RADIO
Welcome to the weekend, RotoBallers! Friday night's slate provided some interesting nuggets to put in our back pockets moving forward. Kevin Durant absolutely feasted with 73.75 DK points against the 76ers, Scottie Barnes put up 45.75 DK points and continues to be underpriced, Christian Wood posted 61 DK points against an overmatched Thunder frontcourt, and Spencer Dinwiddie (of all people) broke the slate with 57.5 DK points at just a $5,600 salary. We have some great matchups within our seven-game slate tonight - PHO/POR and NO/MIN stand out the most but MIL/SAS and MEM/LAC are close behind. Let's get to it.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/23/21. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lineups lock.
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DraftKings Guards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Anthony Edwards - SG/SF, MIN vs. NO (7,300)
Last year's number one overall pick posted 44 DK points in the Wolves' emphatic win over the Rockets on Wednesday. His line was mostly scoring-dependent as he put up 29 points, six boards, three assists, a steal, and four turnovers, but his minutes were cut a bit short due to the blowout nature of the game and he encouragingly went 6-for-12 from three-point land. Many people in the industry were hesitant to roster him due to his presumed splitting usage and production with D'Angelo Russell, but they both excelled in the opener and Ant posted a high 34.2% usage rate. He should get his full allotment of minutes tonight in what profiles as a high-scoring, fast-paced affair with the vulnerable Pelicans, who are missing Zion Williamson down low.
Chris Duarte - SG, IND vs. MIA ($3,900)
I'm not going to spend a whole lot of time on this due to how obvious it is. Duarte, a rookie out of Oregon, played 33 minutes in the opener and 45 minutes last night. He posted 39.25 and 30 DK points, respectively. His 19.1% usage rate isn't ideal, but he's taking and making a ton of shots and contributing with assists and boards as well. At his current 0.8 FPTS/min rate, he's an absolute steal at his current bargain-bin price tag. He was at $6,000 on DraftKings last night, so this is clearly just a misprice by the algorithm and quality control group.
Others to consider: Malcolm Brogdon ($7,300), De'Anthony Melton ($3,800), Alex Caruso ($3,900), Jrue Holiday ($6,500), Jeremy Lamb ($3,600), Nickeil Alexander-Walker ($6,400)
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DraftKings Forwards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF/C, MIL vs. SAS ($10,500)
Giannis is looking to bounce back here after a 37.5 DK point letdown in his last outing against the Heat. While his matchup against the Spurs isn't the most pristine in the world, it's certainly a better DFS environment than his last game and it's looking like he'll have Jrue Holiday back to take some of the defensive pressure away. It'll be some combination of Keldon Johnson, Doug McDermott, Thaddeus Young, and Jakob Poeltl trying to guard him...good luck with that. Giannis has a massive 36.8% usage rate to this point and his ceiling is only rivaled by Doncic on this slate.
Mikal Bridges - SF/SG, PHO vs. POR ($4,900)
This just feels like a misprice given Bridges' current role. He's averaging 34.5 minutes, 13.5 shot attempts, 18.5 points, five rebounds, 1.5 assists, two steals, and a block per game. That works out to 33.5 DK points per game, which clears the 5x value mark at his current tag by quite a bit. The PHO-POR game has the highest implied total and fastest projected pace on the slate, and Bridges is a sneaky value-filler to consider deploying in lineups tonight.
Jaden McDaniels - PF, MIN vs. NO ($3,500)
McDaniels is dirt-cheap and he's going to push for 30 minutes in the best (or second-best) game environment on the slate. The second-year player played 26 minutes in the opening night blowout win over Houston, and he racked up 22 DK points despite taking just three shots. He impressively had four steals and two blocks to aid his line, and he should continue to be a presence in the "stock" stats moving forward. A Zion-less Pelicans frontcourt awaits in what should be a fast-paced and high-scoring affair.
Scottie Barnes - SF/PF, TOR vs. DAL ($4,000)
Others to consider: Desmond Bane ($3,300), Terance Mann ($4,100), Keldon Johnson ($4,900), Jaren Jackson Jr. ($6,200)
DraftKings Centers - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Bam Adebayo - C, MIA vs. IND ($8,200)
Through two games played, the Pacers are allowing the third-most DK points per game to opposing centers and the fifth-most DK points per game to opposing power forwards. That sets up very well for Bam, obviously. Adebayo went 9-for-13 with 20 points, 13 rebounds, one assist, and one steal for 39.75 DK points in the opener against the Bucks. He holds a high 29% usage rate (Jimmy Butler is at 20.8%) and he shouldn't have trouble exceeding value given the soft matchup. He could be in for a ceiling game tonight.
Jonas Valanciunas - C, NO vs. MIN ($7,200)
Valanciunas is going to be a focal point of the offense as long as Zion Williamson remains out. He holds a 23.1% usage rate through two games and while he hasn't exploded yet, he posted at least 30 DK points in each game. The Wolves are the right spot to see a classic 20/15 kind of line out of him, though, as they've notoriously struggled against frontcourts in the past few years. They allowed the seventh-most DK PPG to opposing C's last year and they rank in the exact same spot this year, despite only playing against the center-less Rockets. JVal should crush his DK price tag tonight.
Others to consider: Jakob Poeltl ($4,900), Precious Achiuwa ($3,600), Jusuf Nurkic ($7,300)
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