DFS NBA Full Court Press: FanDuel & DraftKings Main Slate - Apr. 8th, 2022

Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 04/8:

Welcome to another year of the DFS Army NBA Full Court Press! Members had a ton of success using the Full Court Press along with various articles and tools that DFS Army provides last season, so we are glad to be back with another year of the all-inclusive article. You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article. 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!

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Milwaukee Bucks @ Detroit Pistons

Vegas Total: 228.5

Vegas Spread: Mil -6.0

We’ll kick this slate kicked off with the Bucks, and this is just reckless speculation but I would imagine they rest a lot of their main pieces on the second half of a back-to-back against a bad Pistons team on the road after playing the Celtics on Thursday night. I’m going to operate under the assumption that this is the case and we have Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez out here… if that’s not the case, the Breaking News Feed will have you covered for updates. I would imagine we get guys like Jordan Nwora, Grayson Allen, Pat Connaughton, Bobby Portis, and Wesley Matthews starting, but again watch for a starting lineup. They’ll all look like good values outside of Matthews who isn’t really a huge per minute guy. Jevon Carter is another guy that could see big minutes and just dropped 35 DraftKings points on the Clippers the last time he saw 30+ minutes. From the Pistons, they’ll be without Jerami Grant and Marvin Bagley at the very least. Cade Cunningham got his minutes back up to 38 last time out and had a huge game, he’s probably more of a GPP guy for me just because I don’t know how much we can trust the minutes, but a viable guy nonetheless. We can lump Saddiq Bey into that group as well, he’s just a guy that’s going to be volatile regardless of who’s out there. The price tag on Killian Hayes has skyrocketed on both sites and probably isn’t a guy that I’ll get a whole lot of here unless more guys get added to the inactive report. Isaiah squared, a.k.a Stewart and Livers, should continue to run this frontcourt and look like fine mid-range options again. It’s worth noting that Kelly Olynyk isn’t on the injury report yet for this game and would be an interesting GPP value. He has a 22.1% usage rate and 1.11 fantasy points per minute with Grant and Bagley off of the court this season.

***The below assumes Giannis Antetokounmpo is OUT at the very least, but Middleton, Holiday, and Lopez will be added to the Breaking News Feed as we get closer to lock if they’re playing***

5-star play: Jordan Nwora, Bobby Portis

4-star play: Jevon Carter, Pat Connaughton, Cade Cunningham, Kelly Olynyk, Saddiq Bey

Deeper Value: Jordan Nwora, Jevon Carter, Grayson Allen

GPP Sleeper: Saddiq Bey, Killian Hayes, Isaiah Stewart, Isaiah Livers

Quick shoutout to VIP member “Cenzamatic” on a massive $20k win on Tuesday night! Sometimes paying up for double studs works, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant brought it home for him with the help of some Stanley Johnson and Pistons value. Good work and congrats man!

New York Knicks @ Washington Wizards

Vegas Total: 223.0

Vegas Spread: Was -1.0

Starting with the Knicks, Julius Randle will miss the rest of the regular season, meaning we’ll get Obi Toppin in the starting lineup to close up shop. They’ll also be without Mitchell Robinson who is sidelined with an illness. Below is how this team operates with Randle, Robinson, and Derrick Rose off of the court this season:

• Obi Toppin – 19.8% usage rate; 0.90 fpm
• Alec Burks – 22.8% usage rate; 1.10 fpm
• RJ Barrett – 33.5% usage rate; 1.08 fpm
• Jericho Sims – 7.5% usage rate; 0.67 fpm
• Evan Fournier – 21.4% usage rate; 0.71 fpm

