they all came in a row. This is one of those risk plays that can turn out very huge if Kelly Olynyk can get his shot following quickly as he is playing on the bench, his opportunities are less.

NBA DraftKings Top Tier

DeAndre Jordan vs. Los Angeles Clippers

Salary: $7,400 – Needs to score 37 fantasy points or more to exceed value

Revenge narrative! Once again actually. DeAndre Jordan dominated his former team when he played them the first time on December 2nd. The big man recorded a double double, scoring 23 points, 16 rebound, and 3 assist. So with the way things happened between the Clippers and DeAndre Jordan during his time there, I wouldn’t be surprised if he dropped a similar stat line or even more tonight. Jordan is averaging a double double on the season with 11 points, 13 rebounds, and 3 assist per game.

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In his last five games, he has scored 26.25, 28.25, 35.25, 47.25, and 32 fantasy points. He gets to face the Clippers, not only his former team but the team that ranks worse against centers, allowing them to average 25 points, 17 rebounds, and 4 assist per game. Screw the chalk and just lock DeAndre Jordan in! Don’t get to crazy with the build and swing away with punts though when pairing Jordan with another top player.

Other Valuable Option (Risk Play)

Boban Marjanovic vs. Dallas Mavericks

Salary: $3,700 – Needs to score 18.5 fantasy points or more to exceed value

Now this is more of a @FantasyCPR favorite unlike Tim Hardaway Jr. because only @2LockSports loves him. Boban Marjanovic is very cheap and for a reason. His minutes vary every game and we never know when he’ll actually go off or get his shot to fall. Boban is only averaging 7 points, 4 rebounds in just 11 minutes of play per game this season. In his past five games, he has scored 13.5, 20.5, 26.25, 7.25, and a depressing 3 fantasy points which was in his last game. We can discuss his match versus Dallas on December 2nd as this which is sad and impressive, a steal in one minute of playing. We don’t need that tonight.

We need top of the line Boban Marjanovic but it’ll be tough since DeAndre Jordan is on the other side. This is a complete risk play but if you want to save salary and take the big risk, roster Boban Marjanovic because he can easily make up for his last match-up against the Dallas Mavericks.

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all the latest NBA DFS news and Fantasy Basketball analysis!