3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 1/3/20
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: $10,300
On a star-studded Friday night, the top dog label goes to one of LeBron James, James Harden or Anthony Davis. All three are above $10,000, but Davis is the cheaper of the two Los Angeles Lakers and he gets the narrative of facing his former team for the first time in his new home.
Davis will be looking for a repeat of his performance in New Orleans, when he went for 41 points and 61.3 DK points in this same matchup. Now, he is a little banged up, but the probable tag is encouraging, and the game environment is fantasy-friendly.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, the home Lakers are 10.5-point favorites with an implied total of 116.75 points. Their fourth-rated offense stands to benefit from facing a Pelicans defense that has surrendered 112.0 points per 100 possessions -- fifth-worst in the Association. Add in their average rebounding numbers and the Brow could have yet another monster game. We project him for 55.4 DK points at a value of 5.33 points per $1,000.
Damian Lillard, PG, Portland Trail Blazers
DraftKings Price: $9,700
Elsewhere, the Portland Trail Blazers also get a very good matchup as they go on the road against the Washington Wizards. In a game that will almost certainly have one of -- if not the highest -- the highest totals of the night with the Wiz allowing 121.0 points per game at the league's third-fastest pace of play (103.94 possessions a game).
If there's a guy that can capitalize on extra possessions, it's a scoring monster like Damian Lillard. The star point man is averaging 46.7 DK points a game and 49.3 per over his last four. He's coming off an 11-point dud against the lower-paced New York Knicks, but it's rare that he goes 5-for-20, putting him in bounce-back territory here.
At this price, Lillard needs just 48.5 to return five-times value. He has hit that mark 15 times with all but one ending in a 50-point performance.
Ben Simmons, PG/SF, Philadelphia 76ers
DraftKings Price: $8,100
The most appealing game of the night takes place in Houston, where the Philadelphia 76ers are 4.5-point underdogs against Harden and company. It features two of the league's top 10 teams, according to our power rankings, and the visitors are the ones in the pace-up spot.
That means good things for the one running the show for Philly: Ben Simmons. The point-forward is a monster in transition, creating for others and finishing at the rim with force. On the year, he averages 3.7 fastbreak points and assists on 42.7% of his team's made buckets while on the floor.
It will be interesting to see who Houston throws at him, but both P.J. Tucker and Danuel House Jr. give up a lot of height. And the same can be said for Russell Westbrook or Eric Gordon in smaller lineups. This just has matchup nightmare written all over it, and we know Simmons can go big when given the chance. Since December 23, he has three games of at least 49.25 DK points and another at 41.25. He needs just 40.5 for optimal value, which shouldn't stand much of a chance with the uptick in pace.
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.
