Saturday only brings a five-game slate, but it will be a nice change of pace from Friday’s nine gamer. This weekend will also be our first without an NFL slate in months. That means the NBA streets should fill up quickly and be the go-to option for some DFS action. Even with a smaller set of games, there is always plenty of information to dissect, so let’s get things started.
The Primer is a first look article filled with all the information you need to help get your lineups rolling. We’ll begin with the schedule and odds to highlight which game environments stand out. We follow that up with the injury report, which we know in the COVID-19 era it is more important than ever to pay close attention. Then we shed light on some of our top plays of the slate, including core building blocks, GPP candidates, cash game considerations, and salary relief targets. Finally, we’ll always wrap up with our advantageous pricing segment, which uncovers price discrepancies between FanDuel and DraftKings.
So without further ado, let’s jump into another edition of the NBA DFS Primer brought to you by FantasyPros.
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Schedule and Odds
- MIA @ CHA
- PHX @ WAS
- NYK @ LAL
- MIL @ POR
- OKC @ SAC
Note: CHA, POR, and OKC are all on the back ends of back-to-backs.
Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros
Injury Report
- P.J. Tucker (knee) questionable
- Jimmy Butler (toe) probable
- Caleb Martin (Achilles) questionable
- Markieff Morris (conditioning) OUT
- Victor Oladipo (knee) OUT
- Jalen McDaniels (ankle) OUT
- Landry Shamet (ankle) OUT
- Cameron Payne (wrist) OUT
- Frank Kaminsky (knee) OUT
- Bradley Beal (wrist) OUT
- Derrick Rose (ankle) OUT
- Carmelo Anthony (hamstring) OUT
- LeBron James (knee) doubtful
- Kendrick Nunn (knee) OUT
- Brook Lopez (back) OUT
- George Hill (neck) OUT
- Larry Nance Jr. (Knee) OUT
- Justise Winslow (trade) OUT
- Eric Bledsoe (trade) OUT
- Nassir Little (shoulder) OUT
- Cody Zeller (knee) OUT
- Damian Lillard (abdomen) OUT
- Aaron Wiggins (ankle) OUT
- Isaiah Roby (ankle) OUT
- Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (foot) OUT
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) OUT
- De’Aaron Fox (ankle) questionable
- Marvin Bagley III ( ankle) questionable
- Terence Davis (wrist) OUT
The injury report can change at any minute, and all player statuses are subject to change whether they’re on the injury report or not. Paying attention to as much news as possible is crucial to long-term success in DFS. It can also give you a severe leg up on anyone in the field that fails to do so. Once the later game information becomes available, be sure to take advantage of late swapping. Late swap allows you to get off the chalk and plug-in value plays that may not have been expected or get to a high upside play in an attempt to take one last run at the top of the leaderboard. Keeping up with all the news and information that comes out can be a lot to manage, but it’s essential.
Check out our consensus game odds as well as the odds from each sportsbook at BettingPros
Core Plays
Kyle Kuzma (PF/SF-WAS): $7,700 DraftKings, $8,300 FanDuel
Since Bradley Beal (wrist) went down with an injury, Kuzma has been the centerpiece of the Washington Wizards’ offense. On the season, he’s averaging 16.4 points per game. However, over the last three games, he has been averaging 26.3ppg. He’s scored over 45 fantasy points in all three of those games as well. Kuzma is on fire right now, and I think he’s underpriced.
Chris Paul (PG-PHX): $9,800 DraftKings, $9,900 FanDuel
CP3 is getting better with age and truly is fantastic to watch, as is this Suns’ team in general. Over the last eight games, the veteran point guard and future Hall of Famer has dropped 50 or more DraftKings points in six of his previous eight games and a double-double in seven of nine. Even with his price continuing to rise, I will continue to look Paul’s way.
