3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 12/20/19
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.
Andre Drummond, C, Detroit Pistons
DraftKings Price: $9,600
On the surface, there isn't a lot of shine to Andre Drummond's matchup. On the road in Boston, the Detroit Pistons are seven-point underdogs in a game with a 215 total, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. Plus, Boston is respectable against centers, ranking 16th in Fantasy Pros' defense-versus-position averages.
However, when we dig a little deeper we see that the Celtics are 18th in rebounding rate and -- according to NBA.com -- have allowed the sixth-most blocks per game (5.8) to their opponents. Of Drummond's 49.6 DraftKings points per game, 26.0 (52.4%) are a result of his rebounding and blocking.
Also working in Drummond's favor is that he has been a hair better on the road and really good of late. He's averaging 49.7 DK points in away games and 52.0 over his last five. We project him for 51.1 at a value of 5.32 points per $1,000.
Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers
DraftKings Price: $8,800
Damian Lillard is another stud with a not-so-obvious head-to-head this evening. His Portland Trail Blazers are favored by four and as such sport a 110 implied total against the Orlando Magic. But the game environment isn't the greatest, nor is the pace-down matchup versus a Magic team ranked 27th in pace -- 16 spots below the Blazers.
Still, Dame's price is down by $200 from where it was two nights ago, which positions him well for both cash and tournament formats. The superior workload is there, after all. Lillard has played 37 minutes and taken 20-plus shots in back-to-back games, and for the year his averages are 36.7 and 18.6 in those areas, respectively.
The efficiency is there, but even more so in the Moda Center, where he's shot 48.9% from the floor and 41.2% from three on his way to 30.0 points and 49.7 DK points on a per-game basis. Tonight, he needs just 44 for five-times value. He should have no problem doing so as a building block of your lineups.
Brandon Ingram, SF/PF, New Orleans Pelicans
DraftKings Price: $8,700
We are going back to the well again after featuring Brandon Ingram in this same article for both Tuesday and Wednesday's slates. And the reasoning is quite simple: the dude is too cheap for what he's been able to do this season. Until Ingram is over $9,000 I think it's safe to lock him in for these types of matchups.
By these types of matchups, of course, I mean those soft enough for him to go absolutely bonkers. He and the New Orleans Pelicans go into Golden State as one-point favorites with a 113.25 total worthy of a few plays in tournaments. But Ingram is the guy for any type of DFS matchup.
In his fourth NBA season (and first with New Orleans), the 22-year-old is averaging career-highs in points (25.3) and rebounds (7.1), accounting for 42.6 DK points per game. And when you consider he's only playing 33.7 minutes a game, his numbers inflate to 27.0 points and 45.6 DK points over 36 minutes of action. That's above his salary-implied output of 43.5.
Fresh off a 56-DK-point outing Wednesday night, Ingram will look to repeat that against the Warriors' bottom-five defense. Our algorithms have him pegged for 33.8 minutes and 39.2 DK points.
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.
