3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/7/18

Jimmy Butler, SG, Minnesota Timberwolves

DraftKings Salary: $9,500

No team has a higher implied team total than Jimmy Butler's Minnesota Timberwolves, which should come as no surprise given the matchup. The Cleveland Cavaliers rank 28th in defensive efficiency and are fresh off an 18-point loss to the Orlando Magic last night. It's really tough to put just how bad Cleveland has been defensively into perspective, as they seem to hit a new rock bottom with every passing game. They've allowed 114.3 points per game since January 1st. For reference, the Phoenix Suns have surrendered 112.2 points per game this season, which leads the league.

Cleveland has been particularly poor against opposing perimeter players -- placing in the bottom-five in DraftKings points permitted per game against point guards, shooting guards, and small forwards. Over their past five games, they've allowed the likes of Jonathon Simmons, Gerald Green, Josh Richardson, and Stanley Johnson (twice) to average 37.1 DraftKings points against them, so it is exciting to imagine what Butler and Andrew Wiggins can do to this weak perimeter defense.

We don't have to imagine, though -- we saw Butler hang 51.5 DraftKings on Cleveland in just 27 minutes a month ago. If not for the blowout nature of that game, he had a real shot at a triple-double and an absolute monster DraftKings performance. If tonight's game stays as close as Vegas expects it to, we could see another huge outing from Jimmy Buckets.

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.