These would be my favorite options on the team, particularly Toppin and Barrett who should benefit the most with Randle being out. Not to mention, it’s a great matchup with the Wizards in this one. We will likely see Jericho Sims get the start for Robinson as we did last time out. He had a big game and will be a solid value option again here despite his minimal numbers on the season. I will mention that Immanuel Quickley has been in great form, but had a rough outing last time out, if ownership is down on him here I have no issue going back to him in GPPs. From the Wizards, Kyle Kuzma will continue to be out for Washington here meaning we can go right back to some of these guys in the frontcourt. Kristaps Porzingis has a 32.7% usage rate and 1.53 fantasy points per minute with Kuzma off of the court this season and will look like a great option in a revenge game against the Knicks. I’ll have no issue going right back to Deni Avdija as well considering the consistency he’s shown as of late and the minutes are up as of late as well. Rui Hachimura had a rough go of it last time out but has at least 33 DraftKings points in three of his last five games and is a solid mid-range option. Tomas Satoransky will continue to start and look like a solid enough mid-to-low range option for cash games, but if you’re looking for a ceiling Ish Smith will be the guy you’ll want and has shown some solid consistency as of late as well. Then Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is never really a guy I love getting to and feels more like a glorified Danny Green than anything, but he’s a fine option for GPPs due to his upside but we saw the floor he has last time out.

5-star play: RJ Barrett, Kristaps Porzingis

4-star play: Obi Toppin, Alec Burks, Jericho Sims, Deni Avdija

Deeper Value: Jericho Sims

GPP Sleeper: Jericho Sims, Evan Fournier, Immanuel Quickley, Ish Smith, Tomas Satoransky, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

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Cleveland Cavaliers @ Brooklyn Nets

Vegas Total: 230.0

Vegas Spread: Bkn -7.0

Starting with the Cavaliers, it sounds like Evan Mobley will return here but I’m not sure they’re going to push him unless they truly think he’s 100%. I’ll operate under the assumption he’s around 30 minutes here with that said. He struggled in this matchup earlier in the season but is still a guy that is viable in tournaments. I like the price tag on Darius Garland as it has come down a bit, he’s averaging 48.2 DraftKings points per game in three games against the Nets this season. Caris LeVert will continue to play big minutes and has been solid as of late, he gets a revenge game against his old squad and is in play as a tournament option. Lauri Markkanen and Kevin Love will lose some consistency with Mobley back but Moses Brown is the guy that will fall out of the rotation and is now completely fade-able in all formats. From the Nets, Kevin Durant bounced back in a big way last time out against the Knicks and now has at least 70 DraftKings points in two of his last three games and will be a great spend-up option on this slate. Kyrie Irving gets a revenge game against the Cavs here and will be a solid option in all formats as well, he has at least 50 FanDuel points in back-to-back games.  Andre Drummond has been pretty consistent as of late before a down game last time out, I have no issue going back to him here, they’ll need his size against a bigger Cavs frontcourt. Then we can round this team out with Bruce Brown and Seth Curry as secondary GPP options.

5-star play: Darius Garland, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving

4-star play: Evan Mobley, Caris LeVert, Andre Drummond

Deeper Value: None

GPP Sleeper: Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love, Bruce Brown, Seth Curry, Nic Claxton

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Houston Rockets @ Toronto Raptors

Vegas Total: NA

Vegas Spread: Tor -14.0

Starting with the Rockets, Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green will continue to look like great options here. With Eric Gordon, Dennis Schroder, and Christian Wood off of the court over the past two weeks Porter Jr. has a 27.6% usage rate and 1.43 fantasy points per minute while Green is at a 27.5% usage rate and 1.16 fantasy points per minute. Alperen Sengun will also be a guy I want to get back to here, he’s been extremely consistent with Wood off of the court this season. Outside of these three guys, it’s very slim pickings unless you want to go to Jae’Sean Tate or Josh Christopher as a secondary GPP option. From the Raptors, Fred VanVleet was rested last night but I would anticipate he returns tonight while OG Anunoby will continue to be out here. Pascal Siakam had a massive game last night and would be a guy I go right back to here in an elite matchup with a bad Houston team. Gary Trent Jr. had a huge game last night as well, but with VanVleet back he loses a little shine and is probably more of a secondary cash option and a solid GPP option as he’ll lose some shots which is less than ideal for a scoring dependent guard. Scottie Barnes will continue to see big minutes as well and looks like a solid option in all formats to round out the Raptors.

