3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/5/20

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.

Trae Young, PG, Atlanta Hawks

DraftKings Price: $10,100

On Wednesday night, only Karl-Anthony Towns and Trae Young are healthy and above the $10,000 threshold (with Luka Doncic out). They actually face off against one another in Minnesota, where -- according to FanDuel Sportsbook -- the Wolves are favored by six over the Atlanta Hawks. But, despite being the underdog, Young is the better play at a $500 discount.

For starters, Minnesota has given up a lot of points all year. They are just 16th in defensive rating, but NBA.com tells us that they are seventh in pace, leading to an opponent average of 115.3 points per game -- fourth-highest in the league. And according to Fantasy Pros, 26.2 of those have gone to point guards, who are averaging 49.4 DK points per game when matched up against the Wolves.

Over 34.9 minutes, our models project Young for 47.4 DK points in this spot.

Andre Drummond, C, Detroit Pistons

DraftKings Price: $9,300

If you're locking in Young over Towns, you can feel great about rolling Andre Drummond out at center at more than $1,000 in savings toward your salary cap. After all, the dude's been a monster all season for the Pistons. Drummond ranks 1st in rebounds (15.8), 3rd in steals (2.0), and 10th in blocks per game on the season, all while producing a career-high 17.5 points on 52.4% shooting.

The visiting Suns should have no answer for the Detroit big man. They are 11th in opponent rebounds but 21st and 26th in steals and blocks against, respectively. A combined 3.7 blocks-plus-steals have gone to the center spot, which is quite the boost against Deandre Ayton and the Suns.

As if Drummond needs more fuel the fire. He's already putting up 51.4 DK points over his last three, including two straight with at least 52.75. Our algorithm expects him to get close to that, projecting him for 47.2 DK points at a value of 5.08 points per $1,000.

Kristaps Porzingis, PF/C, Dallas Mavericks

DraftKings Price: $8,300

OK, everyone -- it looks like this Kristaps Porzingis might be here to stay. In two straight games without Doncic, Porzingis has impressed with back-to-back games of 35-plus real-life points and 56 or more DK points. He's knocked down 22 of 40 shots with a dozen rebounds in each of the two, and his 31.3% usage rate is nearly 6% higher than what he's put together for the year to this point. According to NBA Wowy, in a big sample, that usage sits at 29.9% sans Doncic.

KP did his work against a pair of will-be playoff teams in the Houston Rockets and Indiana Pacers, and he'll go up against another potential playoff squad in the Memphis Grizzlies. The Grizz have come on of late, but who's going to guard Porzingis? Jae Crowder gives up a lot size, while Jaren Jackson Jr. has failed to be a stopper with foul troubles to boot (4.1 a game). Because of that, Memphis is in the top half of the league in fantasy points allowed to both power forwards and centers.

The betting lines favor Porzingis and his Mavericks, as well. As five-point favorites in a game with a 230 over/under, Dallas is implied at 117.5 points -- 1.2 above their season average. And you can count on the big man to play a big part in that, as we have him pegged at 35.5 DK points but in a conservative 30.8 minutes.

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.