Monday’s 11-game NBA slate looks like it is going to be one of those nights where you need to watch the newswire like a hawk and be very flexible with your lineup construction in the hours leading up to tipoff. There are numerous situations where a key player is questionable as of Monday morning. A few of the situations to monitor include Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Jamaal Murray, and Deandre Ayton. So, use my Monday DraftKings lineup advice with caution as things could change fast depending on the status of those players.
Note that some of the stats referenced in this article are my custom DvP calculations that combine both season and last five games data along with blending similar positions production allowed together.
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One Stud
Kevin Durant (SF/PF – GS): $10,100 vs. MIN
Durant’s salary has come down some now that Stephen Curry has returned for the Warriors. Durant put up a dud in his last outing but had a good game against Monday’s opponent, the Timberwolves, earlier this season with 33 points and 13 rebounds for 56.8 DraftKings points. That is not surprising, as the Timberwolves have been destroyed by opposing SFs this season allowing a double-digit percent increase in points (+11.2%), rebounds (+14.5%) and assists (+16.8%). Look for a big bounce-back effort from Durant.
Monday’s 11-game NBA slate looks like it is going to be one of those nights where you need to watch the newswire like a hawk and be very flexible with your lineup construction in the hours leading up to tipoff. There are numerous situations where a key player is questionable as of Monday morning. A few of the situations to monitor include Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, Al Horford, Jamaal Murray, and Deandre Ayton. So, use my Monday DraftKings lineup advice with caution as things could change fast depending on the status of those players.
Note that some of the stats referenced in this article are my custom DvP calculations that combine both season and last five games data along with blending similar positions production allowed together.
Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
One Stud
Kevin Durant (SF/PF – GS): $10,100 vs. MIN
Durant’s salary has come down some now that Stephen Curry has returned for the Warriors. Durant put up a dud in his last outing but had a good game against Monday’s opponent, the Timberwolves, earlier this season with 33 points and 13 rebounds for 56.8 DraftKings points. That is not surprising, as the Timberwolves have been destroyed by opposing SFs this season allowing a double-digit percent increase in points (+11.2%), rebounds (+14.5%) and assists (+16.8%). Look for a big bounce-back effort from Durant.
Core Plays
Blake Griffin (PF/C – DET): $9,500 @ PHI
Griffin and the Pistons will face the Sixers for the fourth time already this season when they square off on Monday night. In the three previous meetings this season, Griffin has gone off against the Sixers for 39.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game for an average of 67.6 DK points. On the season, the Sixers have allowed increased production to opposing PFs in points (+2.9%) and rebounds (+11.9%). It should be another big night for Griffin.
Bradley Beal (SG – WAS): $8,400 @ IND
John Wall is another one of the star players that is questionable to play on Monday night. I’m a little more confident that Wall doesn’t suit up for the Wizards matchup with the Pacers, which firmly puts Beal in the DFS conversation. Beal scored 36 points with six rebounds and nine assists when Wall didn’t play a couple of games back. His usage gets bump up with Wall out and he should log big minutes with the Wizards as a small road underdog Monday night against the Pacers.
Jimmy Butler (SG/SF – PHI): $7,900 vs. DET
Butler will become an auto-play if Joel Embiid misses Monday’s game but even if Embiid does return to the lineup, Butler is still a solid option with his reasonable salary and multi-position flexibility. Butler has scored 38 points in back-to-back games, albeit one without Embiid, but his overall fantasy production gives him a high floor and he has been shooting well which give him the 60 DraftKings points upside he has shown his last two outings. I also don’t mind plugging in Joel Embiid if he does play.
Julius Randle (PF/C – NO): $7,100 @ BOS
Much like Butler, Randle becomes a must-play if Anthony Davis misses Monday’s game against the Celtics. Even if Davis does suit up Randle should see significant minutes as he has moved into the starting lineup ahead of Nikola Mirotic. In his last four games since moving into starting five, Randle is averaging 29.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per game while playing over 35 minutes per night. His matchup against the Celtics is not ideal but he did put up 26.8 DK points in just 21 minutes earlier this season for a 1.28 DK point per minute rate which should set him up nicely for Monday if he gets 35 minutes at similar production.
Value Plays
Tomas Satoransky (PG/SG – WAS): $4,200 @ IND
As I mentioned in my Beal writeup, I expect Wall to sit out Monday’s game against the Pacers. Satoransky will get a big minute’s bump as a result as he did two games ago when he played 38 minutes in Atlanta. Satoransky had 14 points, four rebounds and seven assists for 36.5 DK points in that contest and should approach those numbers again, albeit in a tougher matchup against the Pacers.
Josh Hart (SG – LAL): $4,100 vs. MIA
Hart has had mixed results in his two games since Brandon Ingram went down with an injury. He had just 13.25 DK points in his first game but bounced back with 36.0 in his second outing. The constant between the two games has been his minutes where he has been on the court for 36 in each game. With Ingram still out for Monday’s matchup with the Heat, expect Hart to play another 36 minutes and come closer to his numbers from his more productive outing from the last two games.
Trey Lyles (SF/PF – DEN): $3,700 vs. MEM
Lyles is one of the big benefactors of the Paul Millsap injury in Denver. Lyles played 38 minutes in their last game while filling the box score with nine points and 10 rebounds despite shooting just 2-of-13 from the field. His salary remains low for Monday’s matchup against a good Grizzlies defense, but his minutes should be high and he fared well against the Grizzlies in an earlier meeting putting up 16 points and nine rebounds in 28 minutes of action. Juan Hernangomez ($4,700) is also an option in the Nuggets frontcourt who has been playing well and is still reasonably priced.
Jalen Brunson (PG – DAL): $3,400 vs. ORL
Dennis Smith missed the last two games for the Mavericks and looks doubtful to play on Monday against the Magic. Brunson had filled in at PG the last two games playing over 25 minutes in each outing while averaging 12.5 points and 5.0 assists per game. Another game with 25 minutes and similar numbers are more than enough for Brunson to exceed about seven times value on his current salary.
Other Notables to keep an eye on depending on the injury news of the players in the intro include, Mike Muscala ($4,200), Daniel Theis ($4,000) and Richaun Holmes ($4,000) and Monte Morris ($3,600).
Brad Richter is a correspondent at FantasyPros and a contributor at DailyOverlay and GoingFor2. For more from Brad, you can view his archive or follow him @RotoPilot.