How amazing was that Wednesday card? The opening night of the NBA is an excellent appetizer, but that first day with almost every team playing is an absolute treat. The only unfortunate part about that is that it leaves us with a small three-game slate here, but there’s still a lot to talk about!
We just mentioned that there are only three games, but all of them should be fantastic. We have no team favored by more than three points, and all three totals sit within four points of one another. That’s about as balanced as it gets, and it should lead to some fascinating lineup construction. We also have numerous high-priced studs, and it’ll be interesting to see how many we can fit into our builds.
Check out today’s NBA Layup from FanDuel
Schedule and Odds
DAL @ ATL (ATL -2.5) O/U: 225
While this is the second-lowest total, this is my bet to be the highest-scoring game of the night. These teams both have highly efficient offenses, and these two stud point guards should allow them to run up and down the court at ease.
MIL @ MIA (MIL -1.5) O/U: 224
These are easily the two best defenses on this slate. It also marks Miami’s opener, and their starters are expected to play big minutes with the lack of depth they possess.
LAC @ GSW (GSW -3.5) O/U: 226.5
How amazing was that Wednesday card? The opening night of the NBA is an excellent appetizer, but that first day with almost every team playing is an absolute treat. The only unfortunate part about that is that it leaves us with a small three-game slate here, but there’s still a lot to talk about!
We just mentioned that there are only three games, but all of them should be fantastic. We have no team favored by more than three points, and all three totals sit within four points of one another. That’s about as balanced as it gets, and it should lead to some fascinating lineup construction. We also have numerous high-priced studs, and it’ll be interesting to see how many we can fit into our builds.
Check out today’s NBA Layup from FanDuel
Schedule and Odds
DAL @ ATL (ATL -2.5) O/U: 225
While this is the second-lowest total, this is my bet to be the highest-scoring game of the night. These teams both have highly efficient offenses, and these two stud point guards should allow them to run up and down the court at ease.
MIL @ MIA (MIL -1.5) O/U: 224
These are easily the two best defenses on this slate. It also marks Miami’s opener, and their starters are expected to play big minutes with the lack of depth they possess.
LAC @ GSW (GSW -3.5) O/U: 226.5
We saw Golden State on Tuesday, and it’s clear that it’s the Draymond Green–Stephen Curry–Jordan Poole show. As for Los Angeles, Paul George should be the primary ball-handler, with many role players stepping in for all of the injured Clips mentioned below.
Injury Report
Core Plays
Paul George (SF – LAC): $9,700 DraftKings, $9,900 FanDuel
PG13 is pretty good no matter what, but this is his show in LA with Leonard sidelined. He had a usage rate north of 30 percent with Kawhi off the floor last season, averaging 1.4 DK points per minute. If he keeps that rate going, he’ll be one of the best players in fantasy all season long.
Luka Doncic (PG – DAL): $10,600 DraftKings, $11,000 FanDuel
Not much needs to be said here with Doncic. This guy is a guarantee for 50 fantasy points every single night, flirting with triple-doubles daily. He also killed this weak Atlanta defense last year, averaging 27.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 12 assists, 1.5 assists, and 1,5 blocks in their two meetings.
Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF – MIL): $10,300 DraftKings, $11,300 FanDuel
Giannis tallied 32 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists in his season debut on Tuesday and looked well on his way to more MVP votes. He did that regularly against Miami last year, too, averaging 53 DraftKings points per game in their seven meetings.
Cash Game Considerations
Trae Young (PG – ATL): $9,100 DraftKings, $9,600 FanDuel
You better believe that Trae is going to be hungry against Doncic. Young averaged 51.6 DK points per game in their two meetings last season, playing nearly 40 minutes a night. That makes it hard to believe that he remains below $10K on both sites, and he’ll likely handle the ball on every single play of the 35-40 minutes he’s out there.
Bam Adebayo (C – MIA): $7,600 DraftKings, $8,200 FanDuel
I honestly believe that Bam is one of the 10-best players in basketball right now. His ability to defend is downright elite, and it pairs beautifully with his masterful skillset on the offensive end. We love him here because of the matchup, with Milwaukee’s most prominent weakness being at the center position. Adebayo averaged 36.3 DK points per game in their seven matchups last season, despite playing just 32 minutes a night.
Clint Capela (C – ATL): $7,200 DraftKings, $7,600 FanDuel
Capela led the league in rebounding last season, and that has made him one of the best cash game options in DFS. It essentially gives him a 25-point floor with his double-double abilities, and that should be easy to accomplish here, with Dallas owning one of the worst center rotations in the NBA.
GPP Targets
Nemanja Bjelica (PF – GSW): $4,600 DraftKings, $4,800 FanDuel
It was unclear if Bjelica would be in this rotation at the beginning of the year, but a gem in the opener is a good indicator that he will be a significant piece as we advance. He accumulated 15 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in that sparkling performance, running the Draymond Green role in the second unit.
Marcus Morris (SF/PF – LAC): $5,100 DraftKings, $5,400 FanDuel
Now that Kawhi is out for the next few months, Morris should be asked to do more for this team. He averaged over 25 fantasy points per game when Leonard was out last year, and that’s all you could ask for from someone this cheap.
Maxi Kleber (PF/C – DAL): $3,600 DraftKings, $4,000 FanDuel
In terms of consistency, Kleber is all over the map, but he’s a regular 30-minute guy when he’s healthy. Anyone sitting around $4K playing that much is a GPP target, especially with how thin the Mavericks frontcourt can be. Atlanta throws out a ton of lengthy wings as well, and that should lead to even more minutes for Maxi.
Value Plays – under $6K
Tyler Herro (PG/SG – MIA): $5,200 DraftKings, $4,900 FanDuel
Herro was a stud in the preseason, and it’s looking like he will have a huge role with such a narrow bench. He should be looking at a 25 percent usage rate while attempting about 1.5 shots per minute, making him one of the best values out there, around $5,000.
Terance Mann (SG/SF – LAC): $4,500 DraftKings, $4,100 FanDuel
This pricing is crazy. Mann broke out in last year’s postseason, and many believe he will continue that success with Kawhi out of the picture. All he needs is 20 fantasy points to reach value at this price, and that should be easy to accomplish when you see that he averaged 25.4 DK points per game in the final seven games of last season.
De’Andre Hunter (SF – ATL): $4,700 DraftKings, $4,400 FanDuel
Hunter was a $6K player through the first month of last season, and it’s hard to understand why he remains this cheap. He’s expected to start and play 30 minutes, making him an easy play as a sub-$5K player. This guy averaged over 25 DraftKings points per game last year despite dealing with numerous injuries, and that alone would be a massive total from someone this cheap.
Advantageous Pricing
- Ivica Zubac (C – LAC): $4,200 FanDuel, $5,000 DraftKings
- Dorian Finney-Smith (SF/PF – DAL): $4,300 FanDuel, $5,300 DraftKings
- Jimmy Butler (SG/SF – MIA): $8,300 DraftKings, $9,100 FanDuel
- Tim Hardaway Jr (SG – DAL): $5,000 FanDuel, $6,400 DraftKings
- Eric Bledsoe (PG/SG – LAC): $4,500 FanDuel, $6,000 DraftKings
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Joel Bartilotta is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Joel, check out his archive and follow him @Bartilottajoel.