3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 12/19/19

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.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF/PF, Milwaukee Bucks

DraftKings Price: $11,300

This four-game slate is packed with fantasy goodness, boasting two players above $11,000 and a pair of teammates -- LeBron James and Anthony Davis -- checking in at $10,000 or more. The studs are there to be had, but pitted against LBJ, Brow and the Los Angeles Lakers, Giannis Antetokounmpo will aim to lead his Milwaukee Bucks to what would we be an NBA-best 25th win of the season.

Per FanDuel Sportsbook, his squad is favored by 4.5 heading into Thursday, and while there's no over/under yet listed, it should be solid. Though the Lakers are just 17th in pace, according to NBA.com, the Bucks are at the very top, averaging more than five additional possessions per game than the Lakers do. Giannis and his guys should be getting it up-and-down to avoid L.A.'s set defense and try to throw the LeBron/AD pick-and-roll out of sorts.

Further in Giannis' advantage, he is at home, where he is averaging two more DraftKings points per game than he is on the road. And if you think he'll be stymied by LeBron playing rover, that's not happening this year. The Greek Freak has improved his three-point shooting to 32.1% on 137 attempts this campaign, even upping that further to 41.0% on 5.6 attempts for the month of December.

Antetokounmpo just dropped 48 actual points and 76 DK points on a visiting Dallas team. Tonight, we have him projected at 59.9 DK points, which is -- incredibly -- enough for five-times value.

Paul George, SF/PF, Los Angeles Clippers

DraftKings Price: $8,500

In that next tier of top players, both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George reside at their forward spots. The two face off with the Houston Rockets in a situation that should provide a boost in production given Houston's tendency to push tempo (third in pace) even in comparison to the Los Angeles Clippers, owners of the sixth-fastest pace in the NBA.

However, the numbers point to PG as the go-to play at power forward. Per Basketball Reference's play-by-play percentages, he has spent an estimated 71% of his minutes at the four. Meanwhile, the Rockets are third-worst against the position, being hit up for 52.6 DK points a night, according to Fantasy Pros. That includes averages of 24.2 points, 13.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists.

Last time against these Western Conference foes, George racked up 43.5 DK points despite scoring only 19 points on 4-of-15 shooting. It was an off night, and we can probably treat that as his floor in this spot. After all, he is averaging nearly 25 real-world points on 44.8% shooting, and his Clips sport a 119.5 implied total to boot. This figures to be a 40- to 50-point night for PG in a high-profile, high-scoring game full of superstar players.

Donovan Mitchell, PG/SG, Utah Jazz

DraftKings Price: $8,000

Dipping down $500 more, we get Donovan Mitchell and the Utah Jazz going head-to-head with Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks as part of a game featuring a healthy 223.5 over/under and a not-so-bad 6.0-point spread in Utah's favor. It sets Mitchell up for success.

Utah's 114.75 implied total is an improvement on their 107.1 average as an offense for the season, but that's the direct result of a young Hawks defense giving up 114.4 points per 100 possessions -- a bottom-five figure. The Hawks' top-10 pace will do more to help raise Mitchell's fantasy floor, as if he needed it.

After a little slump through the end of November into December, Mitchell is on a roll again, shooting 58.1% from the field in the last three games. His 45.3% clip for the year is a new career high, as is his 25.2 points and 39.4 DK points per game. He has no fewer than 40 DK points in three straight and in four of his last six.

Our models project Mitchell for 39.5 DK points in 34.6 minutes of floor time.

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__14. 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.