3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 12/21/18

Anthony Davis, PF/C, New Orleans Pelicans

DraftKings Price: $11,700

This is a bit of a tricky one. On the one hand, New Orleans Pelicans center Anthony Davis is the best player on the slate and should always be considered. On the other hand, he's been battling an illness and is questionable for tonight's game against the Los Angeles Lakers. The game is the last to tip-off tonight as well, so there's a very good chance you'll have to roster him without knowing his true status.

So, what do you do in this situation? If you're risk averse and playing in a contest with no late swap, Davis has to be saved for tournaments only. If you do have late swap as with most contests on DraftKings, the easy move would be to roster him in either the PF or UTIL position so you can make a smooth transition to using LeBron James, who is $800 cheaper and provides similar upside.

Davis has scored at least 50 DraftKings points in seven straight games against the Lakers, a streak which includes three games of 65-plus, and two of 77-plus. Yeah, he's good. The Lakers, however, are not when defending centers. They are giving up the fifth-most DraftKings points per game to opposing centers this season, according to FantasyPros.

If you're okay with the risk and/or have a plan to swap him out, Davis projects to be the highest fantasy scorer of the night. Our models have him down for 58.8 DraftKings points, and as we all know, that type of output is just scratching the surface for the best fantasy player in the league.