Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 1/23:
Jan 19, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell (1) reacts against the Brooklyn Nets in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-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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NBA DFS Point Guard Plays:
Spend up: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (DraftKings $10.0kk; FanDuel $10.9k)
With Tyrese Haliburton ruled out tonight, Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the defacto spend-up option at the position. It’s a great matchup against the Blazers but I don’t know how much I trust Portland to keep it close. We’ve seen that be the issue in both games this season, he’s averaging just 21.5 minutes per game in two games. All that said, it’s a 5-game slate, so trying to predict a blowout isn’t something I want to do. I’m going to operate under the assumption that he sees his normal minutes and will look like a great option in all formats.
Mid-range: D’Angelo Russell (DraftKings $6.5k; FanDuel $7.1k)
Russell has moved back into the starting lineup and is playing big minutes and playing well, he now has at least 50 fantasy points in two of his last five games. Not to mention, the Lakers will be without LeBron James tonight which opens up a ton of usage and opportunity in this lineup. With LeBron off of the court this season, Russell has a 26.7% usage rate and 1.27 fantasy points per minute. He’s also been good against the Clippers this season averaging 32.3 DraftKings points per game in two games, Russell is too cheap for what his role should be tonight.
Value: Kris Dunn (DraftKings $3.9k; FanDuel $5.2k)
The sub-$5k value is pretty bad at point guard right now and I probably wouldn’t touch Dunn on FanDuel, but you can make a case for him on DraftKings if you’re desperate for another value piece. He’s coming off of a huge game last time out but I wouldn’t expect to see 27 minutes again, he’s more primed for a 20-minute role. The nice thing is he does have PG/SF eligibility which gives you some roster flexibility, but I’m not sure we need to get to him on a slate where we don’t have LeBron or Haliburton which opens up some nice value.
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NBA DFS Shooting Guard Plays:
Spend up: Paul George (DraftKings $8.5k; FanDuel $8.3k)
Tough game for PG13 last time out against the Nets, that said, he’s continued to play massive minutes and has at least 47 DraftKings points in three of his last five games. He’s also been good against the Lakers this season averaging 46.8 DraftKings points per game in two games. It can be hard to nail down which of the Clippers’ big three is going to have the big night on a nightly basis, but our lineup optimizer has George projected for 44.1 DraftKings points giving him 5.18x his price tag.
Mid-range: Austin Reaves (DraftKings $5.8k; FanDuel $6.1k)
Similar to D’Angelo Russell in the point guard section, Reaves is going to look great with LeBron James inactive tonight. He has multi-position eligibility as well, PG/SG on DraftKings and SG/SF on FanDuel, so he brings some nice roster flexibility with him. With LeBron off of the court this season, Reaves has a 24% usage rate and 1.11 fantasy points per minute. I’m sure Reaves will find plenty of lineups at this price tag tonight. The Domination Station has him projected as the best point-per-dollar option on the slate at 6.37x which puts him at 36.97 DraftKings points.
Value: Terance Mann (DraftKings $3.9k; FanDuel $4.4k)
Another position where the cheap value isn’t the best, but at least with Mann we know we’ll get minutes. He’s not the best per-minute producer at just 0.64 fantasy points per minute, however. He’s in good form with at least 20 DraftKings points in back-to-back games and has multi-position eligibility. Again, he’s not going to be a sexy option, but if you land on him and he makes the rest of your lineup work, I have no issue getting to him.
NBA DFS Small Forward Plays:
Spend up: Kawhi Leonard (DraftKings $8.6k; FanDuel $8.6k)
Similar to point guard, LeBron James being out makes these Clippers guys between George and Kawhi the defacto spend-ups. Kawhi has been in fine form as of late but nothing too crazy. He has performed nicely against the Lakers this season though, averaging 48 DraftKings points per game in two games and playing big minutes. Multi-position eligibility on both DraftKings and FanDuel helps as well. The Domination Station has him projected for 44.1 DraftKings points giving him 5.12x his current price tag.
