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 teams 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:
Here is how my core from yesterday performed –
- Aron Baynes – 69.5 DraftKings points; 23.2x
- Giannis Antetokounmpo – 57.75 DraftKings points; 5.2x
- Anthony Davis – 43.25 DraftKings points; 4.4x
- Jeff Teague – 20.5 DraftKings points; 6.2x
I can’t remember the last time we had a guy go over 20x, but we got it with an absolutely monster night with Baynes last night. The only thing was he was massive chalk on DraftKings so we didn’t get too big of an edge, but you needed him if you wanted to cash. Anthony Davis got into quick foul trouble and only played 10 minutes in the first half because of it, he was the real killer last night but you were probably able to survive him if you excelled in another spot. We’ve got a five-game slate on deck tonight, so let’s get to it!
Today’s Core 4:
Mike Conley (PG) – $4,900
We will kick off the Core 4 with the Jazz traveling to Detroit to take on the Pistons. This game has a very low implied total at just 210.5 but that is not enough to keep me off of Conley here. He has at least 27 DraftKings points in five straight games and the Pistons play literally zero defense an all accounts so they can certainly be had here. The thing I love with Conley is his price tag, he’s simply too cheap. In fact, his price went DOWN $500 after dropping 42 DraftKings points last time out. This is where I like to look at the Research Station and see how a players’ price has fluctuated over the last game, see below. He’s just too cheap here and starting your lineups with him really opens up what you can do with the rest of your team.
Dillon Brooks (SG) – $4,900
The second piece of the core will be hosting the Atlanta Hawks in a game that has a massive 233 implied total and a slight pace up spot for the Grizzlies. This is another case where I just think Brooks is too cheap, he’s fallen victim to a few blowouts which have caused his minutes to be inconsistent, but if we take out those two blowout games against the Hawks and Nets, he has four straight games with at least 30 minutes which is right in line with when Jaren Jackson and Brandon Clarke went down with injury. He’s no stranger to shooting, as he had a stretch where he was shooting around 22 field goals per game, the Research Station loves him and has his projected value at 5.9x and I just think he’s too cheap here, I’ll get another $4.9k guy into my lineup which means we’ve got some money to spend!
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Jonas Valanciunas (C) – $7,300
We’re going to go right back to that Grizzlies/Hawks game and get us a little JoVal! I’ve been streaming big men against the Hawks while Clint Capela is still out meaning they have very little in terms of interior defense meaning Valanciunas should be able to do whatever he wants here. Valanciunas has the second-highest And1 rating on the slate at 17.4 and has a projected value of 5.7x in the Research Station. He scored 38.25 DraftKings points in this spot just last week but only played 25 minutes due to the blowout in this game. He’s got an elite 1.31 fantasy points per minute on the season, so when he’s in there he’s going to produce, he’s a guy I’m going to get a lot of on this slate.
Damian Lillard (PG) – $9,600
We’ve got a bit of money to spend since we went pretty cheap at our first two core spots so I’m going to spend up here and get some Damian Lillard. This game has a similar total to that Memphis game at 231 and is one that I will want to get exposure to. Lillard returned from injury two games ago but has shown no signs of being on any kind of minutes restriction as he played 38 minutes last time out. He’s averaging 50.1 DraftKings points per game in three games against the Kings this season and has an And1 rating of 13.6 which is really pretty high for a slate that has little star power. The Research Station has him having a projected value of 5.7x and a guy that I will look to get a good amount of on tonight’s five-game slate. With these four guys in your lineup, it leaves you with $5825 per player to round out the rest of your lineup which is more than doable, good luck tonight!
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.