3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 10/22/19
While building a daily fantasy basketball lineup, it's important to make sure you find the right studs to anchor your team. As the most expensive players in your lineup, they need big-time production to match their high price tag.
You may find it hard to fit some of these guys in while staying under the salary cap, but you can check out our projections to find value players for your rosters. Let's take a look at the top high-priced DraftKings plays of the day.
Anthony Davis, PF/C, Los Angeles Lakers
DraftKings Price: $10,200
To tip off the season, we are blessed by the basketball gods, as the Los Angeles Clippers host the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center. Thanks to all the star-studded -- primarily offensive -- talent on the floor, FanDuel Sportsbook pegs the opening nightcap with a 226 over/under, according to oddsFire. That provides Anthony Davis, LeBron James, and company with an implied total of 114.25 points, which ranks second of the four teams in action.
AD is the higher-priced of the Lakers' elite two, but he's only $300 more. And as we know from year's past, the Brow's ceiling is beyond that of most -- if not all -- players. Last year, he averaged 55.7 DraftKings points over 33.0 minutes a game (1.69 per minute) and posted 22 games of at least 60 DK points, including 10 above the 70-point threshold.
One of the things we have heard to worry about with Davis is his inability to stay on the floor, but while that might again be a concern during the grind of the season, he is starting this season off healthy after a scare with his right thumb. And he'll enter the opener without a minutes restriction. Absent Kyle Kuzma, we project him to log over 36 minutes against the Clips.
The game script and workload are both there, but a favorable matchup is as well. With Paul George out to start the year, Brow will see some combo of Maurice Harkless, JaMychal Green and Montrezl Harrell, none of whom had a defensive rating better than 108 a year ago, according to Basketball-Reference.
Davis' projected 63.4 DraftKings points leads all players on Tuesday's limited slate.
Kawhi Leonard, SF, Los Angeles Clippers
DraftKings Price: $9,600
You could definitely opt for LeBron to round out the Lakers' dynamic duo, but Kawhi Leonard isn't the 1A or 1B on his squad; he's the unquestioned top dog. He finds himself on a new team for the second straight year, but in his one season with the Toronto Raptors, the Finals MVP averaged 45.02 DK points on a 30.3% usage rate and 60.6% true shooting percentage. Lou Williams' 32.4% usage rate from a year ago led the Clippers, but Leonard has the unique combination of high usage and next-level efficiency. Plus, he has history on his side.
For his career against LeBron, Kawhi has averaged 41.3 DK points in nine regular season matchups, including a 25-point, 45.5-DK-point showing last year. In fact, he doesn't have fewer than 20 points in any one of the six head-to-heads going back to 2015.
Of the Clips' still-high 111.75 total, our models expect Leonard to account for 30.8 en route to 50.5 DK points. That gives him a slight edge over James, and at a $300 discount at the forward or small forward spots.
Pascal Siakam, PF/C, Toronto Raptors
DraftKings Price: $7,600
All eyes are going to be on the late-night game in L.A., but this Toronto/New Orleans game boasts the higher total of the two at 231 points. And with the Raptors situated as seven-point favorites, the defending champs own the highest team total (119) by nearly five points. The reasoning? For all the hype around Zion Williamson and the new-look Pels, there aren't many reasons to lower-scoring games.
By defensive rating, Derrick Favors is an improvement over Davis, while Jrue Holiday remains an elite perimeter defender. The thing is, they are going to run, and in doing so force other teams to get up-and-down the floor at a fast pace. Under Alvin Gentry, New Orleans was the league's third-fastest team in 2018-19 after ending the previous year in first.
That bodes well for all fantasy-relevant Raptors, but Pascal Siakam is set to take over in the wake of Leonard's departure. In his third year, the 25-year-old averaged 16.9 points and 32.9 DK points on a 20.8% usage rate and 62.8% true shooting percentage. But according to NBA Wowy, Siakam averaged 1.05 DK points with Leonard off the floor compared to 1.00 in the 2,000-plus minutes the two played beside one another -- and while doing so, posted a higher usage rate (22.9%) and assist rate (14.8%).
Siakam is priced lower than Holiday, but he's the stud to roster in the early game. He will probably be above $8,000 before we know it. Why not take advantage before the salary catches up to the production.
Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BrettOswalt. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her 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.
