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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James Harden – $10,800
The Houston Rockets announced on Sunday that Russell Westbrook will sit this game out for rest purposes, which will mean even more Harden usage. When I say more usage for James Harden, I mean A LOT MORE. With Westbrook off the floor, this season Harden has a 49% usage rate and 1.77 fantasy points per minute. I hate to just leave it at that and just say plug him in, but there’s no reason to get cute here, plug Harden in and move on.
Al Horford – $6,900
Joel Embiid will serve the second game of his suspension here meaning that there will be more usage and big man minutes to go around. Anytime Embiid is expected to miss, I will have a ton of interest in Horford. He will slide over and play the center minutes against a weak Suns frontcourt that is missing DeAndre Ayton. With Embiid off the court, this season Horford has a 1.34 fantasy point per minute and saw his price go down after putting up 47.8 Draftkings points against the Trail Blazers on Saturday.
Gorgui Dieng – $3,300
We went with two more expensive options with the first two spots in the core, so let’s get some value with this spot. Karl-Anthony Town will finish off his suspension tonight against the Bucks meaning Dieng should receive another spot start. Dieng got the start and played 24 minutes against the Wizards on Saturday on his way to 39.5 Draftkings points. With Towns off the court, he has a 1.5 fantasy point per minute. It’s not the greatest matchup against the Bucks, but at his price tag, he doesn’t need to do a whole lot to pay off his price tag.
Josh Richardson – $4,600
Richardson is simply too cheap here, his price went down after putting up 33 Draftkings points on Saturday night. He has scored over 30 Draftkings points in three of his five games this season and will also see a boost with Joel Embiid out of the starting lineup. Richardson sees a 2.6% usage increase when Embiid is off the court, not only that but he gets a great matchup against the Phoenix Suns. I’m expecting this game to have a fairly high implied total and for a guy who’s going to play 35ish minutes, I’ll be all over him at this price tag.
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