Cash game Considerations
Anthony Davis (PF/C-LAL): $10,100 DraftKings, $10,500 FanDuel
LeBron James (knee) has missed the last five games and is trending towards his sixth after already being listed as doubtful for tonight’s game against the Knicks. During LBJ’s absence, the Laker’s other star player Anthony Davis has stepped up on both ends of the court. He’s doing it all from scoring, rebounding, blocking, and even dropping some assists into the mix. Davis is pretty much walking into a double-double right now with LeBron not playing, having three of them in the last four games. Davis is hard to ignore when he’s playing like this, especially on a smaller slate.
Luguentz Dort (SF/PF-OKC): $6,400 DraftKings, $6,800 FanDuel
The Thunders’ best player in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) missing significant time has opened up extra opportunities for the rest of the team. Dort has been one of the primary beneficiaries of the boost in usage and shot attempts. He’s scored twenty or more raw points in three of his last four while also seeing an increase in his rebounds and three-point attempts. Dort has returned 5x his value or better over the previous five games. Continue to ride him with SGA out of the lineup.
GPP Candidates
Bam Adebayo (C-MIA): $8,900 DraftKings, $8,700 FanDuel
Bam scored a season-high 32 points the other night in a narrow loss to the Raptors and posted another double-double. The Miami big man has now notched a double-double in four of his last five outings and, I like his chances to have another one tonight. The Charlotte Hornets are 25th in the league in defensive rating (112.3), 22nd in defensive rebounding, and dead last in allowing opponents second-chance points. I like Bam to have another solid outing at a more than reasonable salary.
CJ McCollum (PG/SG): $8,200 DraftKings, $7,800 FanDuel
This is a risky play because McCollum hasn’t had a big blow-up performance lately. He’s on a bad team, and he’s going up against the Bucks, but what’s a GPP play without taking a little risk. It’s also not like he’s been bad either for DFS, putting up over 30 fantasy points pretty much every night. It’s just the playmaking and efficiency shooting the ball haven’t been there. You would think with Lillard (abdomen) out of the lineup, McCollum would be feasting, and while his usage rate has increased, he just hasn’t been able to put up a big game. Nevertheless, we know McCollum has a GPP winning performance within his ceiling. The question is can he do it tonight?
Value Plays
Davion Mitchell (PG/SG-SAC): $5,300 DraftKings, $5,900 FanDuel
Pretty much all of Mitchell’s value is still over at DraftKings, but he’s not a complete fade-over at FanDuel. De’Aaron Fox (ankle) has missed seven straight games and is listed as questionable for tonight’s game against the Thunder. Even if Fox can go, he will likely be on a minutes limit, so that doesn’t shy me away from playing Mitchell on DK. With Fox out of the lineup, Mitchell has gotten some increased run and played well. He’s scored 15 or more in five straight games and has 28 assists over that span as well. He is coming off 40.5 DraftKings points the other night against the Warriors, and I’m looking to ride that performance into tonight at a sub $5,500 salary.
Darius Bazley (PF-OKC): $4,300 DraftKings, $5,100 FanDuel
In the same game, we have some more viable value in Darius Bazley. Once again, most of Bazley’s value is over at DraftKings, so that’s where my exposure will be. He’s returned 5x his value or more in the last four games and crushed his tag the other night against the Mavericks. This isn’t a play to have a ton of exposure to, but if you’re at the end of your build and have $4,300 left, you could do worse than Darius Bazley. Not to mention he’s going up against the worst defense in the NBA.
Advantageous Pricing
- Darius Bazley (PF-OKC): $4,300 DraftKings, $5,100 FanDuel
- Davion Mitchell (PG/SG-SAC): $5,300 DraftKings, $5,900 FanDuel
- CJ McCollum (PG/SG): $8,200 DraftKings, $7,800 FanDuel
- Luguentz Dort (SF/PF-OKC): $6,400 DraftKings, $6,800 FanDuel
- Kyle Kuzma (PF/SF-WAS): $7,700 DraftKings, $8,300 FanDuel
- Russell Westbrook (PG-LAL): $9,700 DraftKings, $8,500 FanDuel
- Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF/C-MIL): $12,100 DraftKings, $11,400 FanDuel
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Evan Ritter is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Evan, check out his archive and follow him on Twitter.
