NBA DFS continues Monday night with an eight-game slate. The Coach is here with his starting five and authentic insight from ‘inside the ropes.’ The NBA’s fantasy landscape changes every day with nightly examples of last-minute injury designation and load management. For reference, last night, the pay line in FanDuel’s $10k main slate contest was a tad lower than we have seen at 293.3 points. We will continue to operate and expect our pay line to be in the low 300s.
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 will give us a lineup different from the masses. Your obvious must-start studs or options are not always mentioned; we try to offer balanced DFS salary options. The fantasy point-per-game averages referenced are those across FanDuel scoring. Who gets the green light from the Coach tonight?
DFS Starting Guards
Jamal Murray ($7.7k DraftKings and $8.3k Fanduel)
Jamal Murray will start as the point guard tonight. He gives us one of the floor generals that will play in the main slate’s highest implied game total of 246. Murray is set up in a terrific fantasy environment with not only the superb game total but the Pacers are allowing the ninth most fantasy points to the position. Murray is averaging 38.76 points per game, however, in his last five starts, that number has climbed to 46.72 a game. Our flowers know the coach loves roster flexibility and Murray provides us with him being dual-guard eligible.
Anfernee Simons ($6.7k DraftKings and $6.9k Fanduel)
At shooting guard, we are green-lighting the Blazers, Anfernee Simons. He has a terrific matchup against the Jazz who are giving up the third most fantasy points to shooting guards. Simons comes in averaging just under 30 points per game and is ranked as a top-16 fantasy shooting guard. He also provides us the same roster flexibility as Murray because he can slot into either guard spot within our DFS builds.
Substitution Options: LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton, Tyler Herro, Tyrese Maxey
DFS Starting Forwards
Paul George ($7.1k DraftKings and $7.2k Fanduel)
Paul George was back Saturday night from a fantasy perspective, playing 40 minutes and producing 37.4 points. Part of that usage was no doubt due to Kawhi being out but that was the second game with a high 30s point total from George in his last five games.
He has a green-light matchup against the Bulls who rank 30th in fantasy points allowed to forwards and will play in the slate’s second-highest implied game total at 232. George can also play either forward position in your DFS builds. Kawhi Leonard remains a GTD tonight so monitor his progress and maybe pivot to a substitution option if he suits up.
Demar DeRozan ($7.1k DraftKings and $7.6k Fanduel)
DFS Starting Center
Nic Claxton ($5.9k DraftKings and $6.6k Fanduel)
Brooklyn is just 21-35 on the season but there is fantasy value on every team. We can not ignore how Claxton has played of late so we will green-light him at center tonight. Across his last five games, he is averaging 39.92 fantasy points per game. That fantasy output would equate to the overall C5, just behind Anthony Davis. The Nets face the Wizards who yield the fourth-highest output to fantasy center. The Nets-Wizards have a lower implied game total but are forecasted to be a competitive game environment.
Substitution Options: Kel’el Ware, Walker Kessler, Jusef Nurkic, Myles Turner, Jalen Duren
DFS Tournament Stacks
Jamal Murray-Aaron Gordon-Nikola Jokic/ Zach Levine-DeMar DeRozan-Domantis Sabonis/Anfernee Simons-Tounami Camara-Donovan Clingan/ Lamelo Ball-Miles Bridges-Jusef Nurkic/ Tyler Herro-Bam Adebayo-Kel’el Ware
Final Thoughts
It is not possible to mention every player, but our substitution options provide our followers additional green light options, and flexibility within your DFS builds. We strive for a balance of studs and value plays who also might be potentially lower owned. 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 at least 5x their DFS salaries. Good luck with your roster builds, and please like and follow us on social media. Please always double-check our recommendations and your roster builds once line-ups are finalized for late inactives.
