Welcome to the first Friday of the new year! We have a pleasant six-game slate, which is rare for a Friday. There is some major injury news we will need to hear about before we can really submit lineups, but here is an early afternoon primer for you all.
Check out today’s NBA Sharpshooter from DraftKings
Guards
James Harden (PG/SG – HOU): $10,900 vs. 76ers
This is the most interesting game of the night from an NBA fan perspective, as two of the better teams in the league face off on ESPN. The 76ers have been a really stout defensive team, allowing an average of just 211 DraftKings points per game (the league average is near 230). That will generally take me away from players against them, but Harden is at one of his lowest price points of the year so I have a lot of interest. The matchup is not as important for a guy like Harden, he has had some massive games against tough defensive teams this year and some of his worst games against bad defensive teams. The matchup is not the only reason for the price drop, as Harden has taken less than 20 shots in five of his last six games, which is a bit alarming, but the upside is just too huge at $10,900 to not have a piece of.
Bradley Beal (SG – WAS): $8,500 vs. Trail Blazers
Beal is listed as questionable right now, which is a huge deal and is preventing Vegas from giving us a line on this game. If Beal does play, however, this should be one of the juiciest games of the night, and I would be very interested in jumping on Beal well below the $9,000 mark. Before the injury stuff started with Beal, he was averaging 47 DraftKings points over his previous 20 games with a 32% usage rate playing 30 minutes per game (with a few games getting up near 40). There would be a bit of a risk that Beal would not play full minutes in his first game back from a short injury, but I would find it more likely that he would still see 30+ minutes and go right back to dominating the ball for the Wizards. If that happens, he should easily clear this price tag.
Welcome to the first Friday of the new year! We have a pleasant six-game slate, which is rare for a Friday. There is some major injury news we will need to hear about before we can really submit lineups, but here is an early afternoon primer for you all.
Check out today’s NBA Sharpshooter from DraftKings
Guards
James Harden (PG/SG – HOU): $10,900 vs. 76ers
This is the most interesting game of the night from an NBA fan perspective, as two of the better teams in the league face off on ESPN. The 76ers have been a really stout defensive team, allowing an average of just 211 DraftKings points per game (the league average is near 230). That will generally take me away from players against them, but Harden is at one of his lowest price points of the year so I have a lot of interest. The matchup is not as important for a guy like Harden, he has had some massive games against tough defensive teams this year and some of his worst games against bad defensive teams. The matchup is not the only reason for the price drop, as Harden has taken less than 20 shots in five of his last six games, which is a bit alarming, but the upside is just too huge at $10,900 to not have a piece of.
Bradley Beal (SG – WAS): $8,500 vs. Trail Blazers
Beal is listed as questionable right now, which is a huge deal and is preventing Vegas from giving us a line on this game. If Beal does play, however, this should be one of the juiciest games of the night, and I would be very interested in jumping on Beal well below the $9,000 mark. Before the injury stuff started with Beal, he was averaging 47 DraftKings points over his previous 20 games with a 32% usage rate playing 30 minutes per game (with a few games getting up near 40). There would be a bit of a risk that Beal would not play full minutes in his first game back from a short injury, but I would find it more likely that he would still see 30+ minutes and go right back to dominating the ball for the Wizards. If that happens, he should easily clear this price tag.
Ben Simmons (PG – PHI): $8,100 @ Rockets
The Rockets have been one of the more attackable teams in DFS this year. They have allowed an average salary return of 5.82x against point guards, and Simmons is one of the higher floor players in the league, contributing across the statistical board. With all the other options the 76ers have on offense, Simmons does not have the same upside as a Harden or a Beal, but I do think he is a better bet for floor. I think Simmons pretty easily reaches 40 tonight with upside for 50+, so he is a nice option if you are a little hesitant on Beal (or just want to play both).
