DraftKings NBA picks December 26: Will Drummond break the slate?

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Bradley Beal #3 of the Washington Wizards smiles during a game against the New York Knicks on December 23, 2019 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

DraftKings NBA Shooting Guards:

Best Bets:

Brad Beal ($9,900): Beal shot 38 times on Monday. His family had to open his Christmas gifts for him because he couldn’t lift his arms. Seriously though, Beal is going to shoot almost 40 times again. He is the only healthy accomplished scorer that the Wizards have right now.

Donovan Mitchell ($8,100): Portland doesn’t defend either guard slot well, though they have been marginally better of late. Still, Mitchell has been pretty consistent and usually is right around 5x value. That might be enough to push us over the cash line tonight.

Honorable Mention:

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($6,700): SGA’s price scares the hell out of me because his floor is frighteningly low. However, SGA’s run of three straight games over 40 DraftKings points started against this same team eight days ago. Paul has been the perfect veteran for the Thunder. When the young guys are rolling, he just gets out of the way. When they struggle, Paul takes over. Of late he’s just been getting out of the way. SGA and Schroder will keep getting opportunities.

Derrick Rose ($6,400): With Kennard and Jackson out and Brown maybe on the shelf as well, Rose should see an increase in minutes. Not that he’s needed it. Only Boston has held Rose under 30 DraftKings points over the last three weeks. Rose is a strong play here against a beleaguered Washington team.

RJ Barrett ($6,000): Barrett still sees a lot of minutes. That hasn’t been the issue. The issue has been inconsistency. However, since the disaster against the Heat, Barrett has 62.25 DraftKings points combined against the Bucks and Wizards. Barrett is worth a look as a GPP only play. Guard is loaded tonight though. He’s mainly a pivot off of higher ownership.

Dark Horses:

Tim Hardaway Jr. ($5,600): We know we are going to see duds from THJ. It happens. He has always been streaky. If Luka returns, that alone isn’t enough to scare me off of Hardaway. He may end up with 12 shots instead of 18. That’s not a huge deal most of the time. THJ produced even with Luka healthy. This is a good matchup, so I totally get using him.

Shabazz Napier ($3,300): Napier has put up 77.5 DraftKings points in his three games since entering the starting lineup for Minnesota. It’s silly that he’s priced this low. I’m all in on Napier if he starts again. This price is way too low.