Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 2/16:
Feb 14, 2023; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Bucks guard Jrue Holiday (21) reacts after scoring a basket to give the Bucks the lead in overtime against the Boston Celtics at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports
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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Before I get started, I need to shoutout a few huge VIP Member wins – “Phamacist” took 1st place in the $300k Fadeway contest which netted him $100k last weekend while “da_banditz” grabbed 1st place on FanDuel as well winning $10k- congrats guys!
Milwaukee Bucks @ Chicago Bulls
Vegas Total: 229.5
Vegas Spread: Mil -8.0
We’ll kick this slate off the final slate before the All-Star break with the Milwaukee Bucks. They’ll be without Pat Connaughton and are holding Jae Crowder out thru the All-Star break, along with Bobby Portis, but otherwise are pretty healthy. Khris Middleton is slowly getting his minutes up but it sure seems like they’re going to wait until the All-Star break to put him back into the starting lineup. He’s been in great form as of late with a 33.2% usage rate and 1.50 fantasy points per minute over the last two weeks. That said, he has a hard minutes cap of 25 as we saw last time out in an overtime game. He’s going to look like a solid option on a short slate tonight. Giannis Antetokounmpo has been in elite form and should be able to do whatever he wants again in this one, he’s averaging 70.9 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Bulls this season and is a top option on this slate. Jrue Holiday had a bonkers game last time out and his price tag has come way down, I have no issue going right back to him as well. Brook Lopez followed up his 50-burger against the Clippers with a dud last time out, he’ll look like a GPP option in this one. Then guys like Grayson Allen and Joe Ingles are solid GPP options as well with Connaughton and Portis out. From the Bulls, it sounds like DeMar DeRozan could give it a go here after sitting out last night, I’ll operate under the assumption that he plays for the sake of this article, but keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed for updates. Assuming he’s not limited at all, he’s averaging 65 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Bucks this season and looks like a great option. Nikola Vucevic was popular in a great matchup last night and ended up disappointing, that said, he seemingly always kills the Bucks. Zach LaVine was the biggest beneficiary of DeRozan being out last night, but will obviously take a hit if he’s back in this one and would look more like a secondary option. Patrick Williams makes sense as a secondary option as well while Alex Caruso and Coby White are GPP values.
5-star play: Giannis Antetokounmpo
4-star play: Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine, Nikola Vucevic
Deeper Value: Grayson Allen, Joe Ingles, Alex Caruso, Coby White
GPP Sleeper: Grayson Allen, Joe Ingles, Alex Caruso, Coby White, Patrick Williams
Washington Wizards @ Minnesota Timberwolves
Vegas Total: 234.5
Vegas Spread: Min -3.0
Starting with the Wizards, Kyle Kuzma returned last time out and dropped a 50-burger on the Blazers. He clearly wasn’t limited and should be a full go moving forward making him look like a solid option in all formats. Kuzma being back will hurt Kristaps Porzingis and Bradley Beal, but both will continue to look like secondary options in all formats. The biggest impact goes to Deni Avdija who saw his minutes plummet and would be a guy I jump off of. The same can be said for Daniel Gafford, but his minutes were more due to foul trouble than anything, so if people are off of him in this spot we could find him as a leverage piece. Then guys like Monte Morris and Delon Wright are fine GPP flyers as well, the minutes will be solid and we’ve seen them produce nicely given their price tags. From the Wolves, Rudy Gobert and Kyle Anderson come into this one as questionable which is not out of the norm by now. I’ll operate under the assumption that they both play in this one as they have over their last few games. I’m going to continue to hammer Gobert until his price tag comes up, he’s a sneaky massive benefactor of the team trading D’Angelo Russell out of town. Reports were that Russell just refused to give him the ball while Mike Conley has played with him in the past and knows how to run an offense with him… he’s going to be a guy I’m all over in this one. Speaking of Mike Conley, I have no issue going right back to him as well, the price tag is nice and we know the consistency will be there. Anthony Edwards has been held under 40 FanDuel points in four of his last five and is more of a secondary option here, that said, the matchup is great. Then we can round the team out with Jaden McDaniels who makes sense as a GPP option at the forward position.
5-star play: Rudy Gobert
4-star play: Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porzingis, Bradley Beal, Mike Conley, Anthony Edwards
Deeper Value: None
GPP Sleeper: Daniel Gafford, Monte Morris, Delon Wright, Kyle Anderson, Jaden McDaniels
Quick shoutout to VIP member “Cenzamatic” on a massive $20k win last season! 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!
Los Angeles Clippers @ Phoenix Suns
Vegas Total: 223.5
Vegas Spread: Pho -1.0
Starting with the Clippers, they’ll be without Norman Powell in this one, but otherwise, come in pretty healthy. Kawhi Leonard had a big bounce-back game against the Warriors last time out and is going to look like a nice option again in this one. He would be my preference over Paul George at a slightly higher price tag, but he’s shown more consistency and a higher ceiling as of late. Eric Gordon made his Clippers debut last time out and played just 22 minutes, that said, with Powell out I would expect he’s thrown right into the fire here and plays around 30 minutes and makes sense as a secondary option. Mason Plumlee’s route to minutes isn’t as clear as he battles with Ivica Zubac, Zubac would be my preferred option, but I don’t think we need to get to either of them. Then guys like Terance Mann and Bones Hyland are fine GPP punts as well, Mann is more in play due to his minutes and form, but Hyland is a fine MME option. From the Suns, Devin Booker played 29 minutes last time out and is slowly getting his full minutes back, I have no issue going right back to him in this one and would expect he plays 30+ minutes here. I do like going right back to Deandre Ayton, he has at least 45 DraftKings points in four of his last five and the matchup is elite. Chris Paul has shown some nice consistency as well and makes plenty of sense in all formats. Guys like Torrey Craig, Josh Okogie, and TJ Warren will need to play minutes with Bridges and Johnson out of town and Kevin Durant not quite ready. None of these guys are priorities, but make sense as roster fillers. Okogie has been sneaky great as of late with at least 31 DraftKings points in three straight and plays great defense so the minutes will be there.
5-star play: Kawhi Leonard, Deandre Ayton
4-star play: Paul George, Eric Gordon, Terance Mann, Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Josh Okogie
Deeper Value: None
GPP Sleeper: Terance Mann, Bones Hyland, Ivica Zubac, Mason Plumlee, Torrey Craig, TJ Warren
NBA Lock of the Day: Rudy Gobert (DK – $6.2k; FD – $7.6k)
Gobert’s price tag is much better on DraftKings, but he makes sense on FanDuel as well. I touched on it above, but I expect his production to start to pick up in a big way with D’Angelo Russell out of town. Reports were that Russell just flat-out refused to give him the ball while Mike Conley has played with him when he’s at his best. Gobert averaged 1.09 DraftKings/FanDuel points per minute with Russell on the court while averaging 1.23 DraftKings/1.24 FanDuel points per minute with Conley on the court in his career. The matchup is great against this Wizards frontcourt as well. 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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