Fanduel NBA Breakdown: Monday, 2/25 – Injured Stars

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Monday 2/25

Welcome back to the Monday 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.

After a massive 11 game slate on Saturday, we had a really small 3-gamer yesterday, only to get back to 11 more games tonight!  Sometimes these big slates can be intimidating and even frustrating to play because they often have higher cash lines. One piece of advice that I can offer would be to play more cash games and smaller contests on these slates. It’s going to take a huge number to take down a big tournament on FanDuel tonight, that’s for sure.

"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.

I can not stress enough that you have to be flexible and ready to pivot as we get a clearer picture of who’s in and who’s out tonight. It’s a really fine balance of not changing your entire roster and making the right tweaks in order to get you into that optimal build that you’re looking for.

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: Joel Embiid, Lonzo Ball, Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Anderson, Jaren Jackson, Tristan Thompson, TJ Warren, Taurean Prince, Chandler Hutchinson, Evan Turner

DOUBTFUL: Rodney McGruder, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Justise Winslow, James Johnson

QUESTIONABLE: James Harden, Luka Doncic, Kevin Huerter, Iman Shumpert, Robert Covington, Otto Porter, Darius Miller, DeAndre Bembry, Myles Turner, Maxi Kleber,

PROBABLE: Mike Conley, Karl-Anthony Towns, Draymond Green

Joel Embiid remains out, meaning we get to target the rest of the Sixers tonight in a solid matchup against the Pelicans. But the bigger news is really the status of James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Giannis sounds like he won’t play, but Harden’s status is much more up in the air. It will be hard to feel really good about lineups you build until we know the final status of those two superstars.

Vegas Info

***The Clippers and Spurs both played yesterday and are the only teams on the second half of a back-to-back.

***We are still missing Vegas info for three games, but of the 8 games that we have lines for there are three games with totals of 230 or more; Warriors-Hornets (234), Spurs-Nets (231), and Sixers-Pelicans (238). The latter two games are both tight spread at 2 and 1.5, respectively.

***The lowest total game is the Detroit-Indiana game at 212. I don’t mind crossing that one off unless we see Myles Turner ruled out again.

***The biggest spread we have is in the Milwaukee-Chicago game with the Bucks being 11 point favorites even with Giannis carrying a doubtful tag. That spread seems pretty high as the Bulls are coming off a big win against the Celtics are have been playing well lately.

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.

Eric Bledsoe (6900)

With Giannis doubtful, Bledsoe is going to be a chalky play but presents us a great value. He’s a 1.5 FPPM player with Giannis off the floor and has a solid matchup here against the Bulls. The point guard position is loaded today, but I like Bledsoe the best from a point-per-dollar perspective.

Ben Simmons (9000)

Again we have a player whose stats should increase with a teammate out (Embiid). I love this game tonight between the Pelicans and Sixers as it has the highest total and a tight spread. It’s a game that should be played at a fast tempo and I think Simmons stuffs the stat sheet tonight and provides us with a very safe floor here.

Khris Middleton (7000)

Middleton actually has the highest usage rate of any Bucks player with Giannis out at 32%. I am perfectly comfortable slotting in Bledsoe and Middleton in my cash games and locking in at least 70-80 FD points combined at their prices. I don’t think you’ll find a safer play at shooting guard tonight than Middleton.

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.

Zach LaVine (8000)

I love this spot for LaVine tonight and the Bulls-Bucks game is one of my favorite game stacks. LaVine is red-hot and coming off a 50 FanDuel point performance and is averaging 26-5-6 over his last 7 games. He just put up 47 FD points against the Bucks a few weeks ago and I think the Bulls hang in there tonight against a Giannis-less Bucks.

Chris Paul (8400)

If James Harden is out then CP3 will be really chalky and more of a cash play. But I am hoping that Harden plays so we can get Paul in a great matchup against Atlanta and their rookie point guard Trae Young. Paul has been playing really well (53 and 55 FD points in his last two games) and I’m going to have some shares of him whether or not Harden plays.

Hassan Whiteside (7200)

I will go on the record as saying I don’t like playing Hassan Whiteside very often. But I do like the matchup for him tonight against Phoenix. The question is always, “will he get the minutes?” I am hopeful that he does since he played 30 minutes in their last game and Phoenix plays slow enough that I think Whiteside can stay on the court long enough to dominate the rookie DeAndre Ayton inside.

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.

Joakim Noah (5000)

I don’t think many people predicted that Joakim Noah would be a fantasy-relevant player this season, let alone a reliable one. But Noah is having a renaissance this season with some really great performances in his last five games. The matchup against the Lakers is great and Noah’s all-around game is fantasy friendly.

Ed Davis (4500)

I like Davis at this price against the Spurs, a poor rebounding team that Davis can take advantage of on the interior. He will never play a ton of minutes, but he’s a really efficient fantasy player.

JaMychal Green (4200)

JayMike is settling into his role with new Clippers team and getting a solid 20-24 minutes off the bench. That’s all he really needs to make value as he’s got a ton of per-minute upside.

Andre Iguodala (4400)

Iggy has been really consistent in his sixth man role, producing 20-30 FD points on a nightly basis due to his ability to contribute in multiple categories.

Maurice Harkless (4500)

With Evan Turner out, I like Harkless a lot here against Cleveland. He’s topped 30 FD points in two straight games and can fill the stat sheet on any given night

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. Eric Bledsoe
2. Ben Simmons
3. Chris Paul
4. DeAaron Fox
5. Kemba Walker

Shooting Guard

1. Khris Middleton
2. Zach LaVine
3. Bogdan Bogdanovic
4. D’Angelo Russell
5. Malcolm Brogdon

Small Forward

1. Kevin Durant
2. Nikola Mirotic
3. Maurice Harkless
4. Danilo Gallinari
5. J.J. Redick

Power Forward

1. Lauri Markannen
2. Marvin Bagley III
3. Tobias Harris
4. LaMarcus Aldridge
5. Ivan Rabb

Center

1. Karl-Anthony Towns
2. Robin Lopez
3. Hassan Whiteside
4. Brook Lopez
5. Joakim Noah

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.

More from FanSided

• Thunder projected lineup and rotations heading into 2023-24 season
• NWSL Challenge Cup news: Courage ruthless against Washington, Racing remain perfect
• 2023 Women’s World Cup: Ary Borges and Brazil showed the entire world what they are about
• Trea Turner’s rough season goes from bad to worse
• Brewers attempt to troll Elly De La Cruz backfires 456 feet

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.

This is my optimal lineup as of right now but things can definitely change if James Harden is ruled OUT or Giannis is ruled IN.

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: Eric Bledsoe (6900)
PG: Ben Simmons (9000)
SG: Khris Middleton (7000)
SG: Andre Iguodala (4400)
SF: Nikola Mirotic (5600)
SF: Kevin Durant (10000)
PF: Tobias Harris (7400)
PF: JaMychal Green (4200)
C: Robin Lopez (5400)

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!