3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 12/28/18

Kawhi Leonard, SF/PF, Toronto Raptors

DraftKings Price: $9,200

Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry has already been ruled out for tonight's game against the Orlando Magic. As such, it's once again pertinent to consider using Kawhi Leonard.

The Raptors' new small forward has played in 21 games with Lowry and six without. While he's been his solid self in both, the numbers indicate a clear bump in output when Lowry isn't playing. Kawhi's usage rate jumps from 29.8% to 32% with Lowry out. Similarly, his scoring jumps from 25.7 to 31.0 points and his DraftKings output from 46.0 to 50.9 points per game.

His output was rather tepid when the Raptors and Orlando Magic met in their only game this season, a 93-91 Raptors win on November 21. Don't let that dissuade you from using him, however. While tonight's 209 total may not be in the upper echelon of games, it also doesn't portend a slow-paced 184-point game like that last meeting. There should be much more opportunity for Leonard to accumulate fake points for you, especially with Lowry out.

We have Leonard projected for 46.8 DraftKings points, the fourth-highest projected total on the slate. If he hits that number, he'll return a value of 5.1 DraftKings points per $1,000.

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