DFS NBA Full Court Press: FanDuel and DraftKings Main Slate – Dec. 15th, 2023

Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 12/15:

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 position by position and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter (X), 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 while “da_banditz” grabbed 1st place on FanDuel as well winning $10k- congrats guys!

NBA DFS Point Guard Plays:

Spend up: Scottie Barnes (DraftKings $9.0k; FanDuel $9.2k)

Barnes isn’t point guard eligible on FanDuel but he’s going to be in play at PF/SF as well, but he truly does run a lot of the facilitating for this offense. We’ve seen him become the primary playmaker this season with Fred VanVleet off of the team and now has a 24.1% usage rate and 1.33 fantasy points per minute. He also gets an elite matchup against a fast-paced Hawks team that he just dropped 52 DraftKings points on last time out. This is a +3.4 pace-up spot for the Raptors and the Hawks are allowing the second most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards. You can make a case for Tyrese Haliburton as the spend-up option, but save yourself some money and go to Barnes here.

Mid-range: Bradley Beal (DraftKings $6.9k; FanDuel $6.6k)

This is such an odd price tag to see on Beal considering we’ve become used to seeing him in the $9k range when he was with the Wizards, but now he’s probably the third option on the team behind Durant and Booker. That being said, he kicked whatever minutes restriction he was on last time out and played a season-high 34 minutes against the Nets. I would expect more of the same in this one and even though we don’t have a huge sample size of these three main pieces being on the court for Phoenix, he’s still around a fantasy point per minute on the season and we know the ceiling is certainly there if he gets it going from the field.

Value: Derrick Rose (DraftKings $5.0k; FanDuel $5.1k)

There aren’t a ton of sub-$5k point guards that look like good value options on this slate currently, so I think we go back to the well with Derrick Rose. Sure you could go to guys like T.J. McConnell or Immanuel Quickley, but give me the ceiling with Rose especially if Desmond Bane is forced to sit again. He comes in as questionable, so keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed as we get closer to lock, but we saw Rose have a really nice game with Bane out last game. With Bane off of the court this season, Rose has a 27.1% usage rate and 1.02 fantasy points per minute. Even if Bane plays, I would expect Rose to stick in the starting lineup and see minutes in the high 20s at the very least.

 

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NBA DFS Shooting Guard Plays:

Spend up: Terry Rozier (DraftKings $8.7k; FanDuel $9.1k)

This price tag comes with a bit of stick shock, but he’s been incredible as of late averaging 51.5 DraftKings points over his last four games and playing massive minutes. Ever since LaMelo Ball went down, he’s been the leader of this offense. With Ball off of the court this season he has a 27.9% usage rate and 1.23 fantasy points per minute. The matchup is elite as well against a Pelicans team that is allowing the second most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards. He’ll operate like a point guard a lot of the time, but clearly, the matchup is going to look good regardless.

Mid-range: OG Anunoby (DraftKings $6.4k; FanDuel $6.5k)

Anunoby got a slight price boost since his last game, but it’s much warranted otherwise he’d be chalk like he was last time out. He’s been great over the last week or so averaging 36.7 DraftKings points per game in his last four games and is playing massive minutes as well. He had a good game against this Hawks team last time out and as I mentioned with Barnes in the point guard’s section, the matchup is going to look great in a pace-up spot. If you haven’t noticed the Hawks are just not good defensively, not only are they giving up big games to point guards, but also the second most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards as well.

Value: Kelly Oubre Jr. (DraftKings $5.0k; FanDuel $5.3k)

This play is mostly contingent on him re-entering the starting lineup, but with Nic Batum doing cardio out there, I would expect Oubre back in the starting lineup sooner rather than later. If this is the spot where he rejoins that group, I’ll be overweight on his exposure. He comes with elite positionality with SG/SF eligibility as well and was putting up big numbers before he was hit by a car. He’s right around a fantasy point per minute on the season and certainly has the upside to blow this price tag out of the water if the minutes are there.

NBA DFS Small Forward Plays:

Spend up: LeBron James (DraftKings $9.7k; FanDuel $10.0k)

LeBron comes into this one as questionable (drink) after missing their last game on the back end of a back-to-back, but I’ll operate under the assumption that he’s good to go in this one. He’s been in elite form as of late averaging 57.4 DraftKings points per game over his last four games and feels just a tad underpriced in this one. He’s SF/PF eligible on both sites so there are multiple ways you can look to get him in and if Anthony Davis is forced to sit he would see a big boost as well. The Spurs have not been good in almost any facet of the game this season, so I would expect LeBron to do whatever he wants again in this one.

