3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 12/20/17

Kevin Durant, SF/PF, Golden State Warriors

DraftKings Salary: $11,600

The Golden State Warriors look like they will again be very shorthanded tonight, as Stephen Curry has already been ruled out and Draymond Green, Zaza Pachulia, and Shaun Livingston appear unlikely to suit up. Kevin Durant has shouldered the load through all the injuries, averaging a robust 66.9 DraftKings points over his past five games, on the strength of a ridiculous 38% usage rate.

The matchup and game script are far from ideal tonight, as the Dubs take on a Memphis Grizzlies team that plays at a snail's pace. There is a double-digit spread for this one as well, so there is real blowout potential. But given how he has played in his new role, it is tough to envision fading KD. He needs 58 DraftKings points at this salary to hit target value, which he has easily topped in four of his past five. While Memphis does play at a slow pace, they are hopeless to slow down Durant from a personnel standpoint. You should not be scared off by a matchup against the likes of Dillon Brooks or James Ennis. Also, the pace factor really hasn't had much of an effect on Durant's production -- two of his strongest games during this five-game stretch came against the Detroit Pistons (73 DraftKings points) and the Dallas Mavericks (65.25 points), who both rank bottom-10 in pace. You shouldn't feel the need to jam Durant into cash games, but it seems foolish to completely fade a dude who is regularly going for 70-plus in tournaments.