Mid-range: Jalen Williams (DraftKings $6.7k; FanDuel $7.9k)
The price tag on DraftKings just seems off, I’m not sure why they have him so cheap, but he should be over $7k and closer to that FanDuel price tag. He’s been about as consistent as they come as of late averaging 39.4 DraftKings points per game over his last five and playing big minutes. He could run into a similar issue as Gilgeous-Alexander where this game doesn’t stay close and these guys see their minutes come down, but again, I don’t really want to try and predict blowouts on a shorter slate. That… and he dropped nearly 40 fantasy points in just 18 minutes in the first game against the Blazers this season.
Value: Rui Hachimura (DraftKings $3.7k; FanDuel $4.5k)
I would expect to see Rui in the starting lineup with LeBron James out tonight and he’s going to look great at this price tag. With LeBron off of the court this season, Rui has a 22% usage rate and 0.86 fantasy points per minute. He has a nice ceiling as well if that three-point shot is falling. The Clippers haven’t been afraid to go small as of late with Zubac out, so there could be some rebounds available for him too. I just think he looks like a great value option and is a guy I’ll be over the field on.
NBA DFS Power Forward Plays:
Spend up: Anthony Davis (DraftKings $10.2k; FanDuel $11.4k)
Noticing a trend yet? Yeah, the Lakers are going to look great tonight and Anthony Davis is no exception. With LeBron James out, I would expect Davis to take control of this offense, he has a 29.7% usage rate and 1.52 fantasy points per minute on the season. He’s also averaging right around 50 fantasy points per game in two games against the Clippers on the year. If you can’t get up to Nikola Jokic and don’t want to play the blowout game with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Davis is going to look awesome here.
Mid-range: Zion Williamson (DraftKings $7.4k; FanDuel $7.7k)
Zion feels too cheap at this price tag, we’ve seen him in the mid-$8k range for a lot of the season, so let’s take advantage of it and jump on the bandwagon here. The matchup is great as well and it’s one that he’s crushed this season averaging 46.5 DraftKings points per game in two games. Utah is allowing the 5th most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards on the season. The Domination Station has him projected for 43.24 DraftKings points giving him a 5.84x point per dollar grade.
Value: Simone Fontecchio (DraftKings $3.6k; FanDuel $4.5k)
I don’t really understand the DraftKings price tag on Fontecchio here, he has at least 23 DraftKings points in back-to-back games and has continued to start for Utah. The minutes are trending in the right direction as well. He’s probably not a guy where you’re dead if you don’t have him because I don’t think his ceiling can kill a lineup, but he makes things work and has a solid floor assuming he continues to start. He’s a top point per dollar option at the position.
NBA DFS Center Plays:
Spend up: Nikola Jokic (DraftKings $11.2k; FanDuel $12.1k)
Jokic is probably the top raw option on the slate ahead of guys like Anthony Davis and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The matchup is just too good against the Pacers who aren’t playing a ton of defense, it’s also a huge pace-up spot for the Nuggets. Denver ranks 28th in pace while Indiana is 2nd only to Washington by a small margin. He dropped nearly 60 fantasy points in this spot earlier this season and I’m sure he saw what those centers did last night and is saying “hell… I can do that!”
Mid-range: Nic Claxton (DraftKings $6.8k; FanDuel $7.5k)
Claxton has been about as consistent as they come and the nice thing is the minutes he’s been playing, averaging 34.3 minutes per game over his last four games and I don’t expect that to change here. It’s not exactly the best matchup but he’s averaging 1.17 fantasy points per minute on the season so let’s just ride the minutes at this price tag. The Domination Station has him projected for 38.93 DraftKings points giving him a 5.72x point per dollar grade.
Value: Christian Wood (DraftKings $3.4k; FanDuel $5.3k)
FanDuel isn’t messing around apparently with that price tag, I wouldn’t touch him over there, but at $3.4k on DraftKings, we can dance. He’s been in pretty good form considering the light amount of minutes he’s been seeing. He has at least 24 DraftKings points in three of his last five and is averaging 27 DraftKings points per game in two games against the Clippers this season. No LeBron James tonight could open up some minutes for him as well. He’s always been a nice per-minute producer in his career as well, he’s not for the faint of heart, but a very nice ceiling at this price tag.
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