Mid-range: Keldon Johnson (DraftKings $6.8k; FanDuel $7.0k)

Keldon can certainly be volatile but the ceiling is definitely there with him and he’s played at least 35 minutes in three straight games to go along with at least 44 DraftKings points in two of his last four including a big game against this Lakers team last time out. He’s averaging 1.05 fantasy points per minute this season and if you told me we are going to get another 35+ minutes out of him in this one… go ahead and sign me up! He’s another guy with SF/PF eligibility making roster construction a bit easier.

Value: Donte DiVincenzo (DraftKings $4.8k; FanDuel $4.6k)

This does feel a little bit “chasey” after his last game but the Knicks have struggled to get production from their shooting guards all season which is why he took over for Quentin Grimes as the starter for the team. He’s fairly scoring-dependent so we’ll need him to knock his shots down, but the Knicks seem invested in giving him a shot to earn that starting role and play sizeable minutes. He’s averaged right around 0.9 fantasy points per minute on the season and comes with SG/SF eligibility. Certainly, not a guy I’m looking to force into lineups, but if you land on him as a roster-filler, I would have no issues going back to the well.

NBA DFS Power Forward Plays:

Spend up: Victor Wembanyama (DraftKings $9.1k; FanDuel $10.3k)

I like the price tag much more on DraftKings for obvious reasons, but FanDuel is probably more accurate with his pricing. The Spurs moved him to the five as the starting center three games ago and ever since then, we’ve seen his numbers skyrocket with at least 51.5 DraftKings points in three straight games. Block numbers are up, points are up, rebounds are up, you name it. The matchup is going to be tough if Anthony Davis is going to be able to go, but that didn’t stop him from putting up 30 points, 13 rebounds, 6 blocks, and 3 steals last time out. I absolutely love Wemby here, particularly on DraftKings.

Mid-range: Pascal Siakam (DraftKings $8.3k; FanDuel $8.3k)

Have you noticed a trend with these Raptors guys yet? Yes, the matchup is that good. Siakam had a huge game in this spot last time out and I would expect more of the same as he continues to play 35+ minutes per night. As I’ve mentioned with Barnes and Anunoby, it’s a big pace-up spot for them, so an increase in possession naturally leading to more fantasy production. The Hawks are allowing the third most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards on the season and even though his price came up slightly after the last game, it’s probably not enough.

Value: Naji Marshall (DraftKings $4.2k; FanDuel $4.6k)

You can probably get a gauge on what the value currently looks like on the slate based on the value options we’ve talked about… not great. That said, Marshall is coming off of a great game last time out where Zion Williamson was forced to sit. Zion comes into this one as questionable and if he’s not able to play again we can go right back to the well with a cheap Naji. This guy can ball when given the opportunity and plays tough defense, so minutes should be there regardless. He’s right around a fantasy point per minute with Zion off of the court and would probably see another 25-30 minutes if he’s unable to go. I obviously like him a lot more if Zion sits, but if we are really tight on value as lock approaches, I could see Marshall as a filler piece.

NBA DFS Center Plays:

Spend up: Joel Embiid (DraftKings $11.8k; FanDuel $12.6k)

I probably don’t need to tell you that Embiid is a great play here, but he’s definitely priced up… for good reason. He has been an absolute monster as of late with at least 61 DraftKings points in eight straight games and gets an elite matchup against a Pistons team that will be without their best rim protector in Jalen Duren here. He’s averaging 64.1 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Pistons this season and would be higher if they could keep the game at least somewhat competitive. They’re allowing the second most fantasy points per game to opposing centers this season. It may be tough to find the cheap options in order to spend up for him, but if that value opens up we go right back to him.

Mid-range: Nick Richards (DraftKings $5.4k; FanDuel $5.4k)

He’s not the sexiest of names, but he saw 40 minutes last game and should start at center again with Mark Williams listed as doubtful. He’s started the last few games for Williams and has been solid but I think we could be in for a big game from Richards here. I was somewhat curious if they just didn’t want to play him big minutes, but they threw that out the window last time out. He has a 13.7% usage rate and 0.99 fantasy points per minute with Williams off of the court this season and gets a great matchup against the Pelicans. New Orleans is allowing the third most fantasy poitns per game to opposing centers on the season.

Value: Isaiah Jackson (DraftKings $4.4k; FanDuel $4.3k)

Again… value is tight right now, so bear with me. Right now he’s playing around 15 minutes per game as the primary backup to Myles Turner, but they haven’t shied away from playing them together at times as of late. We also get the upside of more minutes if either Toppin or Turner run into any sort of foul trouble which is always a big bonus with these backup big men. He has at least 19 DraftKings points in three of their last four games and gets a great matchup with the Wizards here. Again, not a guy I’m looking to force in at a valuable position, but if value doesn’t open up by the time lock rolls around, you can certainly make a case for Jackson here.

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