NBA

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Monday 10/28/19

The first weekend of the NBA season is in the books, and we've learned a good bit about teams and players through two or three games.

Week two starts with some great matchups, including two point guards against their former teams, a shootout brewing in Madison Square Garden, and the winless Golden State Warriors taking on the winless New Orleans Pelicans.

Here are some of the top plays and sleepers for the main slate on DraftKings.

Point Guard

Chris Paul ($7,400) and Russell Westbrook ($9,400) play their first game against each other after being traded in the offseason. Both players hold good value, considering this could be a revenge game -- depending their mindset. Westbrook is averaging 26.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 10.0 assists per game through three games, and he's a triple-double threat at halftime against his former team. Paul has struggled with 12.7 points and 3.0 assists per game.

Oklahoma City Thunder teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($7,000) is a slightly better option than Paul, according to numberFire's projections.

Coby White ($5,000) has been the front-runner for Rookie of the Year and will be attacking a struggling backcourt in New York. White is averaging 16.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game -- and could top all those averages against the Knicks.

Mike Conley ($7,100) has a solid value projection tonight, as well. He struggled in the season opener and is averaging only 10.0 points and 5.3 assists per game. The Utah Jazz take on the Phoenix Suns tonight, a pace-up game for Utah.

Shooting Guard

The Warriors have struggled, going 0-2 the first week and look to rebound tonight. It's easy to like D'Angelo Russell($7,700) and Stephen Curry ($9,500) to have a big game against the winless Pelicans in what should be a high scoring game with the over/under set at 242.

Chicago Bulls guard Zach LaVine $7,700) is the leading scorer for Chicago once again and along with White faces a young guard duo tonight in MSG. LaVine is projected to score 22.4 points and provide 4.8 assists and 4.6 rebounds against the Knicks, but he's an option for a 30-point night. In his last road game, he went for 37 points against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Louis Williams ($7,100) is averaging 22.0 points and 5.7 assists a game for the Los Angeles Clippers. Williams and Kawhi Leonard ($9,200) are in for a big night against an extremely young Charlotte Hornets team in what could be a blowout (the Clippers are 16-point favorites).

C.J. McCollum ($6,300) is averaging 22.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 3.3 assists and projects for more than 5.0 DraftKings points per $1,000 in salary tonight, per numberFire's projections.

Small Forward

Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,600) and Kawhi Leonard lead the forwards in what could be huge nights for both superstars.

Leonard's projected stats for tonight are 29.9 points and 5.7 rebounds while Antetokounmpo is projected at 27.9 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 6.2 assists against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Milwaukee Bucks teammate Khris Middleton ($7,200) is averaging 18.0 points per game and averaged 19.7 points a game and 8.0 rebounds against the Cavs last year. He's a solid option tonight.

Tobias Harris ($6,500) and Bogdan Bogdanovic ($5,400) are both in line for big nights. Joel Embiid may be out for the Philadelphia 76ers, and that means Harris becomes almost certainly a 20-point scorer tonight. Bogdanovic is projected to score 13.9 points against the Suns tonight, but a weak defensive team like Phoenix will give him get more three-point opportunities.

Power Forward

Brandon Ingram ($7,200) has been sensational for the Pelicans and has averaged over 27.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.3 assists in three games. The Pelicans get the winless Warriors, so he and Draymond Green ($7,100) will draw the matchup; expect both to be aggressive and push transition. Though Ingram doesn't grade out as the best value, he has had a 28.1% usage rate without Jrue Holiday over 89 possessions, according to NBAWowy.

Montrezl Harrell ($6,400) is coming off 28 points and 7 rebounds on 9-of-10 shooting and faces the Hornets tonight.

With Otto Porter potentially out in this Bulls-Knicks matchup, Lauri Markkanen ($7,700) is in line for increased touches against the Knicks.

Marquese Chriss ($3,600) and Mario Hezonja ($3,300) are numberFire's top projected values at the position.

Center

The Suns are without Deandre Ayton, and they get the Utah Jazz in town. Rudy Gobert ($8,000) has an opportunity to increase his mediocre numbers to start the season. This could be Gobert's first double-double of the season, as he is projected for 17.5 points and 13.3 rebounds.

The Denver Nuggets' double-double machine, Nikola Jokic ($9,600) gets the Sacramento Kings. Our projections have Jokic at 21.0 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 7.3 assists, so expect him to be a triple-double option tonight.

If Joel Embiid ($9,100) is out tonight for the Sixers, some great value is with John Collins ($7,700) of the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks are one of the fastest paced teams in the league, and Collins is projected for 21.7 points and 14.3 rebounds.

Sticking with Embiid's status, Al Horford ($6,200) -- (and of course Ben Simmons ($8,800) -- would get a boost. Even with Embiid projected for 30-plus minutes, Horford projects for 31.3 DraftKings points against his former team. Wendell Carter Jr. ($6,000) is another center with a good value projection as a double-double threat taking on the Knicks.


Vaughn Dalzell is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice Vaughn Dalzell also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username vdalzell. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.