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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Process:

I’ve had a lot of people ask me how I get to my core guys or what do I use to get to these guys to set a foundation for my lineups, so I’m introducing a new section to this article that I’m hoping can lead this to be a little more process-based and help all of you either find a core that you like or simply see how I got to these guys so you know I’m not just pulling them out of my ass! With that said, let’s get this puppy started!

Recognizing Value:

When it comes to NBA DFS value is truly king and being able to pinpoint underpriced guys will go along way in your success in this sport. With that said, the first thing I do is head right to the Research Station (or Domination Station if you’re closer to lock) and go ahead and sort by “Value” or “PP/$”. This will then sort the player pool from the highest projected value to lowest. Many of you will see that I post my Core 4 results on Twitter and it will say something along the lines of Joel Embiid – 6.2x, that “x” number is the particular value that the player was able to reach at their price tag. That’s why questions in slack like “James Harden or Donte DiVincenzo” are incredibly difficult to answer because Harden is the obvious better play from a raw points perspective, but DiVincenzo may have a higher value. You can also scroll to the right in the Research Station and find the two columns that will tell you how the player has performed relative to a 6x (cash) or 7x (GPP) marker this season, as seen below.

And1 Rating:

Once we have determined the top value options on the slate we can begin to dig a little deeper into what makes them a good play. The And1 rating is an all-encompassing metric that will lead you to the best plays on each slate each day. As you’re looking through your “sorted” Research Station or Domination Station, you will want to look for a green shade in the And1 column, green is good, red is bad!

Opportunity:

In the NBA, opportunity is everything which is very different from other sports. In baseball, a guy could get a spot start and get five at-bats and do absolutely nothing with them. That is typically not the case in NBA, if a guy is injured or out for some reason, usually a guy at a cheaper price tag will jump right into a decent role and be able to produce from a fantasy perspective no matter the actual NBA talent of the player. This is where I keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed for injuries or updates on potential value guys that we could look at starting.

Matchup/Pace:

Lastly, you don’t want a guy in a bad matchup, that much seems pretty obvious. That said, there are scenarios where I’m able to live with a poor DvP%. I’m a big believer in pace being a better representation of DFS production that simply defense vs. position especially in today’s NBA where some times are running up and down the court forcing the other team to play up to there speed. This is where I got to the Research Station and scroll over and find the “Vegas” and “Pace” section. Simply put, the more points scored in a game, the better for DFS production. You want to target guys with a + pace boost, also noted by having a green shade in this column.

Reverse Engineering:

This is where I like to take a look at yesterday’s Core 4 article and see how it did, as mentioned above, the “x” is the value that the player created based on their price tag. Generally, we want to hit 6x for cash games and 7x for GPPs.

Khris Middleton – 57.75 DKP; 7.3x value
Eric Bledsoe – 52.5 DKP; 7.7x value
Victor Oladipo – 22.5 DKP; 5.4x value
Ersan Ilyasova – 22.5 DKP; 7.0x value

Last night turned into a pretty chalky one when Giannis was ruled out so the guys listed above were pretty highly owned, but if you didn’t have them you probably had trouble cashing. Sometimes that’s the nature of the beast and determining good and bad chalk. Normally when Giannis is out, the Bucks are pretty good chalk and they proved that last night, overall a very solid night.

Today’s Core 4:

Danilo Gallinari (SF/PF) – $5,800

We kick off the core with Mr. Gallinari as he will host the San Antonio Spurs. We don’t have a total on this game as of yet, as I assume we wait on the availability of DeMar DeRozan, but that doesn’t affect Gallinari all too much. This is a slight pace up spot for the Thunder at +1.3. The price is really what jumped out to me on Gallinari, he hasn’t been below $6k on Draftkings since January 7th. It’s not like he’s in bad form that would warrant this either. He has scored 30+ DraftKings points in eight of his last ten games not to mention the great matchup here. The Spurs have struggled on defense all season long and Gallinari can score with the best of ’em. He’s averaging 32 DraftKings points per game in two matchups with the Spurs this season and just feels like a safe option with a good amount of upside on a shorter slate. I like using Gallinari as an anchor to both GPP and cash lineups due to his high floor combined with a serviceable GPP ceiling.

Hassan Whiteside (C) – $8,100

The second piece of the core will be traveling to New Orleans to take on the Pelicans in a game that will likely feature the highest implied total on the slate once we get news on Brandon Ingram. New Orleans is one of the fastest teams in the league which normally doesn’t bold well for those lunky centers who kind of just clog up the lane. That said, Whiteside isn’t really one of those guys, he’s an athletic big man who isn’t afraid to get up and down the court. This is a pace up spot for the Blazers at +2.6 and really a very nice matchup for Whiteside. Zion Williamson has been playing a lot of center for this team while Derrick Favors is resting and he’s simply too small to handle Whiteside. Yes, his athleticism allows him to be serviceable in the post in the NBA, but it should be a gold mine for DFS. Zion is grabbing a ton of usage on this team which should funnel toward the hoop and toward Whiteside meaning more rebound, blocks, and steals equity. At this price he has some serious GPP upside as we’ve seen him put up massive ceilings this season. He’s averaging 38.5 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Pelicans this season, which is really the bottom end of where we would like him to be, but with the addition of Zion, I really think helps Whiteside here. I like him quite a bit in this spot.

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LaMarcus Aldridge (PF/C) – $6,700

So I’m going out on a limb a bit with this one and I’m going to operate under the assumption that DeMar DeRozan is going to be out for this game. Coach Popovich said in their postgame interview last night that he, “didn’t know if and when DeMar would be back”, so I don’t think I’m being all that crazy thinking they would play it safe with one of their more prized assets. That said when DeMar sits… I play Aldridge, even in tougher matchups like this one and he proved that last night going for a 50 burger on Jokic and the Nuggets who are a nightmare for opposing bigs. With DeRozan off the court this season, Aldridge has a 28.6% usage rate and a massive 1.36 fantasy points per minute. Steven Adams also hasn’t been the dominant defender that he was last year, yes it’s still there for him, but in this spot, it’s hard for me to ignore an expanded role for Aldridge at a price tag that doesn’t reflect it. If DeRozan is in for some reason, look for an update from me, but for now, this is a great spot for Aldridge.

Zach LaVine (SG) – $8,200

We round out the Core 4 with Mr. Zach LaVine. He is currently listed as questionable but I’ll be operating under the assumption that he plays here. He just feels way too cheap here, he’s proven to have a 70+ point upside this season and has been very consistent with a high floor. I had him listed as a core last time I made this article and he came in at 1% ownership and dropped a 50 burger, if we can get that again I would be all for it! He did see a small price increase here but it’s nothing all that substantial given the matchup. I absolutely love this matchup for the Bulls and LaVine. The Wizards are one of the faster teams in the league and play little to no defense. They will see a pace-up spot of +3.6 in Washington. LaVine has performed very well in this spot already twice this season where he is averaging 47.8 DraftKings points per game. This Bulls team is extremely banged up right now, with Dunn, Markkanen, Carter, and Porter off the court he has a 33% usage rate and 1.19 fantasy points per minute and the offense will run through him. He’s playing all the minutes he can handle right now and is in a great spot tonight, take advantage.

As always I appreciate everyone who gave the article 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.