NBA

DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 10/29/19

Anthony Davis is in a blowup spot against the Grizzlies. Which other players should have your interest on this three-game slate?

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.

Tuesday night is a three-game slate highlighted by the Los Angeles Lakers at home versus the Memphis Grizzlies. The Atlanta Hawks visit Jimmy Butler in his Miami Heat debut, and the Dallas Mavericks and their star duo travel to the Mile High City for a Western Conference showdown with the Denver Nuggets.

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

Point Guard

Trae Young ($9,000) -- Young is on his first back-to-back of the season after the Atlanta Hawks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-103, on Monday. He started the game off hot and lived at the free throw line the rest of the way, finishing with 25 points, nine off free throws. Our projections have Young forecasted for 21.6 points and 8.7 assists tonight. Young (34.0) is second behind Kyrie Irving (37.0) in real-world points per game so far this season, and he's third behind Karl-Anthony Towns and Irving with 4.3 made three-pointers a game.

LeBron James ($9,700) -- James has averaged 50.3 fantasy points per game, and drawing Ja Morant ($7,100) and Jae Crowder ($5,200) all night shouldn't stop the King from having a show-time Laker night. LeBron's projected stat line for the night is 26.2 points, 5.9 assists, and 6.4 rebounds and has flirted with a triple-double for three straight games. The Memphis Grizzlies allow the fifth-most points in the NBA (121.0) are pegged as 11.5-point underdogs, so using a Lakers-heavy lineup isn't a bad idea, starting with LeBron.

Shooting Guard

Jamal Murray ($6,600) -- Murray is projected to have a big night, and I'm buying in for his home meeting with the Dallas Mavericks. Murray has gotten to the free throw line 19 times this season, compared to his 18 three-point attempts. His game is evolving, and it's shown as he's averaged 19.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game. His point projection (18.2) is the seventh-highest point projection on the night versus a team he's had success against. In 2018, Murray averaged 15.3 points, 8.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds in three games against Dallas.

Danny Green ($4,400) -- Green is pretty much a must play with Kyle Kuzma out. Green is third in the NBA three-point usage rate (60.0%) among players with 50 or more minutes played. He's combined for 14 points in the last two games after exploding for 21 against the Clippers in his Laker debut. Our models give Green 3.8 made three's tonight. He's a 52.6% three-point shooter, and if he's hot, LeBron and company will find him.

Small Forward

Jimmy Butler ($7,700) -- Butler is making his Miami Heat debut after the birth of his daughter. Jimmy Buckets left the Philadelphia 76ers for the Sunshine State, and his first game comes against a team on a back-to-back. Among players priced at $7,700 and above, he's the top point-per-dollar play, per our models.

Justise Winslow ($6,900) -- Winslow will take some sort of a backseat to Butler, but he's a part or the Heat rebuild and has grown each season. To open 2019, Winslow is averaging 19.0 points. 9.3 rebounds, and 6.7 assists per night without Butler, and the two can make a formable 1-2 punch. Winslow's projections for tonight are a mediocre 14.1 points, 5.3 assists, and 5.3 rebounds, but as 8.0-point favorites at home and being one of the highest-scoring teams in the league, both Heat hybrids are firmly in play tonight.

Power Forward

Anthony Davis ($10,300) -- AD is the most expensive player on the board and well worth it as the Lakers are big favorites in a nice matchup. Our model projects Davis (26.8) and James (26.2) to be the top-scoring players across all games tonight. Davis has scored 20-plus points in all three games and draws Jaren Jackson Jr. as his matchup. Davis is 25th in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (26.66) and is 7th in usage rate (33.1%) among players who have played at least 90 minutes.

John Collins ($7,300) -- Collins is on a back-to-back, and the Hawks should continue to lean on him and Trae Young, especially on the road. Collins fouled out in the Hawks' 105-103 loss to the Sixers, and he posted 16 points and eight rebounds versus Joel Embiid. Collins' projected line is 18.8 points and a slate-best 11.8 rebounds for tonight. He hasn't double-doubled since the season-opener and should see the ball early and often tonight in a favorable matchup for him.

Center

Jonas Valanciunas ($6,300) -- JV is due for another big night after posting two back-to-back double-doubles. Davis and Jaren Jackson Jr. will square off, leaving Valanciunas with JaVale McGee. Our projections are high on Valanciunas tonight, projecting him at 14.5 points, 6.8 boards, 1.2 assists and 1.1 blocks. Valanciunas went 3-of-5 from deep versus the Nets and had a season-high four assists, and 44.8 fantasy points in the Grizzlies first win of the season. He will get the nod in minutes over rookie Brandon Clarke ($5,100).

Bam Adebayo ($7,000) -- Bam has done a phenomenal job replacing Hassan Whiteside. Adebayo is averaging 15.3 points, 11.0 rebounds (13th), 5.3 assists per game and 40.9 fantasy points per night. He's scored in double-digits in every game and missed his third straight double-double last time out by one rebound. The Heat have scored at least 109 points in three straight games, but they draw the Hawks, who allow the fifth-fewest points per game (99.5). Adebayo will square off with Alex Len, who shouldn't stand a chance.



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.