NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 12/6/19

Jimmy Butler has an ideal matchup versus the Wizards, who are among the worst defensive teams in the league. Is he a player to build around tonight?

Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.

A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down. A high-priced NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.

While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.

Let's get right into it and look at which top players should be the focal points of your lineups tonight.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF, Milwaukee Bucks ($12,300)

Yes, playing against the Los Angeles Clippers defense is a concern, but the Milwaukee Bucks are 3.5-point favorites and this contest has a 232-point over/under, suggesting that they're still not likely to have too much of a hard time scoring.

The Clippers (seventh) and Bucks (second) are also both among the league's leaders in pace, so even if the scoring doesn't end up as high as projected, the high number of possessions should mean a ton of opportunity for peripheral stats.

That goes a long way to insulate Giannis Antetokounmpo's fantasy outlook, because few players are capable of filling every area of the stat-sheet like he can. He's averaging 31.0 points, 13.2 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.4 blocks per game, making him the only player averaging above even 20 points, 10 boards, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block per game on the year.

That gives Giannis both the highest floor and highest ceiling on the slate, making him a terrific option in all formats.

Jimmy Butler, SG, Miami Heat ($9,100)

The Washington Wizards continue to elevate all of their opponent's fantasy values in a big way. No team is allowing more points per 100 possessions or playing with more possessions per game, and naturally, that's been a recipe for massive scoring on the other side of the court. They're allowing 122.4 points per game (most in the NBA) while also giving 26.2 assists (second) and 46.5 rebounds (seventh) per contest, also affording plenty of opportunities to rack up peripheral stats.

Jimmy Butler is coming off back-to-back 50-fantasy point games, and with 35-plus minutes played in each of the last three, health doesn't seem to be a concern at this point.

Butler's contributing all over the box score in his first year with the Miami Heat, averaging 20.1 points, 6.5 assists, 6.0 boards and 2.4 steals in 34.1 minutes per game, and he's a real triple-double threat against the Wizards.

Zach LaVine, SG, Chicago Bulls ($8,300)

You'd like to see a bit more consistency out of Zach LaVine, but he's averaging 44.0 FanDuel points per game over his last six, topping 55 twice and 45 three times in that stretch. He should be in for another one of those strong showings tonight thanks to a dreamy matchup with the Golden State Warriors.

The Dubs' defensive rating stacks up as the NBA's fourth-worst in the young season, and they're allowing opponents to shoot the league's fourth-highest effective field goal percentage. They're also allowing the most fantasy points per minute to opposing shooting guards.

LaVine's playing time seems to be trending up recently, playing at least 33.5 minutes in each of the last four (averaging 35.7 per game in that stretch) after topping 33.5 only once in his first 17 games, and he should have no shortage of opportunity to take advantage of this matchup.


Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. 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.