RADIO
Welcome back to RotoBaller, your source for all things fantasy sports. Tonight we have a relatively small five-game main slate on DraftKings that locks at 7:00 PM. I love these "medium-sized" slates quite a bit when we get them and there a few really juicy games that stand out to me right off the bat.
The Washington Wizards and their 30th ranked defense will play host to the Chicago Bulls in a game that boasts a solid 230 opening total in Vegas. The other game that should be popular today is the contest between the Portland Trailblazers and the New Orleans Pelicans. That game has a massive 240 point total and features two teams that play fast and also play very little defense. The most competitive game of the night might be in Philly, where the Sixers are going to host the Clippers in a game that has only a one-point spread and features two top title contenders from each conference.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 2/11/20. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. Find me on Twitter @ThunderDanDFS where I am usually tweeting about fantasy sports and DFS. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before line-up lock.
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DraftKings DFS Guards
Jrue Holiday - PG, NO vs. POR ($7,900)
Holiday is one of the first guys I'll click into my lineups tonight if Brandon Ingram is unable to play. Right now Ingram's status is still questionable, so we will have to wait until at least early afternoon for an update. With Ingram out last game, Holiday was dynamic, scoring 31 actual points on his way to 61 Draftkings points against a solid Indiana team. Portland has been bleeding points to lead guards all season and therefore this is another solid ceiling spot for Holiday tonight. If Ingram plays, I'll still have a lot of interest here in Jrue for GPP game stacks, but he won't be the lock that he would be if Ingram were to be out.
Zach LaVine - SG, CHI @ WAS ($8,200)
There's a pattern developing here with guard being a position I'm willing to spend up on tonight. LaVine is in an excellent spot here against a Washington team that is dead last in defensive rating and plays at a much faster pace than the Bulls. I love targeting guards in pace-up spots and LaVine is fresh off a solid 51 Draftkings points performance against a much tougher defense in Philly. Last month, Zach dropped 52 DK points against these Wizards and was a 9k+ player as recently as last week, so I will happily roster him at this price in one of the best matchups on the slate.
Damian Lillard - PG, POR @ NO ($10,300)
I saved my biggest spend for last, as Dame-Dolla is a bit pricey up over 10k. However, he could be worth every penny tonight. Like I mentioned in the opening, this game environment is going to be incredibly conducive to fantasy production. Portland and New Orleans are both bottom five defenses who both play at top ten paces. I love targeting guards in these situations and no player in the NBA has been hotter over the last two weeks than Lillard. Over his last ten games, he's averaging 41 points, five rebounds, and nine assists with a lofty 36% usage rate. I expect him to continue to carry the Blazers offense tonight in this high-scoring affair.
DraftKings DFS Forwards
Kawhi Leonard - SF, LAC @ PHI ($9,300)
Kawhi was rested on Sunday in a game that the Clippers won easily without him. They should need him in a big way tonight as they face a tough Philadelphia team on the road. The price is really what jumped out at me here as we had seen Kawhi trending towards 10k just last week. While you could take the discount on Paul George at 8k, I'd rather play Kawhi at this price in the hopes that a competitive game for four full quarters brings out the best in him. He's been well-known throughout his career for showing up big in the biggest games and I think he will be a bit contrarian tonight based on some of the other studs on this slate being in more obvious spots.
Rui Hachimura - PF/C, WAS @ CHI ($4,800)
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I featured Rui in this column on Sunday for the exact same price and he delivered 29 DK points even while he was limited to 25 minutes due to some first-half foul trouble. Now, he faces an undersized Bulls frontcourt tonight that he should be able to exploit and I have him projected as one of the best sub-5k values on the slate. Keep an eye on his teammate Moritz Wagner (4,300) who was very productive off the bench against Memphis in his second game back from a long absence due to injury.
Chandler Hutchison - SF/PF, CHI @ WAS ($4,600)
Hutchinson continues to be a solid source of value for our NBA DFS lineups. Even in a poor performance against the Sixers, he still managed 22 DK points and has now scored 20+ in five straight games. Look for him to play about 30-32 minutes tonight which should be plenty of time to produce in an elite game environment against the Wizards. Washington struggles against perimeter players badly and Hutchinson's ability to rebound (20 boards over his last three games) gives him a nice floor even if his shot isn't always falling.
DraftKings DFS Centers
Hassan Whiteside - C, POR @ NO ($8,100)
With Joel Embiid a whole 1000 more dollars on DK tonight, I am going to roll with Whiteside as my top center to pay up for on this slate. I am not opposed to playing someone like Hachimura or Wagner at the center slot to save some salary cap for all those expensive guards, but I also want to pair Whiteside with Lillard in some game stacks of the Portland-New Orleans game. Whiteside continues to show a solid 40 DK point floor on a nightly basis and his elite shot-blocking ability give him a 60+ DK point ceiling, especially against a team like New Orleans that has struggled against rim protectors this season.
