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NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Wednesday 5/1/19

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a ton of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each price point.

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's one-game slate, which follows a different format than typical NBA contests on FanDuel. Your lineup consists of five position-less slots, with one designated "MVP" having their fantasy score multiplied by 2.0, a "STAR" multiplied by 1.5 and a "PRO" multiplied by 1.2, as well as two utility slots receiving their usual points.

Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets ($17,500)

Another one-game slate, another opportunity to jam Jokic into the MVP spot. Yes, his salary is really starting to climb, but he's still well worth it.

Jokic finished ninth in FanDuel points per game in the regular season with 46.9, but that came in only 31.3 minutes per game, and he ranked sixth in the NBA in FanDuel points per minute. His workload is up in the postseason, and that has led to some predictable fantasy dominance.

He's topped 50 FanDuel points six times in eight games in the playoffs, with at least 66 in each of his last three. Those three games also each saw him play at least 38 minutes, which he's now done five times in the postseason.

Tonight's game should be a close one, with the Denver Nuggets only favored by four points over the Portland Trail Blazers over on NBA odds, and that means Jokic has a good shot at seeing another one of those huge workloads. His ceiling is unmatched by anyone on the slate, and even though it's an incredibly chalky move, you just don't want to miss out on the potential upside of putting him in your MVP slot.

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