DraftKings Salary: $4,600
This is a weird slate, because leading up to it, it seemed like there would be a lot of value on the Chicago Bulls, but the Bobby Portis-Nikola Mirotic news came a day before this three-game slate's salaries came out, so players such as Lauri Markkanen ($5,600) and Justin Holiday ($5,900) were priced up accordingly. DraftKings also did a good job of pricing up preseason breakouts like Kyle Kuzma ($4,800) and Milos Teodosic ($4,900), making finding value on this short slate a tough task.
Austin Rivers is rarely someone we want to roster, but he stands out as a bit underpriced. Among an intriguing four-man guard group that will likely feature Rivers and Patrick Beverley as starters and Teodosic and Louis Williams off the bench, it was a bit surprising to see Rivers carry the lowest price tag. He needs just 23 DraftKings points to reach five points for every $1,000 in salary at this price.
Considering he averaged 20.1 DraftKings points in 27.5 minutes last year with Chris Paul on the team, Rivers shouldn't have too hard of a time reaching value against a Los Angeles Lakers team that ranked dead last in defensive efficiency last season. He should also benefit from the positive game script. Rivers' Los Angeles Clippers have the second-highest implied team total (111.75 points) on the slate, and this is the only game without a double-digit spread.