While building a daily fantasy basketball lineup, it's important to make sure you find the right studs to anchor your team. As the most expensive players in your lineup, they need big-time production to match their high price tag.
You may find it hard to fit some of these guys in while staying under the salary cap, but you can check out our projections to find value players for your rosters. Let's take a look at the top high-priced DraftKings plays of the day.
Luka Doncic, PG, Dallas Mavericks
DraftKings Price: $12,300
Luka Doncic is, by far, the highest-priced player on Thursday's three-game slate. He's the only player at or above $10,500 and comes into the night nearly $2,000 more than LeBron James. But there's a reason Luka will take up just short of 25% of your salary cap: the dude has been flat out ballin'.
If you've been following the league at all, you know that with his consistently great play he has his name right in the thick of the MVP conversation. Yet, over the last three games, Luka has been even more lights out, shooting 46.3% from the floor en route to 32.0 points, 11.0 assists and 11.0 boards per game. He's totaled 65.9 DraftKings points per game over 34.4 minutes and via a 36.8% usage rate. That's good enough for five-times value and more even at this high price.
If those numbers weren't juicy enough, Doncic draws an ultra-favorable matchup on the road against the Portland Trail Blazers. Not only are his Dallas Mavericks favored by a slim margin, but through two head-to-heads he has torched them to the tune of 62.0 DK points per game. He's had at least 29 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in each. Feel confident building your lineup around him, as we conservatively project him for 54.5 DK points.
Kyrie Irving, PG, Brooklyn Nets
DraftKings Price: $8,400
At least for tournaments, tonight seems like the kind of evening to roll with a pair of point guard eligible players. After all, Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets welcome in LeBron and the Los Angeles Lakers, who find themselves on the second half of a back-to-back on Thursday. That has the spread at just 5.5 in the visitors' favor, hinting at a close game and one in which the Nets should pile up the points.
Brooklyn has also been better at home, where they are 11-11 with a net rating of -0.3 compared to a road mark of 7-13 and a -4.4, according to NBA.com. And that home cooking goes for Irving, too, as the star point man has averaged 7.2 more DK points in the confines of Barclays Center. He's doing so on 53.8% shooting and 44.4% from three -- all on a 31.6% usage rate.
Irving is back to health after missing a game, but even more importantly he showed what his ceiling is by racking up 63.25 DK points just three games ago. Take into account the Kyrie-versus-LeBron narrative, and you have a great play in the lower half of the elite tier. We project him for 48.1 DK points at a return of 5.7 points per $1,000.
Bradley Beal, SG/SF, Washington Wizards
DraftKings Price: $7,700
You need to find some under-the-radar value on a limited slate like this, and that's where Bradley Beal comes in. It wasn't long ago that Beal was sidelined for some time with an injury, but he's for the most part been his old self despite a restriction on his playing time. Since his return to the floor, the Washington Wizards' franchise player has averaged 37.7 DK points but over just 29.6 minutes per game. On a per-minute basis, that's a very efficient 1.27 a minute.
We've established that Beal has his own appeal, but he's the best way to get exposure at the top of a high-scoring affair. The Wiz are one-point underdogs in a game with a 231.5 over/under, meaning they own a healthy 115.25 total against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They're likely to be in the top half of the slate in that regard (when all lines are live) so it's safe to expect a breakout scoring night from the sharpshooting Beal.
On the heels of last night's 58.8-point game, we have Beal down for 22.9 points and 38.0 DK points on the night.
Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BrettOswalt__14. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.