DraftKings NBA picks January 11: Giannis is upon us

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Zach LaVine #8 of the Chicago Bulls dunks against the Miami Heat (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

DraftKings NBA Shooting Guards:

Best Bets:

Zach LaVine ($8,300): At some point this isn’t a fluke. LaVine has at least 40 DraftKings points in each of the last dozen games. He has had plenty worse matchups than Detroit in that stretch. Hell, he even played Detroit once in that span and went for 48.25 DraftKings points. I expect another 40+ out of LaVine here.

Honorable Mention:

CJ McCollum ($6,500): Most of me doesn’t want anything to do with CJ right now. He hasn’t broken 40 DraftKings points since Christmas and his price is still this high. Why is he on here? CJ had his best game of the season – with Dame on the floor, no less – in the first meeting with Milwaukee. CJ had 50 actual points and 68 DraftKings points. A career game isn’t going to happen again, but he has to at least have a shot at 40, right? RIGHT?

Josh Richardson ($6,400): This isn’t a particularly strong matchup for J-Rich, but he has 76.75 DraftKings points over the last two games with Embiid out. Simmons may not be making the most of the extra opportunities, but Richardson sure is. Richardson put up 27 the first time against Dallas. I would think he’ll crack 30 here with relative ease.

Dark Horses:

Marcus Smart ($4,800): Smart is still too cheap for the kind of production he puts up. He still has games here and there where the floor drops out, but that’s about the same as any value pick. Smart is starting for one of the better teams out there. You can do worse for a punt play, especially when he has a matchup like this one. The Pelicans are awful on the perimeter and are even worse with Holiday out.

Josh Hart ($4,700): One glance at the box score in any given Pelicans game, you can look at Hart’s stats and they look average. Then you see he still cleared 30 DraftKings points and wonder how. Hart piles up a lot of things and points isn’t usually one of them. He’s a really good rebounder from the outside and a solid defender. Hart is usually worth the price when he starts. I doubt that changes here.