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!
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Damian Lillard (PG) – $9,500
Lillard has a lot going for him in a matchup against the Sacramento Kings tonight. The first thing is that it is one of the highest implied totals on the slate at 227 and should be a fairly competitive game. Lillard also has a 29.3% usage rate on the season to go along with 1.35 fantasy points per minute. Lillard just feels too cheap here and only needs about 47 Draftkings points to hit value, he’s scored less than 47 Draftkings points only twice this season and is averaging 54.1 Draftkings points per game. This is an elite spot for him and one that I will be loading up on.
Nikola Jokic (C) – $8,300
There were times last season where if we saw Jokic under $10k it would be a surprise. Here he is at nearly $8k against an Atlanta Hawks team that plays very little defense. Jokic is a walking triple-double threat each and every night and I just know that the Hawks have anyone that can physically guard him. He has a 26% usage rate on the season to go along with 1.26 fantasy points per minute, I love this spot for Jokic and think he absolutely smashes that $8.3k price tag.
Bobby Portis (PF/C) – $5,500
Alright, so it pains me to put a Knicks player in my core because David Fizdale normally loves to screw me when I do so, but I love this spot for Portis. The first thing is it is a revenge game against his old team where he caused quite the controversy when he clocked Nikola Mirotic in the face during one of their practices ultimately sending him to the hospital. That said, Mirotic is no longer on the team, but I still think Portis has something to prove here. The Knicks have also ruled out Mitchell Robinson for the third straight game. Filling in for Robinson over the past two games Portis has scored at least 29 Draftkings points in each game. I would expect he gets the start again here against a Bulls team that ranks 29th in defense against opposing big men.
Richaun Holmes (PF/C) – $5,400
We’re going to go right back to another big man here, luckily Draftkings has multi-position eligibility on Holmes and Portis so fitting them in with Jokic won’t be an issue. Holmes just feels too cheap here and has performed very well filling in for Marvin Bagley. He’s scoring 0.98 fantasy points per minute on the season and gets a Trailblazers team that ranks dead last in the league against big man… yeah Whiteside doesn’t play a whole lot of defense. I like rounding out the core with Holmes and leaving us with $5,325 per player to finish out the rest of our lineup which is more than doable.
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