NBA

FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 12/6/19

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 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 bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

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

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's main slate.

The Slate

Away Home Over/
Under
Home
Spread
Away
Total
Home
Total
Away
Pace
Home
Pace
Washington Miami 234.0 -9.5 112.25 121.75 5 25
LA Clippers Milwaukee 232.0 -3.5 114.25 117.75 6 1
LA Lakers Portland 223.5 +4.0 113.75 109.75 15 17
Minnesota Oklahoma City 220.0 -3.0 108.5 111.5 7 23
Brooklyn Charlotte 217.5 +2.5 110.0 107.5 8 26
Golden State Chicago 214.0 -5.0 104.5 109.5 16 4
Orlando Cleveland 211.5 +3.5 107.5 104.0 27 30
Indiana Detroit 211.0 +2.5 106.75 104.25 21 29
Denver Boston 204.0 -3.0 100.5 103.5 28 19
Sacramento San Antonio N/A -4.0 N/AN/A24 14


It's a 10-gamer with plenty of injuries to track, so make sure you're following things as we get more news throughout the day.

Power Forward

It's not surprising that there are a lot of studs on a 10-game slate, but a lot of studs do emerge with good projectable outcomes in their matchups. Put another way: some of the best per-dollar plays on the board are pricey.

While Anthony Davis ($10,700) has returned more floor than ceiling of late, he rates out as a top-three per-dollar power forward based on numberFire's projections. The Los Angeles Lakers take on the Portland Trail Blazers, who are 23rd in rebounding rate and 20th in garbage-time-free defensive rating. The Blazers don't really have the defense to limit Davis.

Bam Adebayo ($7,800) is in a pace-up game with the Washington Wizards, who are fifth in offensive seconds per play and last in rebounding rate. Adebayo can log minutes in the upper-30s, which raises his floor and ceiling. He puts up 1.14 FanDuel points per minute and is my model's favorite power forward value.

Rui Hachimura ($5,800) did play last night but is in the game with the highest total on the board. Hachimura has played 38, 38, and 42 minutes the past three games. Last night, he scored 27 points on 18 field goal attempts. We could worry about the legs here, but Thomas Bryant is out, and the Wizards are thin overall.

Core Plays: Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo, Rui Hachimura
Secondary Plays: Nerlens Noel ($4,800), Blake Griffin ($7,200), Eric Paschall ($6,400)
Tournament Plays: LaMarcus Aldridge ($7,800), Kawhi Leonard ($9,400), Domantas Sabonis ($8,600)

Shooting Guard

Shooting guard is highlighted by Jimmy Butler ($9,100) against the Wizards. Butler is trending back up now that he's healthy, and that combination with this game environment is very enticing. Butler has 17, 16, and 18 shot attempts in 35, 41, and 37 minutes the past three games.

The Oklahoma City Thunder boast two mid-range shooting guard values in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($6,600) and Dennis Schroder ($5,500). They're top three -- along with Butler -- in my projections. The Thunder (23rd in pace) should see extra possessions against the Minnesota Timberwolves (7th in pace and 13th in defense). Gilgeous-Alexander (0.89 FanDuel points per minute) and Schroder (0.92) are productive assets, and they each should surpass 30 minutes in this good matchup.

Core Plays: Jimmy Butler, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Dennis Schroder
Secondary Plays: Danny Green ($3,700), Tyler Herro ($4,300), Bryn Forbes ($4,200)
Tournament Plays: Bradley Beal ($9,800), C.J. McCollum ($7,300), DeMar DeRozan ($8,300)

Point Guard

Point guard is a natural place to save some salary because there are only four options priced above $8,000, with Damian Lillard ($9,400) and Kemba Walker ($8,100) rating out as strong values based on numberFire's projections.

However, the best option tonight is looking like Chris Paul ($6,900) against the Timberwolves. Paul averages 1.04 FanDuel points per minute this year and should get minutes in the low-30s in an uptempo game for added possessions.

Kendrick Nunn ($5,100) has one of the best composite matchups of all point guards and has at least 10 shot attempts in each of his past eight games. The Wizards' perimeter defense is nothing to worry about, and Nunn has a top-two tournament value rating in my model. Keep an eye on Justise Winslow's ($5,600) status.

Kris Dunn ($5,000) is also a strong play at a similar price. Dunn's Chicago Bulls host the Golden State Warriors' 29th-ranked defense. Dunn has been solid as a starter, generating 0.96 FanDuel points per minute on the full season.

Core Plays: Chris Paul, Kendrick Nunn, Kris Dunn
Secondary Plays: Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, Ish Smith ($4,300)
Tournament Plays: Malcolm Brogdon ($8,100), Derrick White ($4,500), Eric Bledsoe ($7,200)

Small Forward

Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,300) and LeBron James ($10,800) are both very much in play tonight, and each of their floors (their 25th-percentile outcomes) are as high or higher than every other small forward's ceilings (75th-percentile outcomes). It's not easy to roster both, and my model prefers Antetokounmpo straight up despite his matchup with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Josh Okogie ($3,800) should get around 27 minutes against the Thunder, an NBA-average defense. Okogie's 0.85 FanDuel-point-per-minute mark would let him pay off in that workload.

Even with LaMarcus Aldridge ($7,800) available, Rudy Gay ($4,900) rates out well. Gay averages 0.98 FanDuel points per minute, and the Sacramento Kings are 21st in defensive rating and the overall game context is appealing against his former team.

Core Plays: Giannis Antetokounmpo, Josh Okogie, Rudy Gay
Secondary Plays: LeBron James, Justise Winslow, Jonathan Isaac ($7,500)
Tournament Plays: Harrison Barnes ($5,600), Rodney Hood ($4,100), Danilo Gallinari ($6,800)

Center

Moritz Wagner ($5,400) played 26 minutes yesterday and pulled down 11 rebounds with little else. The role is pretty safe with Thomas Bryant out. Wagner puts up 1.15 FanDuel points per minute and can stretch the floor, so the floor is high for the price.

Nikola Jokic ($8,500) does rate out better in my projections. He hasn't paid off an $8,500 price tag in five straight games, primarily because of poor shooting. In those games, he has still averaged 11.6 rebounds, 6.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.4 blocks, and just 8.4 points.

Andre Drummond ($10,600) and Karl-Anthony Towns ($11,000) do rate as top-six tournament values in my model but have some issues in terms of paying off. Drummond's technically in a pace-up game, but the Indiana Pacers are still only 21st in tempo. Towns' T'Wolves should be slowed up against the Thunder. Jokic, Wagner, and Kelly Olynyk ($4,700), and Cody Zeller ($4,100) project with better floors.

Core Plays: Moritz Wagner, Nikola Jokic
Secondary Plays: Kelly Olynyk, Cody Zeller
Tournament Plays: Andre Drummond, Karl-Anthony Towns