5-star play: Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, Pascal Siakam

4-star play: Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, Scottie Barnes, Gary Trent Jr.

Deeper Value: None

GPP Sleeper: Jae’Sean Tate, Josh Christopher, Gary Trent Jr., Precious Achiuwa

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Charlotte Hornets @ Chicago Bulls

Vegas Total: 230.0

Vegas Spread: Chi -2.5

Starting with the Hornets, LaMelo Ball has been a lot better as of late with at least 43 FanDuel points in five of his last six games. Not to mention, he’s coming off of a massive game last night and even though his brother is out for the Bulls I would still imagine he comes to play in this one. Miles Bridges had a rough game last time out but only played 24 minutes partially due to the blowout over Orlando, I have no issue going right back to him here. The price tag has finally come down to a more playable range on Terry Rozier but hasn’t been in that 50 fantasy point range as often now that Ball has picked up his production and will be another GPP guy on this team. He had a nice night last night, but one thing I would make sure to do in the Domination Station is to make a rule not to pair Ball and Rozier together, they do not correlate all that well, last night’s outcome was about as good as it gets for them. Then we can round this team out with PJ Washington as a GPP option as well, he’s been fairly consistent as of late and I love the matchup. From the Bulls, DeMar DeRozan came crashing down to Earth last time out against Boston but gets a really nice bounce-back spot here. He’s averaging 46.3 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Hornets this season. Zach LaVine sounds like he’ll be good to go here after having a similarly bad game against Boston. He’ll be more of a GPP guy for me due to the volatility he can show. Nikola Vucevic isn’t in good form, but man he’s crushed this team this season, he’s averaged 59 DraftKings points per game in two games against them and will be a guy I go right back to in this spot. Alex Caruso comes into this one as questionable, if he’s forced to miss we’d likely see the minutes for Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu become more secure. Finally, Patrick Williams has at least 24 FanDuel points in three of his last four games after having a rough game last time out, as did the rest of this team.

5-star play: LaMelo Ball, DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic

4-star play: Miles Bridges, Terry Rozier, Zach LaVine

Deeper Value: None

GPP Sleeper: Terry Rozier, PJ Washington, Kelly Oubre, Alex Caruso, Coby White, Patrick Williams

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Atlanta Hawks @ Miami Heat

Vegas Total: 228.5

Vegas Spread: Mia -1.5

Starting with the Hawks, Trae Young has struggled in this matchup this season and the Heat are generally a team I don’t look to target with opposing players. They play great defense and they play incredibly slow, so I’ll likely keep Young as a tournament-only option at his current price tag. The same can be said for Bogdan Bogdanovic who has bounced back nicely over his past two games. Clint Capela is the one guy I probably wouldn’t be too concerned about with the pace being down, as it generally doesn’t impact big men as much. He’s been in good form as of late as well. Then we can round this team out with Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter as secondary filler pieces. From the Heat, I love the matchup for Jimmy Butler, as you can tell from the Hawks side of things this will be a huge pace-up spot for the Heat which is beneficial to these guys. Butler is averaging 43.4 DraftKings points per game in two games against Atlanta this season. The same can be said for Bam Adebayo, the matchup looks great and he’ll be a guy I go right back to at a nice price tag. Tyler Herro has been incredibly consistent as of late with at least 33 DraftKings points in five straight games. Kyle Lowry is right there with him, as he’s been in good form as well. Victor Oladipo has seen more minutes as of late as well as they try and get him ramped up for the playoffs, but he would still be more of a tournament option than anything. Then we can round this team out with Max Strus as a secondary GPP option, he’s been in good form over the past couple of weeks.

