DraftKings NBA picks January 24: Kawhi or Russ?

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DraftKings NBA Point Guards:

Best Bets:

Russell Westbrook ($10,400): Just because Harden has blown up the Timberwolves doesn’t mean that Russ hasn’t. Westbrook has 113 DraftKings points in just 65 minutes against Minnesota this year and is playing much better than Harden of late. Russ is the safe pick. Harden still has more upside, but I’ll stick with Russ.

Trae Young ($9,400): If Young is able to play, the Hawks aren’t going to run him out there at less than 100%. There’s no reason to. It’s a good matchup against the Thunder, but I don’t know that Young will outscore Russ. Still, this is a good price for someone that has hit 60 with regularity this year and wont play unless he’s in top shape.

Honorable Mention:

Chris Paul ($7,400): I actually like this better if Young plays. Teague is a better defender, but not by much. Young is improved over last year, but he’s still not what we would call good and CP3 is playing his best basketball in years right now. Paul still hit 5x value against a stingy Orlando defense. I have no doubt he’ll do it against the Hawks no matter who is guarding him.

Ricky Rubio ($7,300): Rubio is showing some of that inconsistency that has plagued him throughout his career. Over the last four games he has been as low as 14.5 DraftKings points and as high as 66.5, and that was against the Knicks who are tough against the position. You never know what you’re getting out of Rubio, but he does have 91 DraftKings points in the two games against the Spurs this year.

Lonzo Ball ($7,100): The brief glimpse of the Pelicans’ future that we saw in the fourth quarter on Wednesday was impressive. More impressive was how well-rounded Ball has become. No team has held him under 30 DraftKings points in this calendar year. This is a tough matchup on paper, but Murray is out again and he is a far better defender than Morris. I expect Ball to keep stuffing the stat sheet here.

Dark Horses:

Shabazz Napier ($5,300): This whole point guard situation for Minnesota is aggravating. Culver takes over, plays well for a few games, then is garbage. Then Napier takes back over for a couple of games, then he’s garbage. How do you keep up? The pendulum is back in Napier’s favor right now, but how long does it stay there? His upside is plenty high enough to pay this price to find out.

T.J. McConnell ($4,900): It’s usually Aaron Holiday that fills in for Brogdon when he goes down, McConnell took his place on Wednesday and put up 40.5 DraftKings points in just 27 minutes. At this point the Pacers are just fools if they don’t start McConnell. He could be a huge value tonight. Even Holiday is worth a play, but he doesn’t have the upside of McConnell.

Reggie Jackson ($4,500): Okay, who saw Wednesday coming? 36.75 DraftKings points at minimum price? Jackson probably wont hit that mark against Memphis, but I wouldn’t be a bit shocked if he hit 30, which is still a huge value at this price. We’ve seen this movie before. Jackson can fall apart at any time, but the early return was certainly promising.