Full Court Press Breakdown for NBA DFS 12/17:

Welcome back to the first Full Court Press Article of the season (or preseason, I should say). We’ve got a seven-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.

Charlotte Hornets @ Orlando Magic

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We’ll tip things off with the Hornets who should be relatively healthy outside of Gordon Hayward who came out with a fractured finger yesterday, I would put his availability in doubt for this one, but keep an eye out for some news on him. The Hornets are running really deep this preseason, last time out they had 12 guys with at least 10 minutes. They’re not really a team I want a ton of unless we hear some news on them tightening the rotation, that said, the starters all saw 24 minutes other than Cody Zeller, so that could be something to monitor. From the Magic, Jonathan Isaac, James Ennis, and Al-Farouq Aminu will be out here with Mo Bamba and Terrence Ross expected to play. Four of the five starters saw at least 28 minutes, with Aaron Gordon seeing just 19 minutes but I would expect that to get bumped up. I’d feel comfortable with the starters here.

5-star play: Nikola Vucevic

4-star play: Cole Anthony, Evan Fournier, Markelle Fultz

Deeper Value: Cole Anthony

GPP Sleeper: Aaron Gordon, LaMelo Ball, Devone’ Graham, Terry Rozier

Detroit Pistons @ Washington Wizards

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The Pistons are another team that is going super deep in the preseason. They had 17 guys touch the floor last time out with Killian Hayes leading the way with 25 minutes. He would be my favorite option on this team right there with Sekou Doumbouya who scored 23 points in 18 minutes off the bench last game. The Pistons just aren’t a team I really love here unless we get some news on a tightened rotation. From the Wizards, it sounds like Russell Westbrook will play here while Davis Bertans, Ish Smith, and Rui Hachimura are all questionable. Keep an eye out for a starting lineup from the Wizards, their starters all saw 22+ minutes last game. If I had to guess I would think Westbrook would be around that 20-minute mark as well which puts him in play here. Thomas Bryant is another guy that I’ll have interest in, he’s a big point per minute guy when he’s out there.

5-star play: None/TBD

4-star play: Killian Hayes, Russell Westbrook, Thomas Bryant

Deeper Value: Killian Hayes, Sekou Doumbouya

GPP Sleeper: TBD depending on starters

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San Antonio Spurs @ Houston Rockets

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The Spurs gave all their starters other than DeMar DeRozan 20+ minutes last time out and I would think they’d do the same here but DeRozan would enter that 20-minute territory as well. It’s pretty clear they want to see what they have in Devin Vassell as he played 32 minutes last game. He didn’t do a ton in that time but was still semi-productive and when those kind of minutes are on the table he’s hard to ignore in a good matchup. From the Rockets, we all saw the James Harden picture that surfaced of him looking a little homely, but he saw 21 minutes in his season debut. He should see a few extra minutes here and is a guy that I’ll get to a good amount. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins continue to play well in the preseason and are guys that will be in my player pool unless we hear otherwise. There’s a chance we see Christian Wood make his debut here but I’d want to see his minutes first or have the coach come out and say what we should expect from him before I would feel confident playing him.

5-star play: James Harden, John Wall, DeMarcus Cousins

4-star play: Rudy Gay, Dejounte Murray, LaMarcus Aldridge

Deeper Value: Devin Vassell

GPP Sleeper: Lonnie Walker, Trey Lyles, DeMar DeRozan

Atlanta Hawks @ Memphis Grizzlies

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The Hawks are a bit of a disaster heading into this game, they have Clint Capela, Kevin Huerter, and Cam Reddish questionable, Rajon Rondo doubtful and Tony Snell and Kris Dunn out. Safe to say, we’re going to need some news on them before we can really do anything with them. That said, all the starters saw at least 27 minutes last game, so whoever does get that start is someone I’d be interested in. Trae Young is the obvious start here but John Collins and Clint Capela both had double-doubles last game as well. From the Grizzlies, Brandon Clarke is currently questionable but other than Jaren Jackson and Justise Winslow still being out there isn’t much injury news to watch. The starters put up some pretty big performances last time out while they all say at least 22 minutes and all scored in double digits. This is a game that I can see getting pretty popular depending on what news we get from the Hawks.

