FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Friday, 4/5 – 13 Game Slate!

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Friday, 4/5

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

My goal when I created the Breakdown was to make this 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.

"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."

Tonight we have another huge 13-game main slate on FanDuel. With so many games and so many potential players resting I would really recommend practicing some responsible bankroll management tonight and for much of the remainder of the season. That doesn’t mean you can’t still have some fun chasing some small scale GPPs or trying to crush those games. And don’t worry, the playoff will be here soon enough and we will be back to some tightened rotations and more predictable outcomes.

As the NBA season winds down, I would encourage you to really take these first look articles with a grain of salt.  I do my best to try to anticipate what injuries and rest situations we might encounter each night, but in the final month of the season we are going to see a lot of players sit out and we aren’t always going to know who it will be until later in the evening. Many of these players will still be in my lineups, but obviously, I am going to pivot as we get news throughout the day and so should you.

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.

Josh Jackson (5800)

With Devin Booker being shut down for the season, it’s about to be Josh Jackson SZN (does that make me cool if I use that term?) Jackson should assume many of the playmaking duties for Phoenix and his usage will likely spike, too. A matchup with New Orleans is always a good thing for your box score, as they have been bleeding points to everyone all season long. This game should be fun, and I definitely want some exposure to it.

Nikola Vucevic (9700)

Orlando is one of four Eastern Conference teams that could play their way in or out of the playoffs in the final week. Right now they are in as the 8-seed, but they need to keep winning to maintain their position. When you couple the “must-win” scenario with a great statistical matchup with Atlanta, I am going to be targeting the Orlando guys heavily down the stretch. Vuc continues to be under 10k and I think he’s a lock for 45-50 FD points tonight.

Evan Fournier (5800)

The other Magic player that I want in my cash games is the Frenchman Fournier. His minutes are stable and his production has been trending up. Shooting guards have done well against Atlanta this season and Fournier has been solid against the Hawks with averages of 19-3-6 in 3 games this year. There are some interesting punt plays at shooting guard tonight, but I think you use one of your shooting guard spots to lock in a solid 30 FD point floor from Fournier.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: 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.

DeMar DeRozan (8300)

DeRozan has a dream matchup against the Wizards, a team we have been targeting in DFS all season long. Will he or the other Spurs play long enough to hit value? That is the question, and frankly, you can ask that question about many of the star players on this slate. My rationale for thinking that they will get those minutes is that even though the Spurs have clinched a spot, I’m sure they’d rather move up to the 7 seed to avoid the Warriors in round 1 of the playoffs.

Julius Randle (9000)

Randle is in an absolute “smash spot” tonight (that one is for you, @2locksports). While Anthony Davis is officially “probable” for tonight’s matchup, I really doubt he plays. He’s been probable the last several games and then ended up being ruled out. He doesn’t want to play, nor do the Pelicans want him to get hurt before they can deal him this offseason. Randle has slate-breaking potential if he gets 35 minutes tonight against a bad Phoenix defense that is especially weak on the interior.

Trae Young (8900)

I’m back to the Orlando-Atlanta game again and I’m looking for players who are guaranteed some big minutes tonight. Atlanta has let Trae play a ton of minutes late in the season, and he’s had some big-time performances. He’s only one of a few guys on the slate who could score 30 points and dish out double-digit assists tonight and I want him in my lineups for that upside and solid floor, too.

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.

NOTE: There is a TON of value on this slate. You’re going to have to nail your value picks in order to win tonight, and I wouldn’t recommend chasing guys in questionable spots, go after the most obvious values first. Here are my favorite.

Ian Clark (3900)

Clark has been playing 31 minutes a game for Pelicans and finally broke out for 31 FD points against Charlotte last game. This Phoenix-New Orleans game is meaningless but should have plenty of fantasy appeal for the players who are going to get big minutes in it.

Tyler Dorsey (3900)

Dorsey is the same price as Clark and should get plenty of run tonight if Mike Conley (doubtful) sits out, which I think he will. He flashed some serious ceiling a few weeks ago with a 47 FD point performance and the matchup here with Dallas is a good one.

Miles Bridges (4900)

The Hornets are finally packing it in as they are going to end up just outside the playoff picture in the East. Nicolas Batum has been a healthy DNP-CD the last two games, while Bridges played 33 minutes against New Orleans. It would make sense that the Hornets want to see what they have with their young players in the final week and I expect Bridges, Bacon, and Monk to get a lot of court time.

Kevon Looney (3700)

WIth Boogie Cousins out for rest tonight, Looney should draw the start at center and you’d have to think the rest of the Warriors starters won’t play deep into the game either, leaving some more shots and boards for Looney in mop-up duty. He’s just too good of a point-per-minute guy to be this cheap with Cousins out.

FanDuel NBA Breakdown: Position Rankings

What some players find really helpful are position rankings. I will rank my favorite players at each position based on their upside and point-per-dollar viability for cash and GPP.  Think of this a type of “cheat sheet” but it’s not an exhaustive list of my player pool by any means.

Point Guard

1. Trae Young
2. Goran Dragic
3. Jamal Murray
4. Emmanuel Mudiay
5. D.J. Augustin

Shooting Guard

1. Jordan Clarkson
2. Evan Fournier
3. Kentavious Caldwell Pope
4. Dennis Schroder
5. Tyler Dorsey/Ian Clark

Small Forward

1. Kevin Durant
2. Danillo Gallinari
3. Gordon Hayward
4. Miles Bridges
5. Tyreke Evans

Power Forward

1. Julius Randle
2. LaMarcus Aldridge
3. Josh Jackson
4. Domantas Sabonis
5. Ivan Rabb

Center

1. Nikola Vucevic
2. Rudy Gobert
3. Enes Kanter
4. Kevon Looney
5. Ivica Zubac

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.

In fact, Stars and Scrubs is likely going to be the chalky build for NBA DFS for every slate the rest of the season with the amount of value that we are going to have on a nightly basis.

Today’s sample lineup is a HYBRID lineup with my cash core and then some of my favorite value plays and mid-tier plays mixed in there. You could play this lineup in cash and GPPs. There are a lot of injury situations that we don’t know about just yet so obviously make sure you are monitoring those throughout the day. My final lineup may end up nothing like one, I just want to warn you.

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 always pivots that need to be made as the slate unfolds during the day! This is especially true the last week of the season!

PG: Trae Young (8900)
PG: Goran Dragic (6500)
SG: Evan Fournier (5800)
SG: Ian Clark (3900)
SF: Gordon Hayward (5400)
SF: Miles Bridges (4900)
PF: Julius Randle (9000)
PF: Josh Jackson (5800)
C: Nikola Vucevic (9700)

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