C.J. McCollum (PG/SG – POR): $7,100 @ Wizards
Guards are averaging a ridiculous 5.96x return on salary against the Wizards this year, and McCollum has really been balling lately. He has played 37+ minutes in nine of his last ten, and has shot the ball 16+ times in his last nine. This game should be a high scoring affair, and McCollum will take a hefty share of the shots – which is a recipe for good things at $7,100.
Ish Smith (PG – WAS): $4,200 vs. Trail Blazers
This goes only if Beal is out, and he should be pretty much a lock button guy if that does occur. In Monday’s game without Beal playing, Smith played 31 minutes, took 18 shots, and scored 37 DraftKings points. That may be close to a best-case scenario, but when you are really only looking for 25 DraftKings points for this price tag, and that should be pretty easy for Smith if Beal sits again.
Brad Wanamaker (PG/SG – BOS): $3,900 vs. Hawks
The other big news item on the docket is Kemba Walker‘s status, as he is listed as questionable. If he sits, that should mean a minutes boost for Wanamaker, who has been backing up Kemba at point guard. He has not been a high fantasy point per minute player this year (just 0.68, but does jump up to 0.79 when he is not sharing the court with Kemba), so this would not be a slam dunk play, but it would be a nice salary saver at $3,900 and I would imagine Wanamaker would be able to find his way to 20 fantasy points pretty easy with upside for 30 if things go really well.
Forwards / Centers
Anthony Davis (PF/C – LAL): $10,300 vs. Pelicans
The Lakers are one of the more attractive teams on the slate at home against a bad Pelicans defense, and I have a little more interest in the much cheaper Davis than LeBron tonight. AD’s fantasy stock has definitely dropped a bit playing with LeBron. He has now gone four straight games without clearing 50 DraftKings points, which we do not want to see from a guy we are paying five digits for, but this is as good a bounce-back spot as any. The Pelicans have allowed an average salary value return of 5.77x against big men, and Davis is one of the most active big men in the league. LeBron is firmly in play, but Davis is my favorite Laker tonight.
Joel Embiid (C – PHI): $9,400 @ Rockets
The best matchup on the whole slate might be Embiid against the Rockets, as centers have averaged a 5.92x salary value return against the Rockets this year. We should see full minutes from Embiid in this game as it is projected to be a close game, and any time you can get 35 minutes from Embiid at $9,400, he is one of the best bets in DFS. When he has cleared 30 minutes this year, he has averaged 55 DraftKings points, clearing 60 about a third of the time. Embiid is probably my favorite play on the board tonight – load up!
Jayson Tatum (SF/PF – BOS): $8,200 vs. Hawks
This is a hefty price for Tatum, so I am only interested in this if Kemba sits. Tatum has averaged 1.3 fantasy points per minute with Kemba off the floor this year, so if you give him his usual 35 minutes, that projects for 46 DraftKings points, which is a good return at $8,200. He also would be a real threat to score 30 real-life points and then push towards 50+ DraftKings points with rebounds and assists.
Al Horford (PF/C – PHI): $5,800 @ Rockets
Three really horrible games in a row for Horford have brought his price down to $5,800, which would have been a joke at other times during this season. He made just two of his 12 shot attempts in the last game and was not able to get anything going with peripheral stats, so we had just a 14 fantasy point night. Very strangely, that was his second 14 fantasy point game in a row. I am not going to let two games determine my opinion on this spot, as Horford is at a very low price in an amazing matchup (see the Embiid write-up for details), so I will be interested in him.
J.J. Redick (SG/SF – NO): $3,400 @ Lakers
Redick has not scored more than 22 fantasy points since December 15th, and is coming off just a three fantasy point game on the 29th, but this price is just too tempting to resist. He has hovered around $5,000 all year and was at $4,300 for that last game, so one miserable game dropped his price $900 – way too much. I would imagine that Redick takes 8-12 shots in this game, most of them being three-pointers, which makes him one of the better bets for a 6x return tonight. Redick is not going to win you a tournament or anything, but he provides a safe bet for some major salary relief.
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Jon Anderson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Jon, check out his archive and follow him @JonPgh.