NBA DFS: Studs, scrubs, and duds on DraftKings and FanDuel Jan. 24

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Top star players, best value picks, and guys you should stay away from on January 24 in NBA DFS on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Welcome to Studs, Scrubs, and Duds; FanSided’s NBA DFS lineup helper.

Here’s what’s on the slate for tonight:

7 p.m. ET: Memphis at Detroit, Boston at Orlando
7:30 p.m. ET: Toronto at New York
8 p.m. ET: Sacramento at Chicago, LA Clippers at Miami, Houston at Minnesota, Denver at New Orleans, Atlanta at Oklahoma City
8:30 p.m. ET: Phoenix at San Antonio
10:30 p.m. ET: Indiana at Golden State

How this works:

Studs: Top high salary picks that you can build your lineup around.
Scrubs: Value players looking for a big night or consistent options to help fill out your lineup.
Duds: Players to avoid given their high salary and/or poor matchup.

Five players are picked on each slide, positions are not applicable, and both DraftKings and FanDuel salaries are listed.

Studs

Kawhi Leonard (at MIA – $10,300 on DK; $9,800 on FD): Leonard is rested after taking a game off and he has a personal matchup in front of him, assuming Jimmy Butler ends up playing. With George out, Kawhi will continue to have the opportunity to deliver big. And I always like him when there’s a tough matchup in front of him because he raises his level of play. I expect the same thing here.

Domantas Sabonis (at GS – $8,600 on DK; $8,400 on FD): Sabonis is a guaranteed double double and given the matchup, expect much bigger numbers from him in this one. It’s a fantastic matchup as the Warriors are going nowhere and Sabonis can dominate in the paint and on the boards. He offers a ton of value at his price.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (vs ATL – $7,800 on DK; $8,000 on FD): The Thunder guards can take turns on big games but given the defense that they’re playing, this feels like a game that Shai takes over. He’s rebounding the ball more and he’ll get his scoring numbers in this one. Expect his assist numbers to tick up in this game as well. The Hawks just don’t pose much of a threat in this game.

Fred VanVleet (at NY – $7,700 on DK; $7,100 on FD): VanVleet plays a consistent game for the Raptors and this is a great matchup against the Knicks. VanVleet isn’t going to hurt you at this price and the ceiling is much higher given the matchup in front of him. There are plenty of high salary options on the Raptors that should be in for a strong night, VanVleet is my pick to deliver the most value.

Jonas Valanciunas (at DET – $7,200 on DK; $7,100 on FD): Valanciunas can be a tad inconsistent but he’s also the stabilizer for the Grizzlies with his scoring and rebounding. Morant and Jackson Jr have the higher ceilings with their overall scoring, and the matchup is great either way, I prefer Valanciunas due to his guaranteed value in this matchup and his ceiling.