Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 12/28:
Nov 22, 2023; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Chicago Bulls center Andre Drummond (3) gestures after a foul is called against him on a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-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 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: Luka Doncic (DraftKings $11.8k; FanDuel $12.7k)
Luka kept it rolling last time out but nothing like the 97.5-point outing he had on Christmas day against the Suns. It’s going to be hard not to like him as the top raw option on the slate yet again in this one. The matchup is a bit tougher against a good Wolves defense, but they’ve been fairly middle of the road in fantasy points per game allowed to opposing point guards. He’s had success in this matchup already this season with 68.5 DraftKings points and has now averaged 72.7 DraftKings points per game in his last five games. It’s always good when a high-priced player projects as a good point-per-dollar option as well. The lineup optimizer has him projected for 5.77x his price tag giving him 68.13 fantasy points.
Mid-range: Anfernee Simons (DraftKings $8.2k; FanDuel $8.1k)
The Blazers will be without Deandre Ayton and Shaedon Sharpe yet again in this one. These guys being out hasn’t really impacted Simons’ production this season but does have a 30.5% usage rate and 1.21 fantasy points per minute with these guys off of the court. He’s seeing heavy minutes and has been in great form as of late, not to mention, he gets a great matchup against this Spurs team in this one. I love targeting point guards against the Spurs, they’re allowing the most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards on the season. The Domination Station has Simons projected for 45.9 DraftKings points giving him 5.6x his price tag.
Value: Brandin Podziemski (DraftKings $5.7k; FanDuel $6.7k)
His price tag is a lot better on DraftKings, but I think he’s still in play as a secondary option on FanDuel. He has multi-position eligibility on both sites with PG/SG on DraftKings and SG/SF on FanDuel. He’s been playing big minutes and has at least 43 DraftKings points in back-to-back games. It’s not my favorite matchup just because of how slow the Heat play, but the defensive matchup doesn’t bother me, he’s able to stuff the stat sheet to get you there. We have him projected for 32.6 DraftKings points giving him 5.72x his price tag.
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NBA DFS Shooting Guard Plays:
Spend up: Terry Rozier (DraftKings $8.3k; FanDuel $9.2k)
This is another case where I like the price tag a lot more on DraftKings than on FanDuel for obvious reasons, but you do get more salary to play with over on FanDuel. Rozier cooled off a bit last time out but he’s been in great form ever since LaMelo Ball went down and now the Hornets will be without Gordon Hayward as well. He has a 31.3% usage rate and 1.28 fantasy points per minute with these guys off of the court this season. The Lakers haven’t exactly been great defensively against opposing guards this season either, he’s going to look great in all formats yet again in this one.
Mid-range: Brandon Ingram (DraftKings $7.8k; FanDuel $8.3k)
Ingram generally isn’t all that sexy of an option when the main guys on this Pelicans team are healthy, but I like the spot here. He had a massive game last time out and now has at least 51 DraftKings points in two of his last four games. He’s another guy that we get multi-position eligibility on with SG/SF on DraftKings and SF/PF on FanDuel. The matchup is great against a Jazz team that is allowing the 2nd most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards on the season.
Value: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (DraftKings $4.6k; FanDuel $5.2k)
There’s a world where someone else on the Nuggets like Julian Strawther or Peyton Watson could grab a value spot on this team with Aaron Gordon out, but I want to see a starting lineup first. That said, let’s ride with Caldwell-Pope who we know is going to play big minutes and is coming off of a great game last time out against the Warriors. He’s fairly scoring dependent so he can certainly be volatile but the shots will be there as defenses collapse on guys like Jokic, Murray, and Porter Jr., he’s not a sexy option either, but he looks like a nice secondary option.
NBA DFS Small Forward Plays:
Spend up: DeMar DeRozan (DraftKings $8.3k; FanDuel $8.8k)
I had a ton of DeMar DeRozan last time out and so did a lot of the field, but he was just fairly average in a great matchup. That said, he played 40 minutes for the second straight game and gets an even better matchup in this one against the Pacers. The Pacers are the fastest team in the league and aren’t playing a whole lot of defense either. Chicago is the slowest team in the league, so an absolutely massive pace-up spot meaning more possessions and opportunities for fantasy points for this team. Oh… and Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic will remain out, with these guys off of the court this season, DeRozan has a 30.2% usage rate and 1.17 fantasy points per minute.
