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Hello, I am the newest team member at RotoBaller. You may remember me from the very old days on The Sporting News or The Sports Blog Network, or from the last five years at Fantasy CPR/FanSided Fantasy. You may remember me for every college football spread pick for the last few years. You may remember EuroLeague or NBA. My hiatus is over, and now I'm onto hopefully bigger and better things at Rotoballer. The NBA picks will only be one day a week, but I will still be covering EuroLeague for you guys, and I am proud to announce my foray into NCAA basketball DFS. Be on the lookout for that this week!
Now onto the NBA slate for tonight. FanDuel is my lesser-played DFS site because I like the interface better at DraftKings. That's not a reason to shy away from FanDuel. We have nine positions to fill instead of eight. On a two-game slate, like we have tonight, with no multi-position eligibility, it can be very difficult to construct a FanDuel lineup. Allow me to help! To take down a GPP tonight, we have to get creative! We also get an extra hour before lock to explore said creativity.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 1/19/21. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at guard, forward, and center on FanDuel, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. You can also check out DraftKings lineup picks and injury news before lineups lock. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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FanDuel DFS Guards
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, SG – at Denver ($8,600)
SGA is the highest-priced guard on the slate, but he's not so high that he's going to alter lineup construction all that much. I will take SGA in the upper tier because he has a higher upside than Jamal Murray and a more stable floor than Donovan Mitchell. Denver has had serious issues guarding the perimeter this year. Some of that has to do with the ineffectiveness of Gary Harris when he is on the court. The Nuggets are allowing opponents to shoot 39.1% from beyond the arc. We all know how lethal SGA can be when he gets going. He dumped 33 points on the Bulls in the Thunder's last game on Friday.
Jordan Clarkson, SG – vs. NO ($6,300)
The middle tier of shooting guard is thin tonight on this small slate. It's tough to recommend Clarkson in this spot, and I'll move off of him if Joe Ingles ends up playing. The problem is that the only other middle-tier guard is Eric Bledsoe. He has been wildly inconsistent even with Lonzo Ball out. Clarkson has much more upside even if Ingles plays. However, if Ingles is in, either move up to Mitchell or Murray or pay down at the other three guard slots. Messing with Bledsoe is a tough sell even in GPP formats.
P.J. Dozier, SG – vs. OKC ($4,400)
As has been the norm this year, Gary Harris struggled in his return over the weekend. Dozier is at worst in an even timeshare with Harris right now. That is a suboptimal situation to deal with, but on a two-game slate, this could be the creative pivot that you need. I expect most to chase the upside of Hamidou Diallo. For all of you MME guys, you definitely should in at least half your lines. However, Dozier has a better floor splitting minutes evenly with Harris. One of the guards should have a strong game. The Thunder are allowing 112.1 points per game on the season. Given the performance of Harris so far this year, Dozier is the more promising of the two.
Also consider: Donovan Mitchell ($8,200), Jamal Murray ($7,800), Mike Conley ($7,600)
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FanDuel DFS Forwards
Brandon Ingram, SF – at Utah ($8,400)
I'm old enough to remember when you couldn't play forwards against Utah. Those days are over. The Jazz have given up some big games to small forwards this year with Khris Middleton and Jerami Grant leading the way. I could argue that Ingram is better than both of them. The strong play of Zion lately has taken some of the luster off of Ingram, but he's still the guy that this offense runs through.
Zion Williamson, PF – at Utah ($7,800)
If you're having a shot of Ingram, Zion should be the chaser. Zion is a bit of a throwback to the 90's NBA. He's a paint warrior that is lethal within 15 feet and a monster on the boards. Utah simply doesn't have the bodies on the interior anymore to keep Zion from having his way. The Pelicans are content playing him 35 minutes a game now. This is going to be a huge game for Ingram or Zion. I don't think it's both, but I also like the idea of stacking the forwards up against Utah, especially since the center isn't an elite scorer.
Kenrich Williams, SF – at DEN ($3,800)
The Thunder frontcourt situation is a bit of a mess right now with both Trevor Ariza and Al Horford away from the team. That gives plenty of minutes to the youngsters they have around there, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern to how they are played. Roby sees the most consistent minutes since Mike Muscala is the only other center on the roster. Williams didn't play much until the Thunder got blown out by the Lakers on Friday. He performed well enough in that game to get an encore call against the Bulls. Williams answered the bell with 29 FanDuel points in 27 minutes. If Williams is going to keep playing like this, he's a great bargain while the price is this low.
Also consider: Will Barton ($6,100), Luguentz Dort ($5,300), Isaiah Roby ($4,500)
FanDuel DFS Centers
Nikola Jokic – vs. OKC ($11,500)
This is one of those nights where I could make 150 entries and Jokic would be in every single one of them. The old adage to never punt center on FanDuel is especially true tonight. Jokic has at least 60 FanDuel points in three straight games and five of the last seven. He's getting hot. Jokic ravaged Utah over the weekend. There's no way Roby, Mike Muscala, and Moses Brown can stop him. Jokic is my one true lock of the night.
Rudy Gobert – vs. NO ($8,500)
I rarely play Rudy because he is frequently overpriced. We haven't seen Gobert have a huge impact on the game since he touched all of the microphones at the post-game presser last March that led to the suspension of the 2019-20 season. Gobert is consistently good and a solid cash play, but I just can't see fading him for Jokic here. However, I'm not all about negativity. Gobert has averaged a double-double (10.4 points, 9.6 rebounds) in 21 career games against Steven Adams. There is a chance that Rudy could live up to the price tag here.
Jaxson Hayes – at Utah ($4,000)
On a per-minute basis, Hayes is a monster. The issue is that Hayes doesn't see a ton of minutes and wont unless Adams goes down. However, the Pelicans view the second-year man-child out of Texas as the future. Hayes has a ton of potential and you see it every time he gets his short bursts of minutes. I'm not a huge fan of punting center, but if Jokic winds up in foul trouble and Hayes plays 20 minutes, you're sitting pretty in a GPP. It just depends on how much of a gambler you are.
Also consider: Steven Adams ($5,800)
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