3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/5/18

Zach LaVine, PG/SG, Chicago Bulls

DraftKings Salary: $6,600

Zach LaVine doesn't fit the mold for a typical "stud" play, but with just one player above $10,000 and only two above $9,000, the best strategy may be targeting the mid-price studs on today's slate. His price tag requires just 33 DraftKings points of him, which he has reached in each of his past two games. The most recent of said games was a 41.75-DraftKings-point explosion in which we saw the fourth-year guard top 30 minutes for the first time in a Chicago Bulls jersey.

The main limiting factor for LaVine this year has been playing time, but if we have the potential of getting 30 minutes from him, he becomes a very intriguing tournament play. That game took place on Saturday, and the Bulls don't play again until Friday following tonight's game, so there really isn't any reason for them to be conservative with LaVine.

In addition to potentially looking at more playing time, LaVine should benefit from the continued absence of Lauri Markkanen. Markkanen has missed the past two games, during which LaVine has carried a 29.1% usage rate and averaged 37.4 DraftKings points. With Markkanen and Kris Dunn out, and Nikola Mirotic traded to the New Orleans Pelicans, Chicago will be without three of their top-five usage players on the year.

In other such instances, it has been LaVine and Bobby Portis ($6,200) who have carried the load, with LaVine posting a sky-high 33.6% usage rate and 1.40 DraftKings points per minute while Portis is maintaining a usage rate of 26.5%. Both are firmly in play tonight for tournaments, as either could easily exceed value with price tags below $7,000 against a Sacramento Kings squad ranked dead last in defensive efficiency.

Jacob Gibbs is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jacob Gibbs also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jagibbs23. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.