There are 10 games on the FanDuel main slate tonight. The marquee game is the Milwaukee-Golden State game with its 240-point total and 1.5-point spread. There should be a lot of fireworks and fantasy goodness from this game. The Lakers and Spurs turn around and play a rematch from Wednesday. This game has a 226-total and is expected to be a very close game. The Indiana-Orlando game has a 206.5 projected total, which is the lowest on the slate.
There are 17 players (2 of those are “out” for tonight, though) that are priced at $9,000 or higher with Anthony Davis being the top-priced player by a clear margin at $12,900. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only other player in the 12K range ($12,200). Russell Westbrook and Lebron James are the only two players priced in the 11K range at $11,300 and $11,000, respectively.
There are a lot of ways to construct lineups. Targeting the highest scoring game of the night (Golden State-Milwaukee) wouldn’t be a bad decision. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Giannis could all do superstar things and Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, and Khlay Thompson are all strong plays, as well. The example lineup that I give you today targets some of my favorite individual plays from the night. My initial build was slightly different because I was all-in on Joel Embiid. There’s nothing like spending time writing up an article with your core piece being Joel Embiid and talking about how “The Process” is going to break out of his slump tonight against Andre “I own real estate inside his head” Drummond and then 5 minutes after finishing I get an alert on my phone saying Embiid is out. Not only did this change my center but it changed up my overall lineup a bit. Regardless, I like the overall feel of this sample lineup.
There are 10 games on the FanDuel main slate tonight. The marquee game is the Milwaukee-Golden State game with its 240-point total and 1.5-point spread. There should be a lot of fireworks and fantasy goodness from this game. The Lakers and Spurs turn around and play a rematch from Wednesday. This game has a 226-total and is expected to be a very close game. The Indiana-Orlando game has a 206.5 projected total, which is the lowest on the slate.
There are 17 players (2 of those are “out” for tonight, though) that are priced at $9,000 or higher with Anthony Davis being the top-priced player by a clear margin at $12,900. Giannis Antetokounmpo is the only other player in the 12K range ($12,200). Russell Westbrook and Lebron James are the only two players priced in the 11K range at $11,300 and $11,000, respectively.
There are a lot of ways to construct lineups. Targeting the highest scoring game of the night (Golden State-Milwaukee) wouldn’t be a bad decision. Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, and Giannis could all do superstar things and Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, and Khlay Thompson are all strong plays, as well. The example lineup that I give you today targets some of my favorite individual plays from the night. My initial build was slightly different because I was all-in on Joel Embiid. There’s nothing like spending time writing up an article with your core piece being Joel Embiid and talking about how “The Process” is going to break out of his slump tonight against Andre “I own real estate inside his head” Drummond and then 5 minutes after finishing I get an alert on my phone saying Embiid is out. Not only did this change my center but it changed up my overall lineup a bit. Regardless, I like the overall feel of this sample lineup.
The roster and comments that I provide are intended to be taken as an early first look (or in today’s case – second look). In no way, should you blindly enter this lineup in a contest, nor plug and play these players automatically without examining all the information available to you. Remember that you roster nine players on FanDuel but only count your best eight scores as FD drops the worst scoring player from your lineup.
As always, more value will open up as the day goes by that may allow you to get even better plays into your lineup. All of the plays that recommended are plays that I will be considering for my lineups, as well. That doesn’t mean that I will end up with all of these guys as updated news and constructing rosters might lead me to a different play. Remember to check the news and injury reports, especially in the 30 minutes prior to lock. Have a solid process, using all the information available to you to make the best decision possible for your lineup. Good luck and have fun!
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POINT GUARD
Mike Conley (MEM): $9,200 at NOP
Darren Collison seems to be under-priced based on his recent performances and Jamal Murray is playing inspired ball recently with his status of the lead guard called into question with the emergence of Monte Morris. Eric Bledsoe has been doing Eric Bledsoe things with Khris Middleton not playing well/in the dog house earning 47 FDFP in back-to-back games. I wouldn’t be opposed to putting them into my lineup tonight, but I really like Mike Conley (once I decided that I wasn’t going to pay up for Russell Westbrook). Westbrook is the highest projected PG on FantasyPros but at $2,100 less, I will take Conley. Admittedly, he doesn’t have the ceiling that Westbrook but he should give you a 40-point floor with a good chance of getting 50 FDFP in this nice matchup against the Pelicans. He has two games of 50+ in his last seven. During that same stretch, he has averaged 45.8 FDFP. Memphis also has the second-highest pace up situation, so he is a good bet to, not only reach, but exceed value tonight.
Tony Parker (CHA): $3,600 vs. DEN
You don’t have to punt this position if you don’t want but once I decided that I really liked Conley, Parker was the cheapest player that still gives you GPP upside. He is not what he once was, but he still has had four 27+ fantasy performances this season, including one of those occurring in the past week. The likeliest scenario is that he is the player that is dropped from your lineup but if the players that are supposed to hit do just that and he has one of those games then you have put yourself in a position to finish high in a GPP. He has hit 4X value in six of his last 10 games, so it isn’t like he’s a stiff, but we are definitely rolling the dice on hitting something that has happened only 4 out of 21 times this year. Many of us have pressed our luck on longer odds in a casino so fire up Parker and save some salary. If you want to take a different route, I would be against Colin Sexton who is getting a boatload of minutes for the Cavs right now.
