Monday night in the NBA DFS landscape brings us a nice 10-game slate in the association. The Coach is here with his starting five to give authentic insight from ‘inside the ropes’. The NBA’s daily fantasy landscape continues to change, especially as we approach the league’s trade deadline. We see almost nightly examples of last-minute injury designation and load management rest.
For reference, Friday night’s $12k main slate contest pay line on FanDuel was 333 points, which gives us a baseline for our player recommendations. Please keep in mind there are several big-name players listed as GTD for tonight’s main slate so we will navigate that as we build our starting five.
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
Malik Monk ($7.7k DraftKings and $7.9k Fanduel)
Malik Monk will start at the point guard spot for us this evening in a terrific environment. The Kings-Mavericks game has the slate’s highest game implied total of 237.5 and Dallas allows the seventh most fantasy points to the point guard spot. Monk’s DFS salary is very affordable and he has shown flashes lately scoring over 40 fantasy points in three of his last five outings. His season’s average sits at 33.99 points per game but during the aforementioned five-game stretch, he produced over 35 a game. Monk gets our green light with the potential to be a 5x player.
Anfernee Simons ($6.5k DraftKings and $6.8k Fanduel)
Anfernee Simons will be starting at shooting guard tonight with his green light matchup versus the Nuggets who yield the fifth-most to shooting guards. Simons is averaging right at 30 fantasy points per game and ranks as the overall SG14. Simons has elevated his output across his last five games averaging 35.86 points per game and he affords us flexibility within our roster builds as he is point guard spot-eligible.
Substitution Options: Steph Curry (GTD), De’Aaron Fox, Chris Paul, Terry Rozier
DFS Forwards
Franz Wagner ($8.5k DraftKings and $8.6k Fanduel)
We continue with a balanced build and will go with Orlando’s Franz Wagner at the small forward spot. Wagner enters the main slate as the overall SF10 averaging 42.71 fantasy points per game. In his last five games, Wagner has two games of over 50 fantasy points and is averaging 43.2 points a game. He is matched up tonight versus the Hawks who allow the tenth most points to small forwards and gives us another dual position-eligible player for our DFS builds.
Jaden McDaniels ($6.4k DraftKings and $6.8k Fanduel)
The Coach loves Jaden McDaniels as his starting power forward. McDaniels is averaging 40.8 fantasy points in his last five contests and is a monster on the glass. He is pulling down nearly nine boards per game, has two 50-point explosions, and a 40-point game in his last five contests. Finally, McDaniels lines up versus the Cavaliers who allow the seventh most points to power forwards.
Substitution Options: Paolo Banchero, P.J. Washington, LeBron James (GTD), Kyle Kuzma
DFS Center
Bobby Portis ($8.5k DraftKings and $8.6k Fanduel)
Bobby Portis will hold down the center spot tonight to round out our starting five. Statistically, he does not have the greatest match-up but Portis has been on a tear since returning from his absence. He is averaging 33 minutes 15 rebounds and 53.33 fantasy points in his last three contests. Giannis has already been declared out for tonight so we expect Portis to continue his torrid pace. Portis comes with positional flexibility and the Bucks-Warriors are another game that features an implied game total north of 230.
Substitution Options: Nikola Jokic, Evan Mobley, DeAndre Ayton, Jaxson Hayes
DFS Tournament Stacks
Kyrie Irving-Klay Thompson-PJ Washington/ Damien Lillard-Kyle Kuzma-Bobby Portis/ Malik Monk-Keegan Murray-Domantis Sabonis/ Anfernee Simons-Deni Advija-DeAndre Ayton
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. The FanDuel main slate contest lobby does not include tonight’s Suns-Jazz game. Please always double-check our recommendations and your roster builds once line-ups are finalized for late inactives.
