Welcome to the Core 4! My name is Mike 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.
DFSA Grades:
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. DFSA Grades 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 DFSA Grade 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:
The core yesterday was full of Bucks players who were healthy DNP-CD’s last night. We were able to get the news before the game started which allowed us to pivot on DraftKings but FanDuel was frustrating. Last night was all kinds of crazy, hopefully, we can get back to some normalcy tonight!
Today’s Core 4:
Mason Plumlee (C) – $5,700
We will kick off the Core 4 going right back to the Pistons. Mason Plumlee has been a guy I’ve been getting a lot of this season already. They’re expected to get Blake Griffin back here but Plumlee is finally getting a chance to play big minutes consistently. He’s played at least 30 minutes in each game this season and his price really hasn’t budged at all. The Research Station has him projected to be the second-best point per dollar play on the slate at 6.66x his DraftKings price tag. The Warriors matchup doesn’t scare me especially with Draymond out, I’m going right back to Plumlee here in all formats.
Goran Dragic (PG) – $5,800
The second piece of the core was my lock of the day in my Full Court Press Article. With Jimmy Butler out it opens up some minutes and usage in that Miami backcourt. I’m expecting Tyler Herro to be the higher owned and more popular option but I’m going to pivot and get some Dragic here. With Butler off the court, last season Dragic had a 28.8% usage rate and 1.11 fantasy points per minute. He crushed the Bucks in the playoffs which pains me to say as a Bucks fan, but I like him here. He has at least 37 DraftKings points in two straight games and is a guy I’m going to get to a lot here.
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Russell Westbrook (PG) – $9,700
I loveeeeeeee Russell Westbrook this season, I think he gets back to the stats that he had with the Thunder. Maybe not quite as productive, due to Bradley Beal soaking up usage, but getting him away from Harden is a godsend. He’s just too cheap here in my opinion, he has at least 57 DraftKings points in each of his first two games. This game has an implied total of 237 which is absolutely huge. The Bulls play zero defense, so Westbrook should be able to do whatever he wants here. The fact that his price went down $600 makes this an even better play for me, go get yourself some Westbrook tonight.
Coby White (PG/SG) – $6,500
We’ll round the Core 4 out with a bit of a run back option with Westbrook. Due to the total in this Chicago/Was game, I’m going to be pretty heavy on it. Coby has the ability to take over an offense with a drop of a hat. The Research Station has him projected to go for 5.2x his DraftKings price tag which doesn’t account for the ceiling that he comes with here. He’s coming off a nice 36 point fantasy outing and gets a matchup with Washington who plays fast and without defense. If you insert White as the last part of your core you’re left with $5,575 per position to complete the rest of your lineup which is more than doable. Love me some White 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.