RADIO
Welcome to my first NBA DFS article for the 2020-2021 season (well, preseason, but still!). I hope you are as pumped as I am to have the NBA back in our lives and I appreciate you checking out my preseason NBA content here at RotoBaller! In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on 12/11/20. You can find me in the RotoBaller Premium NBA Chat Room or @ThunderDanDFS on Twitter.
Last year I covered the NBA preseason and while it was challenging, it was actually very profitable and I think there is an edge to be had for those of us who are willing to take the time to figure out which players are getting the minutes in these games. This year's preseason will be shorter than in the past since the season is set to start in only a few weeks, so we won't have as many slates, but I plan to cover all of them here at RotoBaller for you - for free!
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Preseason NBA Overview
The first thing you need to know is that building lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings this preseason is going to be very different. For this first slate, FanDuel has priced everyone the same - $100. In doing so, you can build a lineup with any nine players you want as long as you roster two PG, SG, SF, PF, and one C. We can leverage that on FanDuel by rostering some lesser-known players since we should expect the well-known players to be more highly-rostered, especially amongst more casual players and fans.
DraftKings has priced guys as they would on a normal slate for the most part, but we do get discounts on superstars if we want to cram some into lineups. I like to use a balance of younger players with some veterans that we can project for solid minutes and, honestly, every slate is different to some degree. With only a few days of practice before the first preseason games, I would expect we don't see any big minutes for starters in the first few games with most teams easing their guys into action.
Preseason NBA DFS Injuries/Rest
Knowing who is playing on any NBA slate is half the battle. Getting injury info on preseason slates is a tad harder than in the regular season but here's what we know right (as of Thursday night).
ALREADY RULED OUT:
James Harden, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Terrence Ross, Tony Snell, Onyeka Okongwu, Kris Dunn, Mo Bamba, Denzel Valentine, Garrett Temple, Zach Collins, Rodney Hood,
DOUBTFUL:
James Ennis, Rajon Rondo, Austin Rivers, Sterling Brown, Marvin Bagley III, Jusuf Nurkic
QUESTIONABLE:
Clint Capela, David Nwaba, DeMarcus Cousins, Hassan Whiteside
Preseason NBA DFS Core Plays
Dennis Schroder - PG/SG ($6,800 DK)
With LeBron and AD both resting for the Lakers, Schroder should have a chance to ball out in his Laker debut. He's a high usage player who can rack up points in bunches and I think his minutes should be fairly safe with the logic that he'll need plenty of reps with his new teammates. Dual eligibility on DK is nice and he's an easy play at SG on FD where there aren't that many great options.
Trae Young - PG ($8,500)
With Rondo and Kris Dunn both likely out, Trae could end up playing more minutes than the Hawks originally had planned and they've never been bashful about playing him heavy minutes in his first two years. He's averaged 26-4-7 in seven career games against the Magic and had a 34% usage rate last year. This price is a bargain for him, we know he is capable of filling it up in a hurry so he could still go nuts even without full minutes.
Christian Wood - PF/C ($7,500)
Russell Westbrook is in Washington and James Harden won't play in this game due to not clearing the COVID protocols yet. John Wall isn't likely to play heavy minutes coming off an entire missed season either. So who is going to score for the Rockets in a good matchup against the Bulls? My money is on Wood, a DFS point-per-minute darling who finally got a chance to break out in Detroit last season. He will face an undersized Chicago frontcourt of Markkannen and Carter Jr. and I expect him to get plenty of scoring chances and rebounds in this one.
Preseason NBA DFS Top Plays
Coby White - PG ($6,900 DK)
White moves into the starting lineup this year and will play alongside the Bulls' other star guard, Zach LaVine. We will have to wait and see what that does to his usage long term, but he was awfully impressive for the Bulls right before the season was cut short. In his final 11 games as a rookie, he posted 23-4-5 in 33 minutes per game and I definitely want him or Lavine in my lineup tonight in what should be a pace-up spot for the Bulls against Houston.
De'Aaron Fox - PG ($8,200)
Yes, the point guard position is loaded on this slate and you can make a case for Damian Lillard in this game, too. I like Fox a lot on this slate and he's still got a little more to prove in the preseason than Lillard. He just signed a huge deal and probably wants to show out in his first game. But that's not the only reason I want to play him. Lillard is a below-average defender and Fox went 21-5-8 in two games against him last year.
Julius Randle - PF/C ($7,000 DK)
The Knicks are going to be bottom-dwellers again this year, but that doesn't mean we can't target them in DFS, especially against another lowly team like the Pistons. Randle is a stat-stuffer who racks up points, boards, and assists efficiently and is fairly priced here. He plays a lot of point-forward and should continue to facilitate the offense for the Knicks this season.
Blake Griffin - PF/C ($5,300)
Normally, I wouldn't want to touch a guy coming off a major injury but Blake has supposedly been healthy for a while and feeling good. He's simply way too cheap on this slate for his usage and role in the Pistons offense as their main scorer and distributor. The Pistons are really young just about everywhere, so I expect Blake to be leaned on early in the year quite a bit until the team gets some chemistry and rookie Killian Hayes gets more confidence at the point.
Preseason NBA DFS Value Plays
- Mitchell Robinson - C ($4,900 DK)
- Bogdan Bogdanovic - SG/SF ($4,800 DK)
- RJ Barrett - SG/SF ($4,700 DK)
- Killian Hayes - PG ($4,400 DK)
- Eric Gordon - SG/SF ($4,300 DK)
- Enes Kanter - C ($4,100 DK)
More Fantasy Basketball Analysis
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