DraftKings EuroLeague basketball picks October 1

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TEL AVIV, ISRAEL – NOVEMBER 07: Scottie Wilbekin, #1 of Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv celebrating during the 2019-2020 Tukish Airlines Regular Season Round 7 game between Maccabi Fox Tel Aviv and Alba Berlin at Menora Mivtachim Arena on November 07, 2019 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Photo by Seffi Magriso/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images) /

DraftKings EuroLeague Guards:

The upper tier of guard is loaded in the EuroLeague opener. Shane Larkin has proven to be one of the best guards in this league. Nick Calathes is a perennial MVP candidate. Mike James was less effective last year than he was in 2018-19.

That’s not the end of the top tier either. We have Vasa Micic, who had a nice year last year. Scottie Wilbekin is healthy. Martin Hermannsson, Thomas Walkup, and Kostas Sloukas are priced just under the five-figure threshold.

Now to sort this out. Larkin has the higher ceiling, but Calathes is probably the guy you want in cash games. Spanoulis is happy to have Sloukas back with him, but it could be Sloukas carrying the team early. I like his upside here since Spanoulis will likely be limited at the least.

A little more work could fall on the shoulders of Wilbekin with Zoosman out until at least November. I would rank the top Larkin, Calathes, Sloukas, Micic, and Wilbekin.

It’s going to be tough to find value in the lower and middle tiers in the early going. Using a secondary guard or forward is a bit tough to land on the right one. In this case it’s better to go with teams that spread the usage out at those positions. Berlin does with guards, so Maodo Lo is a good play despite lagging behind the other two in terms of price.

We could see guys like Tyler Dorsey and Elijah Bryant see more work than usual with Zoosman sidelined. I’m not brave enough to dip any lower than those guys.

I do like Sam Van Rossom, but the arrival of Hermannsson from Berlin could hurt his output. Still, for the price he’s a solid gamble.

Villeurbanne was one of the teams last year that didn’t lean much on the guards at all. I like Norris Cole as a facilitator and Matt Strazel looked like a capable scorer when the season shut down this Spring. Both are cheap and worth a look.

If I knew that Kevin Pangos was going to play for St. Petersburg, I would lock him in. He was effective with Barcelona in 2018-19 before missing last year with an injury. St. Petersburg doesn’t really have an impact guard right now, but K.C. Rivers looked like he was growing into one.