Welcome to the DFS Army Draftkings Tiers breakdown! The Tiers breakdown will consist of a breakdown of all six tiers on Draftkings and why you should or shouldn’t play some of these guys! My name is Michael aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the article and just because I like to think I’m a great Twitter follow (high hopes). But, you’ll mostly find me in our VIP coaching forums where I provide detailed lineup maneuvers and answer all lineup questions. With that said, let’s get it started!
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Tier One
If you’ve learned anything from me it’s that I attack the Spurs with opposing point guards. Tonight not only do we get a great point guard in Russell Westbrook, but we get Westbrook with extra usage with Paul George out again tonight. With Paul George off the court this season, Westbrook has a usage rate of 36.7% and averages 1.62 fantasy points per minute. In two matchups against the Spurs this season, Westbrook is averaging 67.1 Draftkings points per game. LeBron James also draws a fantastic matchup against the Suns. The Suns rank 26th in defense against opposing small forwards and LeBron is putting the team on his back during this final stretch. He has scored 50+ in eight of his last ten games, however, I don’t know that he’ll need to do that here against a fairly week Phoenix team. Finally, I’ll never talk you off of Giannis, but these other guys are just in better spots.
If you’re looking to create multiple lineups using your player pool, head on over to the Domination Station. This link will give you a quick tutorial on how to use the optimizer. The Domination Station is a great way to incorporate our projections with your own player pool to produce ideal lineups to help you play like an expert!
Tier Two:
Don’t play Paul George here, he’s out! Moving on, Nikola Jokic is in a pretty nice spot here. The Pelicans rank 21st in defense against opposing centers and Anthony Davis is expected to rest. With Davis out, that front-court gets really small and will have problems covering Jokic, he’s my favorite play in this tier. I like Luke Doncic, I don’t like the game environment against Memphis. This game will be ultra slow, and he only put up 35.5 fantasy points in his earlier run-in with the Grizzlies. Finally, Nikola Vucevic is one of my favorite players to roster in DFS because he normally goes under-owned and is very safe with decent upside. He has scored 50+ fantasy points in three of his last four games, he’s worth a shot as a pivot off of Jokic.
Tier Three
The Warriors have been giving guys days off for rest purposes lately, first, it was Cousins, then it was Durant and Iguodala. I’m not expecting Curry to sit here, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me. You all know how I feel when attacking Durant and Curry, it’s almost impossible predicting which one will have a ceiling game on any given night. Kevin Durant draws the better matchup tonight as the 76ers rank 25th against opposing small forwards. In situations like this, I tend to trust the Domination Station, and it likes Steph Curry to score a little less than a point more than Durant. The Domination Station’s favorite play in this tier is DeMarcus Cousins, it sounds like Joel Embiid will be out again, so Cousins should have no problem bullying around that front-court.
Tier Four:
With Joel Embiid off the court this season, Tobias Harris has a usage rate of 22.6% and is averaging 1.09 fantasy points per minute. Normally I would say he’s a lock and load, but his matchup against Draymond Green is a little scary. I only say a little, because Tobias has played the Warriors three times this year and is averaging 42.8 fantasy points per game, so he’s clearly fine. In two matchups with the Thunder this season, DeMar DeRozan is averaging 39.8 fantasy points per game. He is interesting to me because he would’ve likely drawn Paul George defense and now he obviously avoids that, I like him here. Julius Randle will see a usage uptick with Anthony Davis off the floor, but his minutes have been all over the place as well since the all-star break. I’ll leave him as a GPP option. Donavon Mitchell draws a tough matchup against the Bucks, and will likely draw a lot of Khris Middleton on defense. Rudy Gobert also draws a tough matchup, the Bucks rank 13th in the league against opposing centers and are one of the best rebounding teams in the league.
If you’re looking to create multiple lineups using your player pool, head on over to the Domination Station. This link will give you a quick tutorial on how to use the optimizer. The Domination Station is a great way to incorporate our projections with your own player pool to produce ideal lineups to help you play like an expert.
Tier Five:
Don’t play Anthony Davis here… he’s out tonight. With Joel Embiid off the floor, this season Jimmy Butler becomes one of my favorite plays. He sees a 22.6% usage rate and a little over a point per minute. Those will likely both go up with an uptempo matchup against the Warriors here. DeAndre Ayton is also in a good spot against the Lakers. The Lakers rank 18th in defense against opposing centers on the season and he is averaging 38.1 fantasy points per game in two matchups with them this year. Jonas Valanciunas and Mike Conley make for interesting plays in a pace up spot, they both average about 1.1 fantasy points per minute on the season. Finally, Brandon Ingram and LaMarcus Aldridge are fine GPP plays for me tonight. If you remember Aldridge put up nearly 80 fantasy points against the Thunder earlier this year.
Tier Six:
He’s not necessarily the greatest play from this tier, but Eric Bledsoe is playing out of his mind right now. He looks different on the court than last season an just got a 4-year contract extension with the Bucks. He’s scored 67 and 52 fantasy points in his past two games, he’ll look to stay hot here against a tough Jazz team. I said I wouldn’t be surprised if Curry sat this game out, I also wouldn’t be surprised if Klay Thompson sat here as well, so keep an eye on our Breaking News Feed for news on that. The Domination Station has Jamal Murray being the best play from this tier and I would have to agree. Denver and New Orleans will be one of the higher scoring games on the slate and Murray draws a great matchup. The Pelicans rank 19th against opposing point guards on the season. Paul Millsap will see a boost as well with Anthony Davis off the court, Millsap’s minutes have been more solidified with Trey Lyles off the court. Aaron Gordon, Kelly Oubre and Kyle Kuzma all make sense for GPPs as well.
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