Fansided

DraftKings NBA picks January 18: Drummond beats on the Hawks

By Mike Marteny

DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 30: Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons dunks while playing the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Little Caesars Arena on January 30, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won the game 125-114. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JANUARY 30: Andre Drummond #0 of the Detroit Pistons dunks while playing the Cleveland Cavaliers during the first half at Little Caesars Arena on January 30, 2018 in Detroit, Michigan. Detroit won the game 125-114. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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DraftKings NBA
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – DECEMBER 13: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the LA Clippers looks on during the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on December 13, 2019 at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 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 David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images) /

DraftKings NBA early picks:

The early slate has a ton of injuries. Jrue Holiday, Paul George, Zion Williamson, Jahlil Okafor, and DeAndre Jordan, Joe Harris, Garrett Temple, and Kenrich Williams are all going to miss the game. That’s aside from KD and Darius Miller who are missing the whole season. There’s bound to be value somewhere!

The Nets have allowed the fewest fantasy points on the league to power forwards this year. Does that mean I’m worried about using Giannis? Maybe a little, but not for that reason. The Nets are a mess right now and the Kyrie circus is not helping. There’s a good chance this doesn’t stay close enough for Giannis to hit 60. The Nets aren’t quite the Knicks yet. Giannis will have to play more than half the game to pull that off.

The blowout potential is there for the Clippers too, but I’m all in on Kawhi. George is out again, so Leonard will be leaned on. If this is a blowout, he’ll be a big reason why. Instead of playing Giannis roulette, I’m comfortable using Kawhi and Brandon Ingram. The matchup for Ingram is a tough one, but he’s playing as well as anyone right now. He has at least 50 DraftKings points in four of the last five games.

With the forward positions figured out, we only have $5,116 per slot for the remaining six slots. We’ll have to find some value somewhere. Come to think of it, there’s quite a bit at guard. I don’t like Kyrie enough to break up the Kawhi-Ingram pairing. Same with Lou and Lonzo. It’s not worth skimping elsewhere.

Patrick Beverley has seen the largest boost aside from Kawhi with George out. Beverley has four straight games over 25 DraftKings points, topping 35 and 45 once each. I’ll lock him in as well against the Pelicans.

E’Twaun Moore and Josh Hart have been splitting up Holiday’s minutes and giving about the same production. Hart starts and has the better floor, so the $700 more isn’t much of a deterrent. Honestly, I’m not opposed to using both of them. It all depends on how comfortable you are running guys against a good defensive team like the Clippers.

We may be better off running Landry Shamet on the other side. He has 47.5 DraftKings points over the last two games, which is great for the price. And we can use him at F! That’s a viable option and we can use the red-hot Donte DiVincenzo at guard instead. Doing that leaves $13,500 to fill the center and UTIL slots.

We have constructed a lineup where we can afford Kyrie with ease, but I think I would rather run both Derrick Favors and Montrezl Harrell instead. Using the core leaves plenty of options for the last two slots.