DraftKings EuroLeague basketball picks January 9

ATHENS, GREECE - OCTOBER 17: Nick Calathes, #33 of Panathinaikos Opap Athens react during the 2019/2020 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 3 match between Panathinaikos Opap Athens and AX Armani Exchange Milan at Olympic Sports Center Athens on October 17, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images) /

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Luke Sikma (l) and Rokas Giedraitis (r) from Berlin celebrate the victory at the end of the game. (Photo by Friso Gentsch/picture alliance via Getty Images) /

DraftKings EuroLeague Forwards:

Friday is the loaded slate. Only Tornike Shengelia is five figures among forwards and I’m not sure I’m willing to pay for him. He put up 33 DraftKings points the first time on Fenerbahce, but Shengelia has only hit that mark once in the last seven rounds. That’s doesn’t seem like a wise investment.

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Rokas Giedraitis and Luke Sikma are on this slate and they are both affordable enough that we can use them with the Fenerbahce guards. Well, you can if you are willing to punt away a forward slot. If you aren’t comfortable doing that, you can move down to Landry Nnoko without giving up much. You just have to decide which of Sikma or Giedraitis that he is replacing.

You could also take the poor man’s Berlin frontcourt and go with Zalgiris instead. Zach Leday has been really good lately, but Jock Landale only played nine minutes last round. I don’t think these two can put up numbers together like the Berlin front can. I’m nervous about Landale’s playing time, which likely means that I’m avoiding this whole situation.

If Real Madrid sticks with Jordan Mickey in the starting lineup, he’s worth a look. Mickey started for the first time this year in round 17 and put up 31.75 DraftKings points. I wouldn’t expect that against a good Zalgiris front, but 25 is entirely possible. That said, Vladimir Micov is the same price with a much better matchup. He just doesn’t have the upside of a starting Mickey.

Shavon Shields is too cheap for the matchup he has. Shields also has four rounds of at least 20 DraftKings points. That doesn’t hurt. It’s also safer than playing forward roulette with the Milan front. Luis Scola and Arturas Gudaitis are playing well right now, but the presence of Micov makes all of them risky.

The Athens front of Ioannis Papapetrou and Georgios Papagiannis are both very good, and very consistent value plays. However, I don’t like the matchup for them here. Jake Cohen is much cheaper and much safer. He has been dominant over the last two rounds with Casspi out and he only sets you back $5,600.