FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Saturday 2/23 – Ride the Thunder Again!

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Saturday 2/23

Welcome back to a special Saturday edition of the FanDuel NBA Breakdown! I’m “Thunder Dan” and I love playing and writing about FanDuel NBA DFS. As always, to help you get your research started for tonight’s NBA DFS slate on FanDuel.

I usually try to take the weekend off but I couldn’t resist the opportunity to write up this huge 11-game slate, it’s not often that we get such a big slate on a Saturday.

Last night was a great example of how we have to be willing to pivot off our original builds. My article yesterday said I would not use Paul George or Russell Westbrook in cash, but when we had value open up with Myles Turner and KAT ruled out, I had to scrap my build and use Taj Gibson, Ivan Rabb, and Kyle O’Quinn and was able to get Westbrook into my build. It’s a good thing, too, since that OKC game went to double OT.

"The FanDuel NBA Breakdown is a first look article that is intended to be a starting point for your cash game or GPP research for FanDuel NBA DFS."

My goal when I first changed the layout of the Breakdown was to create an all-inclusive article that gives you a place to start your research for FanDuel NBA cash games and GPPs. When making my cash and GPP picks I always take into account salary, Vegas trends, ownership, and match-up and I always do my best to give you a clear rationale for why I believe each player makes a great GPP or cash target.

Let’s dive right into our injury report and Vegas data section to see where we want to start building today!

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: First Look

Injury Report

OUT: Lonzo Ball, Spencer Dinwiddie, Iman Shumpert, Robert Covington, Kyle Anderson, Jaren Jackson, Tristan Thompson, TJ Warren

DOUBTFUL: James Johnson

QUESTIONABLE: Goran Dragic, Kevin Huerter, Darius Miller, Anthony Davis, Jonas Valanciunas, Myles Turner, Karl-Anthony Towns, James Harden

PROBABLE: Malcolm Brogdon, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Gordon Hayward

The big news here centers around James Harden and Anthony Davis. My bet is that Harden plays in a game against GSW and that Davis rests. Either way, don’t play Anthony Davis today or any day the rest of the year!

Vegas Info

Atlanta, Charlotte, Memphis, Chicago, Indiana, Washington, Detroit, Minnesota, Dallas, and Utah ALL played yesterday and are on the second half of back to backs. You certainly can’t eliminate all these teams from consideration, but also proceed with caution in terms of their rotations and minutes.

There are four games with totals over 230 today! This is going to be another high scoring DFS slate and I think we are going to have to cross a few lower total games off today in order to pare down the player pool.

There are also two games with 10 point spreads (Utah-Dallas and Chicago-Boston) if you want to eliminate some games that might be blowouts you could cross those off. I do like a few plays from the Celtics-Bulls, though.

OKC (122) and GSW (121) have the two highest team totals today and I absolutely want some exposure to both teams in all my lineups – cash and GPP tonight.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Cash Game Core

Welcome to the cash game core section of the Breakdown!  I’ve been giving you a GPP core in the past, so instead, I wanted to provide you with a solid trio of players to start building your cash game lineups with tonight. I highly recommend playing cash games on a nightly basis to help build that bankroll.

Russell Westbrook (11900)

Russ played 42 minutes last night before fouling out and dropped a 77-bomb on the Jazz. Now tonight he gets the Kings at home in a pace-up spot. He should go crazy again and I wouldn’t be surprised if he pushed 70-80 FD points again. The Kings can keep it close and then we’ll see peak Russ take over late again.

Kevin Durant (10400)

KD is the cheapest of the big four small forwards tonight by a good bit and is in great form, coming off a 65 FD point performance against the Kings. If you can find the money to get up to PG13 or LeBron go for it, but I think Durant offers us a similar floor and ceiling tonight for less cap.

Dwayne Wade (5400)

Wade has looked really good lately and is the kind of high usage player that doesn’t need a ton of minutes to rack up the stats. He played 30 minutes against Philly on Thursday but had a day off to rest his old knees. As long as he plays 25 minutes I think he’s a lock for 25-30 FD points and is the cheapest shooting guard that I feel good about today.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Top GPP Plays

For tournament plays, I’m looking for more than just 5x. I’m looking for 6-7x or more and we really want to chase those players with high ceilings, not just floors. We also want to take some risks on players that we think we can get at lower ownership than the chalkier cash game plays.

Paul George (11700)

PG13 continued to build his legacy last night. He played a massive 50 minutes but dropped 45 actual points and racked up 69 FANDUEL POINTS!  He might have some tired legs tonight and I don’t love using jump shooters on back to backs, but I still think he’s got a ton of upside in a juicy spot against the Kings at home and I’ve learned to stop doubting George and what he’s capable of this season.

