We are back to work in our NBA DFS journey with a much smaller five-game slate on tap tonight. The Coach is here with his starting five to give authentic insight from ‘inside the ropes’. Darius Garland was last night’s example with the last-minute injury designation and showed how the NBA’s daily fantasy landscape with load management, injuries, and lineup fluxation is ever-changing. For reference, we have seen the main slate pay line on FanDuel between 275-300 points. This gives us a targeted baseline for our player recommendations within our player recommendations.
Our starting lineup is designed to provide core players with which to construct your DFS lineups. We strive for players who have the potential to be less owned and give us a lineup different from the masses. The fantasy point-per-game averages referenced are those across FanDuel scoring rules. Who gets the green light from the Coach tonight?
DFS Guards
Ja Morant ($8.9k DraftKings and $8.3k Fanduel)
Ja Morant has no doubt underwhelmed in his last two games totaling just 37.2 fantasy points, but tonight he plays in the game with a slate-high 238 implied game total. As we look at the whole picture, Morant is averaging 37.41 fantasy points per game and before this two-game lull, he had a four-game stretch where he averaged 43.5 points per game. The recent production dip could play nicely in our favor and he may have a lower ownership rate.
Mike Conley ($4.3k DraftKings and $4.9k Fanduel)
At point guard, we have ourselves a nice low-priced DFS option in Mike Conley. Conley has our coveted green light with a matchup against the Jazz who allow the third most fantasy points to the guard position. Conley’s recent usage checks out with him playing at least 30 minutes per game in three of his last four contests. Tonight’s game versus Utah has a modest 224 implied game total, but rostering him affords us the flexibility to spend up for tonight’s DFS studs.
Substitutions: Donovan Mitchell, Jalen Suggs (Questionable), Jalen Green, Darius Garland, Trae Young (GTD)
DFS Forwards
Anthony Edwards ($9.5k DraftKings and $9.2k Fanduel)
The green light play at forward for us tonight will be Anthony Edwards. Antman will be one of the DFS studs that will build our roster around this evening. He is set to face the Utah Jazz who allow the 10th most fantasy points per game to opposing forwards. Edwards ranks as the overall SG1, is averaging 41.76 fantasy points, and offers us dual position flexibility. Even more, in his last three games Edwards has raised his game to 48.86 points per game, let’s ride the wave with Antman tonight.
LeBron James ($10.5k DraftKings and $10.1k Fanduel)
At the other forward spot, we will pay all the way up for LeBron. Keep in mind he is questionable and if he is declared out use one of our substitute options. James will be very chalky but with Anthony Davis sidelined the Lakers offense should flow thru him. James, when available, will be a nightly triple-double threat. In Tuesday’s night’s game versus the 76ers when Davis got injured in the first quarter, James went off with a 31-8-9 stat line. James still boasts a 46.69 per game fantasy average, is another dual-position player and is the overall SF2. The coach is banking on the King to carry us tonight!
Substitutions: Lauri Markanen, Desmond Bane, Jaden Daniels
DFS Center
Evan Mobley ($7.7k DraftKings and $8.2k Fanduel)
The man in the middle tonight will be Cleveland’s Evan Mobley. Mobley is the slate’s third-highest-priced DFS center so he may fly under the radar. He has been torn it up in his last two contests averaging 44.65 fantasy points per game, 14.5 rebounds, and will face the Hawks defense allowing the 11th most fantasy points per game to the center spot. Mobley can also be used in your power-forward spot, giving you the option to pair him with Jaren Jackson. The Hawks-Cavs boasts the second-highest implied game total at 237.5, so we want pieces of this game in our builds.
Substitutions: Jaren Jackson, Jarrett Allen, Wendell Carter
DFS Tournament Stacks
Donovan Mitchell-Darius Garland-Evan Mobley/Ja Morant-Desmond Bane-Jaren Jackson/ Jalen Suggs(GTD)-Jalen Green-Alperen Sengun (GTD)
Final Thoughts
As we stated earlier, we are trying to find player options projected for low ownership and value. Pay attention to implied game totals and try to get pieces of those games within your lineup construction. The top DFS builds will consist of the right balance between studs and value players that pay 2x-5x their DFS salaries. Good luck with your DFS builds and please like and follow us on social media. Please remember to double-check our recommendations once line-ups are finalized for any late inactives.
