NBA

3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/25/20

Brett Oswalt  —  @bRo14thekid Feb 25th, 2020
Jayson Tatum has taken things to another level this month, but where does he rank among Tuesday's top dogs?

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.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, Milwaukee Bucks

DraftKings Price: $11,600

With so many elite players taking the floor on Monday, Tuesday's slate features only a few, including but one above the $11,000 mark. That one is Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is $900 more than LeBron James as he gets set to take on the Toronto Raptors in a clash of Eastern Conference titans.

This premier national TV matchup has the Raptors hosting the Milwaukee Bucks, who are on the second night of a back-to-back after playing in Washington less than 24 hours ago. For that reason, the spread sits at just one point in Milwaukee's favor, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. And that bodes well for Giannis and the 70-plus upside to his fantasy game.

Antetokounmpo's been a frequent victim of blowouts this year, but if this one stays close look out. He's averaging more than 2.0 DraftKings points per minute and put up 77.3 across 36.3 minutes in his previous game against the Raptors. Our models project him for 31.2 minutes and 59.3 DK points in this one.

Anthony Davis, PF/C, Los Angeles Lakers

DraftKings Price: $10,300

In the other half of Tuesday's nationally-televised set, the Los Angeles Lakers take on the New Orleans Pelicans as Zion Williamson -- the new face of the Pels -- will square off against the former franchise player in the Big Easy, Anthony Davis. That will be a big part of the pregame conversation, but the 43-win Lakers are favored by eight with an implied total of 123.25 in what projects to be a high-scoring game.

The game environment is great, and it puts Davis right up there with the likes of the Greek Freak. After all, he's averaging 51.5 DK points on the year but an even greater 67.3 in a pair of games against his first NBA squad. Williamson should help provide a bit more resistance, but Davis has been worth his price tag over the last half-dozen games. He has exceeded five-times value in five of those en route to 58.5 DK points (60.7 in the last three). His usage rate has also climbed to 29.6% from his average of 28.5%, per NBA.com.

Davis will be as motivated as ever to continue to his dominance of the Pelicans. He comes at a $400 discount to LeBron James and more than $1,000 to Giannis, but we project him for 53.6 DK points at a value of 5.2 points per $1,000.

Jayson Tatum, SF/PF, Boston Celtics

DraftKings Price: $8,800

This only says Jayson Tatum, but really this should read Jayson Tatum 2.0. After all, the 21-year-old has quite literally been on a whole new level in recent weeks. The young Boston Celtics star has upped his production to 29.7 points and 49.7 DK points per game for the month of February, having shot 48.3% from the floor and 46.8% from three in the last nine games. He's averaging just 40.4 fantasy points over the entirety of the 2019-20 season.

For how great Tatum has been all month, he's somehow been even more productive in the last three, during which time he's managed performances of 56.25, 52.75 and 57.25 DK points. The first one was against Kawhi Leonard and the Los Angeles Clippers while the last one came in a close loss to the Lakers. The Portland Trail Blazers are a much more vulnerable defense.

Portland enters Tuesday ranked 27th in defensive rating and -- according to Fantasy Pros -- dead last against power forwards. Their 53.6 DK points allowed to the position are 1.2 more than the next-closest team. Tatum should eat.

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.