Welcome to the Core 4! My name is Michael aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the article throughout the day as news breaks. 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!
Purpose of the Core 4: These four players are guys that I want to lock into my cash game lineups and if doing multi-entry, using the Domination Station lock them in or set high exposure percentages to them. These are players that I see as underpriced, in great matchups, in play because of injuries, increased usage, etc. I also need to mention that these plays are normally geared toward Draftkings pricing and scoring, I’m not a huge fan of NBA for Fanduel, so if you see my list has three small forwards or two centers, etc. it’s because of the multi-position eligibility on Draftkings. With that said, let’s jump right into it!
Walt Lemon Jr. – $3,000
Welcome to April regular season NBA action, where a guy named Walt Lemon Jr. cracks the core 4. The Bulls changed up their rotation last game out and gave Lemon Jr. a massive 31 minutes off the bench with Dunn, LaVine, and Porter all still out. Lemon Jr. was able to score 42.5 Draftkings points in that game. Not only that, but the Bulls have come out and said that Lemon Jr. will start tonight against the Knicks. The Knicks rank 27th against opposing PG/SG’s giving Lemon Jr. a great opportunity to prove himself here. The Research Station has him projected to go for 8.3x his minimum price tag, I love me some Walt Lemon Jr. tonight.
Mitchell Robinson – $6,300
Mitchell Robinson was inserted into the starting lineup in the Knicks previous game, while DeAndre Jordan was a DNP-CD. It seems as if the Knicks are finally playing for the future and are going to give Robinson extended run at the five to see what they have. Robinson has played 31 and 37 minutes in his last two games and is averaging 46 Draftkings points in those two games. I would expect Robinson to see similar minutes here and gets a very weak Bulls frontcourt. The Bulls rank 23rd in defense against opposing centers on the season and will be without big man Lauri Markkanen. I love Robinson tonight.
Ben Simmons – $9,000
The 76ers will be without Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler tonight which opens up a ton of production in that offense. With those two off the court this season, Simmons sees a usage rate of 26.3% and averages 1.3 fantasy points per minute. That is a 4% usage bump to his original rate. Not only that, but the Mavericks have struggled all year with opposing point guards, ranking 21st in defense against them. Luka Doncic is also out for the Mavs, so it will be up to Jalen Brunson and Trey Burke to try and slow down Simmons tonight, I love this spot for him.
Devin Booker – $10,100
Devin Booker is playing at an insane level right now… plain and simple. His price hasn’t adjusted to it either. He has scored at least 68.25 Draftkings points in three straight games and has taken at least 27 shot attempts in four straight. He is simply just putting the offense on his back and with nothing to play for, the coaches are letting him chuck. He has been consistently around the 40-minute mark on a nightly basis now as well. There is no reason not to like Devin Booker tonight, I’m going to keep riding his hot streak.
As always I appreciate everyone who gave the game break a read! Feel free to mix it up with me in our coaching forums as news breaks and lock approaches. If you don’t know about them, our two newest pages contain Breaking News and our exclusive Coaches’ Picks……both invaluable for late-breaking news and pivots in NBA.
