RADIO
NBA DFS Premium Cheat Sheet for 12/23
CORE PLAYS MARKED IN GREEN ABOVE
The Best of the Rest
Since we have 26 teams in action today, I wanted to give you more options than just the twelve players I could fit on the cheat sheet. There some players on both sites that are mispriced and present incredible as a result of this being the first main slate of the year. It's going to be really easy to make lineups you love today and we should expect the cash lines to be very high tonight based on how much value there is on this slate and how inexpensive the star players are.
Point Guard: Russell Westbrook, Coby White, Dejounte Murray
With no minutes cap on Westy, I am interested in him for GPPs as he's now free of James Harden and could be a monster this year. White is badly underpriced on both sites in a great spot against Trae Young and the Hawks. Murray is a stat-stuffer who is another piece that I love from the Grizzlies-Spurs game.
Shooting Guard: Fred Vanvleet, Buddy Hield, Jordan Clarkson
We know that FVV will log big minutes for Toronto and can do a little of everything. You have to love that matchup for Toronto against a Pelicans team that played little defense last year, too. Buddy Hield had a decent preseason and has moved back into the starting lineup. With Bogdan Bogdanovic out of town, Hield's minutes should be more secure and he can fill it up from behind the arc, his FanDuel price is absurd. Clarkson thrived in his bench-scorer role last year for the Jazz and is one of the better values at the position.
Small Forward: Brandon Ingram, Gordon Hayward, Patrick Williams, Deni Avdija
Ingram and Hayward could go overlooked tonight with Giannis and possibly Jimmy Butler soaking up ownership at the higher end of the salary scale and these talented rookies (Williams and Avdija) being such bargains. Both of them are projected to start and flashed solid skill-sets this preseason, too.
Power Forward: Domantas Sabonis, Julius Randle, John Collins, Daniel Theis, Nerlens Noel (C on DK)
Collins is probably the class of this group and will have to play some center tonight as the Hawks look to be without Clint Capela. I am a sucker for Sabonis, he's always a lock for a double-double and is an excellent passer and solid defender. Randle should play a boatload of minutes and has the type of floor we love to target in cash games. Theis is another excellent bargain as he should start and play 30 minutes against a poor-rebounding Bucks team. Noel looks to be the starting center in New York and was splitting time fairly evenly with Robinson.
Center: Karl-Anthony Towns, Rudy Gobert, Jonas Valanciunas
What can I say - the center position is loaded today! It's definitely a day you can run two centers on DraftKings and on FanDuel I would try to use your only center spot to correlate those GPP lineups with other players from the games we want to target! Towns should be able to handle the Detroit big men with ease, Gobert is too cheap for his upside against Portland, and Valanciunas I will touch on here in my favorite game breakdowns.
Game(s) of the Day
Memphis (-2.5) vs. San Antonio (231.5 total)
I decided not to feature the Dallas-Phoenix game here, even though it has the highest total on the slate at 236. This Memphis-San Antonio game is really appealing to me and also pretty stackable. Ja Morant and Jonas Valanciunas both have nice matchups for the Grizzlies and are my favorite pairing on that side of things, while Dillon Brooks and Kyle Anderson both have GPP upside at their price points.
The Spurs used to be an easy team to figure out as it was just DeMar DeRozan and LaMarcus Aldridge doing most of the heavy lifting, but Dejounte Murray has a potentially elite fantasy player if Coach Pop is finally ready to play big minutes. He's an elite play in all formats. It's hard to trust the minutes for the Spurs rotational pieces but Rudy Gay and Jakob Poeltl are appealing, too.
Atlanta (-2) @ Chicago (231 total)
We have another tasty game here with a solid total and some really solid targets on both sides. The Bulls backcourt of Coby White and Zach LaVine was dynamic during the preseason and Atlanta is a team we targeted the last two years in DFS a lot as they play fast and don't play much defense. The other pieces from Chicago are all underpriced, too, as Lauri Markkannen, Wendell Carter Jr., and Patrick Williams are all firmly in play on DK. Otto Porter is a nice pivot on FanDuel off a chalkier min-priced Williams.
On the Atlanta side, I am really interested in John Collins and Bruno Fernando as Clint Capela is likely out. Bogdan Bogdanovic and Danilo Gallinari are some other cheap pieces that could perform well with their new team but their roles are still being fleshed out. Trae Young is always in play in a game-stack but not one of my favorite targets with so many other guards on this slate.
Fade of the Day
This is going to sound strange at first, but James Harden is the easiest fade of the day for me. Even with the ability to fit him easily into lineups, I would much rather play the other superstars on this slate (Luka, Giannis, Westbrook, etc...) Harden not only came into preseason out of shape, but he has also been reported to be confrontational towards teammates and seems intent on forcing his way out of Houston. More importantly for fantasy, he has a more balanced team around him this season with Wall, Wood, Cousins, and Gordon and I don't think he needs to play the "hero ball" that he's used to playing.
UPDATE: Harden could be out tonight due to an investigation as to whether or not he broke the COVID protocol. Apparently John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins could be out, too, so stay tuned as the Rockets saga unfolds!
FanDuel Sample Lineup
DraftKings Sample Lineup
Please note that these are sample lineups we provide as a tool for you to use. They are designed to give you building-block options as you go about choosing your own lineups, but in no way can we guarantee success. Be sure to examine the latest injury updates, Las Vegas projected game totals, and late scratches before finalizing your lineups to ensure the players you are choosing are active on game day.
