Full Court Press Breakdown for NBA DFS 12/16:

Welcome back to the first Full Court Press Article of the season (or preseason, I should say). We’ve got a four-game slate on tap and the goal of these preseason breakdowns is going to simply be running through what we kind of already know going into the games. Preseason is always a different animal but with the right information and tools, there’s quite an edge, as you can see from the success members have already had this preseason below. The Domination Station along with our VIP chat is going to be your best friends when it comes to essential news needed for these preseason slates.

Cleveland Cavaliers @ New York Knicks

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We’ll tip things off with the Cavs who are a bit of a disaster in terms of who will play and who won’t. Kevin Love, Collin Sexton, Cedi Osman, JaVale McGee, and Kevin Porter are all questionable while Larry Nance and Matthew Dellavedova are both out. Clearly, we’ll need some news here before feeling comfortable about playing any part of this team. All that said, they’re giving their guys some big minutes in terms of preseason standards. Rookie Isaac Okoro played 33 and 28 minutes in his first two preseason games, scoring 15+ real-life points in both of them. He seems to be a good option here along with the rest of the starting lineup, but ultimately I want the young guys on this team. Guys like Okoro, Darius Garland, Dante Exum, hell maybe even some Thon Maker who double-doubled in game one. The Cavs can really go pretty deep here, so I want to get some kind of information from the coach before I go too crazy on them. The Knicks are playing their starters pretty heavy minutes to start the preseason out. RJ Barrett has seen 29 and 36 minutes in his first two-game which is just insane to me for a preseason game, but the Knicks will do what the Knicks will do. He seems to be a pretty solid option unless we hear otherwise. Julius Randle has been right around that 30-minute mark as well in their first two games and has produced pretty nicely. These would be my two favorite plays on the Knicks as I write this on Tuesday night. Rookie Obi Toppin will likely get some buzz simply because of the draft hype around him, he played 24 and 20 minutes in their first two games so maybe we see another small bump in those minutes here which would put him in play as well. I’m pretty comfortable with having the Knicks starting five in my player pool if we assume the same rotations as the first two games.

5-star play: RJ Barrett, Julius Randle, Obi Toppin

4-star play: Alec Burks, Mitchell Robinson

Deeper Value: TBD

GPP Sleeper: TBD

Chicago Bulls @ Oklahoma City Thunder

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We’ll start with the road Bulls here, they’ll be without Thomas Satoransky, Thad Young, Garrett Temple, and Denzel Valentine. In their latest preseason game, all starters saw at least 24 minutes which is a great sign for whoever gets the nod in this one. Coby White led all players with 32 minutes and seems like a guy they want to get some run in their final game. The Bulls went 12 players deep with Shittu and Felicio both seeing under eight minutes so they really ran a ten-man rotation which is a good sign that they may look to establish some sort of consistency going into the start of the season. This is the Thunder’s second preseason game and they went super deep in game one. Not really in terms of players, they only ran 12 guys out but all but one of them saw at least 17 minutes. This really just isn’t a team I want to get to unless we get some news that the starters will see heavy run. Hamidou Diallo and Isaiah Roby saw big minutes in game one and would make sense as value options, however, if the coaches want to see what they have in the young guns.

5-star play: Zach LaVine, Coby White

4-star play: Otto Porter, Lauri Markkanen

Deeper Value: Hamidou Diallo, Isaiah Roby

GPP Sleeper: Wendell Carter, Patrick Williams

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Portland Trailblazers @ Denver Nuggets

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The Trailblazers started the preseason with a pretty tight rotation, going eight guys deep and all playing 20+ minutes. However, in game two they went 12 deep with minutes much more spread out. Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, and Jusuf Nurkic all saw less than 15 minutes which doesn’t exactly make you feel good about their minutes going into this one. Gary Trent has been a guy that’s seen big minutes in both the games and honestly would expect the same here. The same can be said for Harry Giles and CJ Elleby, however, Elleby won’t make my player pool simply because he doesn’t do much while he’s out there. This is a team we’ll probably get news on regarding minutes for their “big 3”, so keep an eye on our VIP chat for the latest news. From the Nuggets, RJ Hampton is really the only injury news we’re waiting on. In Denver’s first preseason game all the starters saw at least 22 minutes while three guys tied for a team lead in minutes, Jamaal Murray, Gary Harris, and Facundo Campazzo off the bench. Nikola Jokic put up a massive double-double in 23 minutes and is a nice play again here even in what should be limited run.

5-star play: Nikola Jokic, Jamaal Murray, Harry Giles, Gary Trent

4-star play: Paul Millsap, Michael Porter Jr., Enes Kanter

Deeper Value: TBD

GPP Sleeper: Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic

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Los Angeles Lakers @ Phoenix Suns

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The Lakers have only gone eight and nine deep in their first two games, but those were without LeBron James and Anthony Davis. Davis and James are expected to play the first half in this one which should get them to around 15-20 minutes. It’s not a ton of playing time but we know what these guys can do in short spurts. The preseason darling so far has been Mr. Talen Horton-Tucker who has played 37 and 41 minutes in the Lakers first two games scoring a combined 52 real-life points. I would expect him to see big minutes again here even with Davis and James back, his usage will go down, but tough not to like the kid in this one. Kyle Kuzma has also been around that 40-minute mark in their first two games. He hasn’t been quite as dominant but still very effective. Both are in play for me again here. From the Suns, Jae Crowder, Dario Saric, and Cam Johnson are all questionable, so keep an eye out for that news. All starters outside of Chris Paul saw at least 24 minutes last game, but I would expect the minutes on Paul to come up at least a little here, he’s definitely playable if we project him to be around 20-25 minutes. Devon Booker has seen his minutes go up as well and is shooting like crazy, if he sees 25+ minutes here you’ll likely want to have him in your lineup. That said, the Suns did go pretty deep last game so keeping an eye on who’s active and the beat reporters will be important here as always.

5-star play: Talen Hort-Tucker, Kyle Kuzma, Devon Booker

4-star play: Chris Paul, Mikal Bridges, DeAndre Ayton, LeBron James, Anthony Davis

Deeper Value: Jalen Smith, Quinn Cook

GPP Sleeper: Jalen Smith, Quinn Cook

NBA Lock of the Day: Julius Randle (DK – $6.6k; FD – $4.0k)

I’m gonna roll with a Knickerbocker tonight in Mr. Julius Randle. As I mentioned above, the Knicks are not shying away from minutes on he and Barrett. Randle has played 32 and 29 minutes in their first two preseason games and when we have somewhat guaranteed minutes from a preseason player it’s hard to ignore them. The Domination Station loves him as well with a projection in the 30’s for tonight, go get yourself some Julius Randle! Tweet me (@MadnessDFS) your lock predictions and if your player gets over 6.5x I’ll give you a shoutout on Twitter, let’s have some fun with this!

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