It’s Thursday and that means that the NBA schedule is pretty blah yet again. Looking at the schedule tonight, and….oh, wait. Six games on the slate tonight?! What has this world come to when a Thursday during the NBA season features more than just three games? As job-searching Waylon Smithers would announce at the race track, “get ready for fun, fun, fun!”
In this article, I will be providing you with Daily NBA picks for DraftKings for 12/3/15. The picks will range from some of the elite players, to mid-priced options, and value plays.
Without wasting anymore time, let's get down to it!
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DraftKings DFS Point Guards
Isaiah Thomas (at SAC, $7,500)
Boston at Sacramento. Mouth is watering. Hard to type. Stacking NBA games is not a strategy I normally would recommend, but I absolutely love the matchups in Sacramento. Both the Celtics and Kings play with a top five tempo, leading to this game being the top projected point total on the slate. Thomas has scored at least 33.3 DraftKings Fantasy Points Per Game over his last four games. He is the fifth-most expensive point guard on the slate and he should present top value at the point.
Kyle Lowry (vs DEN, $8,500)
There’s literally zero chance I’m not throwing Thomas out as my point guard for Thursday night, but you have to imagine that his price and potential will explode his ownership numbers. For more of a contrarian, but expensive, play, look toward Lowry. He will get to feast of a terrible Denver defense that ranks in the bottom five in defensive efficiency and gives up the fourth most DKFPG to opposing point guards. The downside? He played 37 minutes in Wednesday night’s win and has consistently seen decreased production all season in the second game of back-to-backs.
DraftKings DFS Shooting Guards
Avery Bradley (at SAC, $16,500)
I told you I was going to stack the Celtics/Kings game. Despite depending on his scoring abilities, Bradley continues to make a strong cash game play in daily fantasy. Even if he puts up a 4-for-15 from the field type of performance (like he did last week against the...gulp….Sixers), Bradley will still get his minutes with Marcus Smart out. He should get plenty of chances in Thursday’s up-tempo game in Sac-Town.
Rodney Hood (vs ORL, $4,900)
I literally just fell asleep thinking about the Utah offense. They play the slowest pace in the league but feature a roster full of guys that are capable of getting a nice return on investment for their owners on any given night. That being said, it’s almost a crapshoot trying to figure out which player will peak which night. Hood has been pretty solid over the last week. He has scored 24.5, 29.0 and 19.0 DKFP over that span. Those aren’t terribly great numbers, but it’s just enough to find some value at the two guard.
DraftKings DFS Small Forwards
Paul George (at POR, $10,000)
PG13 played 40 minutes in Wednesday night’s win. I ain’t scarrrrrred. He may be playing on a back-to-back, but it will be against a Portland team that should have all sorts of problems attempting to match up on George. He has scored at least 20 points in every game since November 4 while seeing a 31.6% usage rate. Even if he does not score, PG13 is a guy that can stuff the stat sheet in rebounds and assists as well. When making your roster tonight, start with George.
Kevin Durant (at MIA, $10,100)
Since KD has returned from injury, he has been an absolute beast. Averaging 29 points, just under eight rebounds and nearly four assists per game since his return, it would appear that Durant is completely healthy and ready to dominate the league again. Miami does play slow, but that can always be countered with Oklahoma City’s up tempo pace. Pay up at small forward Thursday night.
DraftKings DFS Power Forwards
DeMarcus Cousins (vs BOS, $10,600)
It’s going to be extremely difficult to fit in PG13 and Boogie on Thursday night. But if you can, watch out. The Boston frontcourt featuring the three-headed monster of Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson and Kelly Olynyk is deceivingly solid at playing defense and the Celtics as a unit rank third in the league in defensive efficiency. That may be enough to scare some fantasy owners away. However, Cousins is a much better player at home, where his splits look like 30.6/11/2.9 in 35.2 minutes per game. His ORating jumps to 113 on the home court. It’s a bit of a gamble to roster Boogie, but one that could pay off.
J.J. Hickson (at TOR, $3,800)
With Kenneth Faried coming off injury and playing 28 minutes in Wednesday night’s game, there’s a chance that he sees a decrease in minutes for Thursday night in Jurassic Park. Hickson figures to be the guy that sees an increase in playing time, and thus an increase in point production. There is the chance that Trevor Booker goes off early and steals a lot of Hickson’s minutes, but if you play Hickson, it means that you are in a tournament and you are taking a flier on him. There is some upside with Hickson. He has scored double digit fantasy points in five of his last six games.
DraftKings DFS Centers
Bismack Biyombo (vs DEN, $4,900)
Biyombo has been doing his best Andre Drummond impression recently. He is averaging 11.6 rebounds per game over his last five games while adding six total blocks for good measure. That’s the pro. The con is that he has almost no chance of scoring baskets unless he starts grabbing more offensive boards to finish some easy put backs or he gets fouled more. Let’s hope for the latter over the former consider how erratic he is at the line. Still, his price is nice if you want to fit in the big boys tonight.
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