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!
James Harden – $9,700
I damn near pinched myself when I saw James Harden under $10k. I think Draftkings is way over-exaggerating the presence of Russell Westbrook on this team. Yes, Westbrook will take some usage from Harden, but they won’t play all their minutes together and when they do Harden will finally have someone to take the defense off of him. This price is simply too cheap for Harden no matter the matchup and the matchup is a relatively good one. This game has the highest implied total on the slate at 232.5 which is a massive number. In two games against the Bucks last season, he averaged 60.4 Draftkings points per game. He may see some Giannis defense here, but I don’t think it really matters who’s guarding him, he’s too cheap.
Steph Curry – $9,400
Similar to opening night on Tuesday, I’m going to jam in two studs here. Curry feels too cheap with all things considered as well. Golden State lost Kevin Durant to the Nets and lost Klay Tompson due to injury while acquiring PG/SG D’Angelo Russell. It will be interesting to see how Russell fits in this offense, but I would expect Curry to see a massive increase in usage with those two off the court to start the season. This game also has a nice implied total of 225.5 and should be a close, competitive game. I like Curry here quite a bit.
Derrick Rose – $5,400
As I said earlier, my roster construction will be relatively similar to what it was on Tuesday. Derrick Rose makes a lot of sense as a mid-range play here and started the season very well last night with a 32 point Draftkings outing against the Pacers. Tonight he gets an even better matchup against the Atlanta Hawks who ranked dead last in defense against opposing point guards last season. Rose will take up a lot of the usage in the second unit which is why I like him so much. At this price tag, he should have no issue hitting value here with some nice upside as well.
Eric Gordon – $4,300
Eric Gordon ranks as one of the better point per dollar plays in the Domination Station at 5.84. Ultimately I think the trade for Russell Westbrook helps Gordon’s production as the defense focuses more on Westbrook and less on a hopefully wide-open Eric Gordon waiting to pop a three-ball. The Bucks struggled to guard the three-point line all year last year and I would tend to think that continues here. At a price of just $4.3k I really like Gordon here and the value helps make the rest of the lineup work with Harden and Curry both in there.
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