Chris Paul (8000)

So James Harden is questionable, huh? I actually hope Harden plays, because otherwise, Paul will become instant chalk and the Rockets are going to be in big trouble against the defending champs if CP3 is going to try to carry this team on his own. So I’m operating on the assumption that Harden does play and we can roster Paul at relatively low ownership. He’s coming off a near triple-double and 53 FD points and he’s been rounding into form over the last few weeks. I like his matchup against Steph Curry, too, and I think we will see him continue to be aggressive on offense to help lighten Harden’s load.

Khris Middleton (6400)

This price is just silly for a player of Middleton’s caliber. He’s a consistent 30+ FD point scorer with upside for 40-50 any given night and tonight he gets the amazing defense (sarcasm implied) of one Andrew Wiggins. It looks like the Bucks will be at full strength so Middleton should be overlooked by most people but I love this spot for him tonight.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Value Plays

For our purposes here at the Breakdown, we classify players priced at 5000 or less as “value plays.” Identifying value has been crucial this year on FanDuel as the new “drop score” rule has forced us into playing a lot of “stars and scrubs” rosters in both cash and GPP formats.

Tyler Johnson (4700)

Johnson has finally locked down the starting point guard spot in Phoenix and had his best game as a Sun with 33 FD points last time out. Now he gets a matchup tonight against Atlanta that Reggie Jackson just exploited for almost 60 FD points – yeah, seriously!

Joakim Noah (4400) and Ivan Rabb (3800)

Yesterday both of these guys crushed value and their price tags barely moved. Jaren Jackson has already been ruled out and Jonas Valanciunas status is uncertain. Don’t hesitate to go back to them again tonight, especially if JV doesn’t suit up.

Taj Gibson (3900)

If Towns is still out with a concussion, then fire up Taj Gibson. Otherwise, I’ll move off him for other cheap power forwards like…

Cheick Diallo (3800)

Diallo played solid minutes last night as the Pelicans chose not to give Julius Randle much run either. He’s an excellent fantasy player when given minutes so if AD doesn’t play tonight, I think Diallo gets a lot of run and smashes value

Kelly Oubre (5200)

Oubre’s price is 200 above my cut off for value but I had to include him here. FanDuel dropped his price by 1700 since his last game, a game in which he went for 43 FD points! He’s playing well and is an amazing value today.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Position Rankings

Something I started right before the break was my favorite players at each position. Think of this a type of “cheat sheet” if you will.  These rankings reflect how I would order players based on a “point per dollar basis” and the likelihood they hit 6x or more value for GPP tournaments.

Point Guard:

1. Russell Westbrook

2. Tyler Johnson

3. Chris Paul

Shooting Guard:

1. Khris Middleton

2. Dwayne Wade

3. Andre Iguodala

Small Forward:

1. Kevin Durant

2. Paul George

3. Brandon Ingram/Kelly Oubre

Power Forward:

1. Marvin Bagley Jr.

2. Ivan Rabb

3. Taj Gibson/Cheick Diallo

Center:

1. Joakim Noah

2. Robin Lopez

3. Al Horford

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Sample Lineup and Overview

If you’re not familiar with how I wrap up the Breakdown, this is where I give you my thoughts on roster construction and briefly discuss my strategy for how I want to attack the slate.

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I usually like punting one or two spots on FanDuel with this year’s new “drop score” rule. Playing a lineup of all 5-7k players just makes zero sense to me and you’ll find that the guys winning consistently on FanDuel are going “stars and scrubs” pretty frequently.

Today’s sample lineup is a CASH lineup. You’ll the cash core plays in there along with my favorite value plays and some other mid-tier guys who I think have solid floors tonight.

I think you may need to lock in two of the four elite options at SF in cash games and right now all the value available at PF and C has me leaning towards a similar construction as last night where we may be able to punt 2-3 spots at those positions and lock in 3 studs like Westy-Durant-George. We will have to wait and see how these injury situations play out today, it’s hard to know exactly where we will end up at this point.

Remember, the sample lineup is for illustrative purposes and is not necessarily a “plug-and-play” lineup. This time of year so much can change in the course of 10-12 hours from when you begin to research a slate to when it actually locks. I rarely end up playing this lineup as there are at least 1-2 tweaks that need to be made even on a day that doesn’t have much injury news we are waiting on!

PG: Russell Westbrook (11900)
PG: Tyler Johnson (4700)
SG: Dwayne Wade (5400)
SG: Khris Middleton (6400)
SF: Kevin Durant (10400)
SF: Kelly Oubre (5200)
PF: Ivan Rabb (3800)
PF: Cheick Diallo (3800)
C: Al Horford (8200)

I hope you enjoyed my slate breakdown and I appreciate you taking the time to read my article. Be sure to share it with friends and fellow DFS players, leave comments or hit me with other feedback or questions on Twitter.  And keep coming back to FantasyCPR for the best free content in the industry! Good luck with your contests!