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!
Karl-Anthony Towns – $10,800
I’m going right back to the well with Karl-Anthony Towns tonight against the Hornets. Charlotte just got eaten alive by Lauri Markkanen who dropped over 60 Draftkings points. KAT also had a massive first game in which he scored 73.5 Draftkings points against the Nets. I just don’ see a way in which Cody Zeller and company is able to cover Towns for 30+ minutes here. The price came up a bit, but if it didn’t he would be super chalk, I still think he’s decently owned but the matchup is just too good to pass up.
Jamal Murray – $6,300
Jamal Murray draws a matchup with the Phoenix Suns who ranked 23rd against opposing point guards last season and I’m not expecting that to change much this season. There isn’t an implied total out for this game yet but I would expect it to be high, in an up-tempo game Murray is tough to not like. He scored 31 Draftkings points in his first game of the season against the Blazers on Wednesday. Look for him to build off of that game and have a very productive one in a cake matchup against the Suns.
Nemanja Bjelica – $3,600
This may seem a bit odd especially since he’s coming off a game where he played just 21 minutes. However, we found out that Marvin Bagley will be out for a while with an injury that leaves a gaping hole at the power forward position. We can expect Bjelica to at least get a chunk of those minutes and probably jump into the starting 5, and at sub-$4k he is simply too cheap. Don’t get cute here, Bjelica allows you to open up your lineup to star players that otherwise wouldn’t be available. It’s also a pretty solid matchup in what should be a pretty fast-paced game.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – $6,500
I loved SGA with the Clippers last season and played him anytime it looked like he would get solid run. Now with the Thunder, this youngster looks like he will get an opportunity to prove himself. He played 37 minutes in Wednesday’s game and putting up 33 Draftkings points. He didn’t shoot all that well, but it’s the opportunities that I’ll look at. He put up 23 field goals and was only able to knock down 10. I’ll side with positive regression on that one especially with the matchup that he’ll get here. The Washington Wizards are one of the worse teams in the league and really struggle on defense. SGA and company should be able to do whatever they please here. I love him in this spot, get yourself a bunch of him!
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.