5-star play: Trae Young, John Collins, Clint Capela, Jonas Valanciunas, Ja Morant

4-star play: Danilo Gallinari, Dillon Brooks, Bogdan Bogdanovic

Deeper Value: TBD

GPP Sleeper: De’Andre Hunter

Minnesota Timberwolves @ Dallas Mavericks

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Starting with the Wolves, they’ll be without D’Angelo Russell and Naz Reid, but everyone else looks to be available here. The Russell news is good news for guys like Anthony Edwards, Malik Beasley, Jarrett Culver, and Ricky Rubio. All of these guys saw at least 20 minutes last time out and should see an expanded role in this one. Karl-Anthony Towns saw 27 minutes last time out and is the top option for me on this team and should take some of that Russell usage. From the Mavericks, really the only injury is Kristaps Porzingis, but we knew that going in. Coach Carlisle described that this could be a dress rehearsal game which makes me think we could get close to full minutes from the starters. The starters for the Mavs are getting good run anyway and Luka Doncic is one of the top raw plays on the slate. He got 29 minutes last time out on his way to 27 real-life points. Josh Richardson had a pretty big game as well, I like this game as a whole, particularly the starters and the young bench guys.

5-star play: Luka Doncic, Karl-Anthony Towns

4-star play: Anthony Edwards, Malik Beasley, Ricky Rubio, Josh Richardson

Deeper Value: TBD

GPP Sleeper: Tim Hardaway Jr.

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Golden State Warriors @ Sacramento Kings

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It sounds like the Warriors will be short on big men again in this one with Draymond Green and James Wiseman out and Eric Paschall questionable. If Paschall is out again we saw Kevon Looney get the start and Marquese Chriss coming off the bench. Chriss was the more productive of the two guys and would be the one I would prefer in this scenario. Steph Curry had the big game last time out, scoring 29 points in 28 minutes, he’s a solid play again here. From the Kings, Jabari Parker and Cory Joseph will be out again here which is to no surprise. Marvin Bagley was the only starter not to see at least 20 minutes in this game last time out, he would be my least favorite starter if we don’t hear any minutes news on him. The rest of the starters are firmly in play and I don’t see myself chasing that Kyle Guy game, I frankly just don’t think he’s that good.

5-star play: De’Aaron Fox, Steph Curry

4-star play: Richaun Holmes, Buddy Hield, Harrison Barnes, Andrew Wiggins, Kelly Oubre

Deeper Value: TBD

GPP Sleeper: Nemanja Bjelica

Utah Jazz @ Los Angeles Clippers

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Utah pretty much gave their “main” guys the big minutes last time out. Jordan Clarkson, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic, Joe Ingles, and Mike Conley all saw at least 23 minutes. That much is intriguing enough for me to have an interest in them here. Gobert had a 20 rebound double-double while Conley led the team in scoring. From the Clippers, Marcus Morris is the only guy banged up meaning everyone else should be a go here. That said, they played it pretty light with their big boys. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George both saw under 20 minutes, in fact, they went 17 players deep and only gave two players 21 minutes. The Clips just aren’t a team that I’ll have a whole lot of interest in unless we get news that they’re going to ramp things up a bit.

5-star play: Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert

4-star play: Jordan Clarkson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, Joe Ingles

Deeper Value: Nic Batum

GPP Sleeper: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Lou Williams

NBA Lock of the Day: Luka Doncic (DK – $9.0k; FD – $6.0k)

As I mentioned in the Mavs breakdown, coach Carlisle mentioned this could be a dress rehearsal game for them which should lead to the starters getting heavy minutes. If we can get around 30 ish minutes out of Doncic he’d be on a fast track to the top raw option on the slate. If we’re going to get guaranteed minutes out of the MVP favorite tonight, it’s hard not to go really heavy on him. The Domination Station loves him as well with a projection in the 50’s for tonight, go get yourself some Luka and don’t look back! 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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