5-star play: Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo

4-star play: Trae Young, Clint Capela, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Tyler Herro, Kyle Lowry

Deeper Value: None

GPP Sleeper: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, De’Andre Hunter, Victor Oladipo, Kyle Lowry, Max Strus

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Phoenix Suns @ Utah Jazz

Vegas Total: 226.5

Vegas Spread: Uta -3.0

Starting with the Suns, Devin Booker has at least 51 DraftKings points in back-to-back games and will look like a solid option in all formats again tonight after missing their last game against the Clippers. Chris Paul has cooled off since having a great start since coming back from injury and will look more like a secondary option for me here due to his form. Deandre Ayton will look like a nice option again here, the price tag has come down and they’ll need his minutes to help with Gobert down low on the other end. Then the trio of Cam Johnson, Mikal Brides, and Jae Crowder will look like fine GPP options. From Utah, they should get Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley back after missing their last game. I don’t have much lean on Mitchell, he’s been good and looks solid here, but not a priority by any means. The same can be said for Rudy Gobert as with Ayton, they’ll need his size down low, and looks like a solid option in all formats. Jordan Clarkson was a popular play last time out with the Jazz being shorthanded in the backcourt but will lose a little shine here and will be more of a tournament option. Then we can round this team out with Bojan Bogdanovic as a tournament option as it seems he’ll no longer be limited.

5-star play: None

4-star play: Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Deandre Ayton, Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert

Deeper Value: None

GPP Sleeper: Jae Crowder, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jordan Clarkson, Bojan Bogdanovic

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Oklahoma City Thunder @ Los Angeles Lakers

Vegas Total: 227.5

Vegas Spread: Lal -8.0

We’ll round out the slate with two teams that are in full tank mode. We’ll get things started with the Thunder, I’ll operate under the assumption that they’re going to run the same starting lineup they have over the past two games and shut down Aleksej Pokusevski and Theo Maledon. Whoever starts for the Thunder (assuming the same lineup) is going to play massive minutes, so guys like Simpson, Kalaitzakis, Hoard, and Roby will look like great options at their current price tags. Jaylen Hoard has at least 39 DraftKings points in three of his last four games and will be a guy I go right back to here. The price tags on Simpson and Kalaitzakis haven’t come up enough either as they’re still under $4k on DraftKings, they’re less in play on FanDuel as they’re approaching the $5k mark. Lastly, Melvin Frazier Jr. signed a two-way contract with them for the season and saw 33 minutes last time out. He wasn’t all that productive in his minutes, but I would expect him to be at 30+ again here. From the Lakers, I’m operating under the assumption that LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook are done for the season as we saw last night. I will go right back to the Talen Horton-Tucker well, he was a core play for me last night and showed he can be a massive usage guy without these main guys out there. Malik Monk will be a guy I go back to as well, he has a 24.8% usage rate and 1.13 fantasy points per minute with these guys off of the court this season. Then we can round this team out with Dwight Howard who is really the only other interesting piece for them, he had a nice night last night as Wenyen Gabriel struggled.

5-star play: Georgios Kalaitzakis (DraftKings), Zavier Simpson (DraftKings), Jaylen Hoard, Talen Horton-Tucker, Malik Monk

4-star play: Georgios Kalaitzakis (FanDuel), Zavier Simpson (FanDuel), Melvin Frazier Jr., Isaiah Roby, Dwight Howard

Deeper Value: Georgios Kalaitzakis, Zavier Simpson, Melvin Frazier Jr., Talen Horton-Tucker

GPP Sleeper: Melvin Frazier Jr., Lindy Waters, Vit Krejci, Austin Reaves, Dwight Howard

NBA Lock of the Day: Talen Horton-Tucker (DK – $3.8k; FD – $4.0k)

With LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis out again tonight I’ll go right back to the well on Talen Horton-Tucker who had a huge night last night dropping 58 FanDuel points. He has a massive ceiling with these guys out and has legit 10-15x upside at this price tag. Don’t overthink this one. At this point in the day, I would think he makes my core, but check out our VIP Cheat Sheets as we get closer to lock for staff picks on Core plays, 8x locks of the day, and tiers notes as well!

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