SHOOTING GUARD
DeMar DeRozan (SAS): $8,600 vs. LAL
He had 48.9 FDFP in the game on Wednesday night against the Lakers and that was a bad game for DeRozan considering he earned 61.4 and 63.6 FDFP in the two earlier matchups (#sarcasm). I love his talent, his work ethic, and this matchup against the Lakers. He is underpriced tonight for the situation that he is in. He is a lock for me tonight.
Dwyane Wade (MIA): $5,600 at PHO
Terrence Ross ($5,500), Malcolm Brogdon ($5,900), and Justin Holiday ($5,900) are all plays that I considered and could also be good cash game plays as they’ve been pretty solid lately. But for my GPP main lineup, I am going to with an oldie but goodie in a prime matchup. The Suns are bad, and Dwayne Wade can explode on any night that he is rested, and he appears to be rested for tonight. The Suns are on a back-to-back by the way. Speaking of back-to-backs, it is possible that the Heat regulate his minutes tonight since they play tomorrow but unless we get news, I am probably going to roll with him and chase his 50 FDFP performance from Thanksgiving weekend. Certainly, that is not likely, but he has had 30+ fantasy performances twice in his last three games. Even though he is not starting, he still has a 25.7% true usage rate. If you want to go really cheap at the position, Josh Hart might be someone to look at, especially with Rajon Rondo and now, Brandon Ingram being out.
SMALL FORWARD
LeBron James (LAL): $11,000 at SAS
I am not going to argue much against Giannis here, especially in the high-scoring matchup with the Warriors and because Lebron has not been blowing the doors off people this year. When you consider that Lebron is $1,100 cheaper on FD, I can’t see paying up for Giannis when they are too similar. Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo will miss tonight and Lebron’s usage rate spikes without those two guys. Just this past Wednesday, Lebron earned 61.0 FDFP against these same Spurs. In the other two games that they have played this year, Lebron has had 56.2 and 63.6 FDFP.
Rudy Gay (SAS): $5,800 vs. LAL
In the same game, I am going to roll with the hot hand against the same opponent. Gay dropped 31 real-life points in L.A. on Wednesday for 45.4 FDFP. He had gone six straight games without reaching 5X value prior to that, however. But just like Lebron, Gay has excelled against this opponent in the earlier matchups this season earning 44.5 and 29.2 FDFP in the two previous contests.
POWER FORWARD
Paul Millsap (DEN): $6,400 at CHA
Anthony Davis is very attractive but he’s in a really tough matchup and I am always a little hesitant about playing him even though he is a stud. Blake Griffin was my initial play at the position. He is averaging 69.7 FDFP against Philadelphia this year in the two games that they have played. I am a Griffin fan, but I have a feeling that this game could be weird. Plus, he has been struggling lately ( 7 straight games without reaching 5X value). I am not sure he will make my main lineup but if I play multiple lineups, I am going to play him in many of them. Millsap is not a safe play but the only time he has been priced at $6,400 this year, he went for 44.2 FDFP (how’s that for next level stat research). Seriously though, His floor is 17-22 FDFP but his ceiling is high 40’s. Charlotte has nobody that can stop him. He is definitely a GPP play and would not be near my cash games. In his last four games has gone for 28.6 > 20.1 > 49.0 > 44.2 so you can see his floor and ceiling in just the last week. I like the matchup and his ownership should be lower. Also, not opposed to Lauri Markkanen or paying up for the potential ceiling of Jaren Jackson, Jr.
Bam Adebayo (MIA): $5,500 at PHO
Bam is a DFS darling when he gets minutes and he should get them tonight in a juicy matchup. Hassan Whiteside did Hassan Whiteside things and is not with the team tonight. That means fire up Bam tonight. Now, he is priced up on FanDuel (much better play on DK) but is still a good option tonight. Phoenix is bad defensively and Bam should bring some energy and fantasy goodness. In the seven games that he has seen at least 20 minutes, he has averaged nearly 30 FDFP. He is a good play in all formats. Because of a similar position of Hassan being out and Phoenix being bad, I don’t hate going with Bam’s teammate Kelly Olynyk either. There will be less ownership and he has averaged a little over 29 FDFP in his last three games. Bam has been known to get into foul trouble so I wouldn’t be opposed to Olynyk. I also like JaMychal Green as a value play tonight and wouldn’t be opposed to playing him in some lineups if playing more than one.
CENTER
Mike Muscala (PHI): $4,200 at DET
I have been rolling with Nikola Vucevic a lot lately and he has not disappointed me but with the news that Embiid is going to be out, I decided to punt this position. It’s not that there aren’t any good options at Center besides “The Process”, but I like the high-priced options at the other positions a little bit better. I also wouldn’t be opposed to the upside of Nerlens Noel or the solid yeoman-like work that Kevin Looney puts in (especially in tonight’s game with a 240 total). Muscala has been solid all year and has really put in some nice work when he has gotten the minutes and filled in for Embiid. Overall, he is averaging 23.7 MPG on the season. In his last four games, his fantasy production has been solid at 24.7 FDFP per game. He probably isn’t going to explode with a high ceiling but his floor should be solid and it allows you to get a stud elsewhere. My only fear with this play is that if you also go with Tony Parker at PG, then you potentially have two players with lower floors and only one of them will be dropped by FD.
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Jamy Bechler is an NBA fantasy contributor for FantasyPros. His DFS twitter is @WinningDFS101, and his website is www.FantasyFocusFootball.com. When he is not playing DFS, Jamy is an author, host of the “Success is a Choice” podcast, and is a leadership trainer, working with businesses and teams across the country (including the NBA). Even though he offers his advice on players and contests, after additional information and consideration, he may end up using different players and strategies than what he recommends.
