NBA

3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/10/20

Brett Oswalt  —  @bRo14thekid Feb 10th, 2020
At home, Nikola Jokic should exploit the Spurs and their poor rebounding numbers. Who else should you target at the top tonight?

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, PF, Milwaukee Bucks

DraftKings Price: $11,400

Giannis Antetokounmpo has been flat-out on fire of late. In his last 10, he's averaging 62.1 DraftKings points, but when we limit it to the last five, he's upped that to 67.7 DK points in less than 30 minutes a game (29.8). His 18.0 rebounds per game are otherworldly, and when combined with his assist totals, it helps to raise his floor and ceiling on a nightly basis.

On Saturday, Giannis cooled off with 57.0 DK points against the Orlando Magic, yet that would be enough to hit five-times value at his cost this evening. And here, he draws a Sacramento Kings team that ranks 18th in defensive rating and carries a 14-point line as underdogs over at FanDuel Sportsbook. Based on the 227 over/under, that amounts to a 120.5 implied total for the home Bucks.

Our models expect Antetokounmpo to continue on his dominant pace, projecting him for 58.7 DK points at a value of 5.2 points per $1,000.

Note: Giannis is listed as questionable due to personal reasons.

Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets

DraftKings Price: $10,200

Like Giannis, Nikola Jokic has been one of the better overall fantasy options in recent games. The Denver Nuggets big man has, over the last six games, exceeded his season average (48.0) by 14.9 fantasy points a game, leading him to return 5.8 points for every $1,000 of salary. Somehow, he's been quite the bargain at his high salary.

What's strange about Jokic and his most recent hot streak, though, is that he has only played two of them on his home floor. The Joker has actually done most of his damage at Pepsi Center, as he's yielded 3.1 more points per game there, all the while averaging double-digit rebounds and shooting 35.1% from three (compared to 30.2% on the road). At home against San Antonio, he'll look to improve his numbers. According to NBA.com, the Spurs sit 27th in rebounding rate over the last 10 games played.

Following four straight games of 20-plus real-life points, our figures like Jokic to do it again. Over 32.4 minutes, we have him down for 20.8 points, 10.4 boards, and 48.4 DK points.

Bam Adebayo, C, Miami Heat

DraftKings Price: $8,200

The Miami Heat will be playing on the road out west for the second night in a row, but their opponent -- the Golden State Warriors -- will be a step down from their game Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers. We should see them getting a few points from oddsmakers, and that will only confirm what we would expect them to get done against the NBA's 25th-ranked defense.

If Jimmy Butler is able to give it a go, he's in a great spot as well. However, Butler was doubtful before being ruled out Sunday, so we can consider him questionable for tonight. That keeps Bam Adebayo in play as we've seen the versatile center pop off in Butler's absence. Last time out against the Kings, he went for 26 points (on 12 of 16 shooting) and 40.75 DK points, and over a larger sample, he's averaged 1.21 DK points per minute, according to NBA Wowy. His usage rate climbs to 21.6% with his teammate on the sidelines.

The fact that the Warriors give up the second-most rebounds per game to the position makes Adebayo even closer to a must-have tonight. He could end up as one of the best point-per-dollar plays on the slate. We project him at 41.5 DK points in 34.3 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.