Mid-range: Michael Porter Jr. (DraftKings $6.1k; FanDuel $7.3k)
As I mentioned with Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, the Nuggets will be without Aaron Gordon which should open up some opportunity in this offense. Porter Jr. has a 21.4% usage rate and 1.13 fantasy points per minute with Gordon off of the court this season. He’s also averaging 41.4 DraftKings points per game with Gordon out this season. He can be somewhat volatile at times, but the ceiling is huge, and will be a guy I like going back to in this one.
Value: Cody Martin (DraftKings $3.8k; FanDuel $3.7k)
We probably don’t get a massive ceiling with Martin, but he had a solid game in 25 minutes last time out and should see good minutes again in this one with Gordon Hayward ruled out again. He played his first game of the season last week due to a knee injury but the fact that he was able to get up to 25 minutes is a good sign. He was a fairly decent producer last season with an 18.9% usage rate and 0.89 fantasy points per minute with Ball and Hayward off of the court last year.
NBA DFS Power Forward Plays:
Spend up: Anthony Davis (DraftKings $10.0; FanDuel $11.3k)
I love the matchup here for Anthony Davis, he should be able to do whatever he wants against this Hornets frontcourt. They’re allowing the 2nd most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards and 3rd most per game to opposing centers, so it doesn’t really matter where he lines up in this one. He’s also playing huge minutes with at least 38 in four straight games and has been one of the more sneaky consistent producers this season with at least 50 DraftKings points in 13 straight games.
Mid-range: Jerami Grant (DraftKings $6.9k; FanDuel $7.1k)
Grant has had back-to-back stinkers against the Kings and Warriors but gets a nice bounce-back spot against the Spurs in this one. As I mentioned with Simons in the point guard section, the Blazers will be without Deandre Ayton and Shaedon Sharpe in this one. He has a 22.3% usage rate and 0.8 fantasy points per minute with these guys off of the court this season, which isn’t great, but he’s going to play huge minutes in a competitive game.
Value: Jabari Walker (DraftKings $4.2k; FanDuel $4.8k)
Right back to the Blazers with this one, he should continue to see good enough minutes with Deandre Ayton and Shaedon Sharpe out again. He’s seen right around 21-22 minutes with these guys out over the last couple of games and he has a least 26 DraftKings points in two of his last three. He’s a great per-minute producer with a 17.9% usage rate and 1.11 fantasy points per minute on the season and the matchup doesn’t bother me at this price tag.
NBA DFS Center Plays:
Spend up: Nikola Jokic (DraftKings $11.3k; FanDuel $12.2k)
Is there really anything to say with guys like Jokic and Luka Doncic? Jokic will be right up there with Doncic as the top raw option on the slate in an elite matchup against a Grizzlies team that may be forced to throw Jaren Jackson Jr. on him. He did somewhat struggle relative to his median outcome in this matchup earlier this season with 49 DraftKings points. He sees a fairly large boost with Aaron Gordon out as well, he has a 37.6% usage rate (+6.7%) and 1.98 fantasy points per minute (+0.2 fpm) with Gordon off of the court. He’s going to be an elite option in all formats again in this one.
Mid-range: Andre Drummond (DraftKings $7.5k; FanDuel $8.9k)
We got a throwback Drummond game last time out and could be in for more of the same in this one. He’s going to start again with Nikola Vucevic out and gets an elite matchup against a fast-paced Pacers team. We know he’s always been a per-minute monster, but if he’s going to continue to play 35+ minutes, he’s still too cheap even after a $3k price bump. He has a 21.1% usage rate and 1.45 fantasy points per minute with LaVine and Vucevic off of the court this season.
Value: Duop Reath (DraftKings $3.8k; FanDuel $5.5k)
Moses Brown got the start for the Blazers over Reath last time out but Reath had the better game and played a season-high 32 minutes. Regardless of who starts, Reath is going to be my preferred option again in this one with Deandre Ayton still out. He has a 24.1% usage rate and 1.13 fantasy points per minute with Sharpe and Ayton off of the court this season and is just too cheap considering what his role will be again tonight against the Spurs.
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