If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.
With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.
We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.
Let's take a look at who you should target on today's main slate.
The Slate
| Away | Home | O/U | Home Spread | Away Total | Home Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Heat | Minnesota Timberwolves | 224.5 | -6.5 | 109.0 | 115.5 |
| Brooklyn Nets | Memphis Grizzlies | 223.0 | +4.5 | 113.75 | 109.25 |
| Portland Trail Blazers | Dallas Mavericks | 220.5 | -1.5 | 109.5 | 111.0 |
| Charlotte Bobcats | Los Angeles Lakers | 216.0 | -13 | 101.5 | 114.5 |
Just four games on the main slate today, as the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder are off the board. We still have three games with totals of at least 220 points, so there are a lot of fantasy points to be had, even with only eight teams on the docket.
Injuries
| Team | Injured Player |
|---|---|
| BKN | Wilson Chandler (Out; Suspension) |
| CHA | Nicolas Batum (Out; Finger) |
| DAL | Dwight Powell (Out; Hamstring) |
| LAL | Kyle Kuzma (GTD; Ankle) Rajon Rondo (GTD; Calf) |
| MEM | Brandon Clarke (GTD; Back) Andre Iguodala (Out; Doesn't Want to Play for Memphis) |
| MIA | Jimmy Butler (Out; Birth of Daughter) Dion Waiters (Out; Suspended) James Johnson (Out; Conditioning) Udonis Haslem (Out; Wrist) |
| POR | Pau Gasol (Out; Foot) |
Center
Karl-Anthony Towns ($12,200) is priced way up relative to the rest of the centers on the board after he has erupted for 72.3 and 83.0 FanDuel points to start the season. Only Hassan Whiteside ($8,300) is priced above $6,600. Towns' Minnesota Timberwolves have a slate-high implied team total, and the main argument against Towns is differentiation. Towns' individual matchup isn't particularly good, but he's a bonafide stud with a 31.4% usage rate.
There are plenty of options to choose if you can't afford KAT or are looking to fade him. Whiteside has returned at least 40 FanDuel points in each game to start the season on 26 minutes per game.
Jonas Valanciunas ($6,000) will never see massive minutes (he's played 16 and 18 through two games) and appears overpriced but actually grades out well via numberFire's projections. On the flip side of that game, DeAndre Jordan ($4,600) also projects for strong fantasy value. He just played 23 minutes against the New York Knicks and went for 7 points and 11 rebounds (21.7 FanDuel points).
The Los Angeles Lakers' frontcourt duo of JaVale McGee ($4,300) and Dwight Howard ($4,800) -- with Howard in a revenge game against the Charlotte Hornets -- are viable at the low end of the center pool. McGee grades out as the top value when using his 75th-percentile outcome (my simulations) among all centers, so dollar-for-dollar, he's a good tournament play, even though nobody has the ceiling akin to Towns'.7
Core Plays:
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