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!
Anthony Davis – $10,200
We will start with the newest Los Angeles Laker in Anthony Davis. It’s tough not to like Davis here in this matchup. If you read my Full Court Press Article, you’ll know that I see Kawhi Leonard guarding LeBron James here leaving Davis to be guarded by a combination of JaMychal Green and Ivica Zubac. The Clippers struggled with big men all last season and they didn’t necessarily do anything in the offseason to make me think this will change this season. Maybe Kawhi moves up and guards the four on some teams, but he will almost certainly guard LeBron here. We have seen AD near $13k at times, so getting him at just over $10k feels nice. I’m expecting the ball to run through Anthony Davis all season long and starting on night one, he is a core play for me.
Kawhi Leonard – $9,600
Yes, I know we are spending up twice, but I’ll get us some value plays shortly. I’m doing what I can do jam these two guys in here in a game that I’m expecting to be competitive. I would expect that Kawhi gets the majority of the usage on this Clippers team while Paul George rehabs his injured shoulder. We saw last postseason Kawhi’s ability to completely take over a game and with Lou Williams likely coming off the bench again this season, I like Kawhi to soak up all the usage while he’s on the bench. Not only does he get it done on the offensive end, but he can get you there with blocks and steals as well. We’ve seen LeBron turn the ball over a decent amount so he may fall into a few steals as well which will only help his odds of hitting and exceeding value here. I love the Kawhi-AD stack to start the season.
Lonzo Ball – $5,400
We’ll go down and save a little money here at the point guard position with one of the newest Pelicans, Lonzo Ball. With Zion Williamson out for a good chunk of time, we can expect Lonzo to get a little usage bump coming into the year. Lonzo proved last season that he has triple-double upside every time he takes the court and I would expect him to get around 30-35 minutes here as the starting point guard for this team. We know how much Alvin Gentry loves to run his starters, so this makes a lot of sense to me at a very cheap price point. I love Lonzo here and really helps make the rest of your lineup work.
Kenrich Williams – $3,100
Alright, we’re going to go a little off the board with a value play that makes the AD-Kawhi stack work. Most people will look to OG Anunoby as their value play but to be honest he’s not a huge point per minute guy. Whereas we saw Kenrich Williams put up big numbers when given the opportunity last season. With Zion on the shelf, I’m expecting Kenrich to see around 25 minutes in this spot. Derrick Favors never was really a guy to push 40 minutes and although he’s projected as the starting center, I would expect they go small at times to get Kenrich some extended run. I love the price tag on him here and think he gets overlooked for a chalky OG Anunoby. Give me a higher upside play at lower ownership.
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