This week’s NBA DFS Draftkings slates have been so up and down. It seems there are either 10 games on the main-slate, two games, or four and they don’t start tipping off until 9:00pm/ET. Friday’s main-slate was a ten game banger that seen Kevin Durant sit after playing almost 50 minutes earlier in the week. Saturday’s main-slate is seven-games as of the time of this writing. Of course that could change at any moment due to Covid-19.
Below are the scheduled games for Saturday, 1/23/21.
Miami Heat at Brooklyn Nets – 8:00pm/ET
Philadelphia 76’ers at Detroit Pistons – 8:00pm/ET
New Orleans Pelicans at Minnesota Timberwolves – 8:00pm/ET
Los Angles Lakers at Chicago Bulls – 9:00pm/ET
Houston Rockets at Dallas Mavericks – 9:00pm/ET
Denver Nuggets at Phoenix Suns – 9:00pm/ET
Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz – 9:00pm/ET
NBA DFS Draftkings Top Plays – Point Gaurd
Kyrie Irving | PG | Brooklyn Nets – $8,900
Given the massive amounts of minutes all of the Nets’ players played on Wednesday, it was no surprise that Kevin Durant sat out Friday night. Since Kyrie has just recently returned to the team, it seems if head coach Steve Nash were to rest another member of his super-star trio, it could be James Harden. Irving is motivated and wants to prove that he’s not the weakest of the big three.
At $8,900 he’s cheaper than some of the more expensive options like Luka Doncic, teammate Harden, guard eligible LeBron James and Steph Curry. In his last three games he’s shot over .500 from the floor and has scored 50-plus NBA DFS Draftkings points in three straight. Heat starting PG Tyler Herro is going to sit once again with a neck injury, and Irving should be in a prime position to keep his fantasy scoring streak alive.
Luka Doncic | PG | Dallas Mavericks – $10,700
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Luca is expensive. Is he worth the price at almost $11k? Probably. Every week I continue to hear and read how Doncic isn’t a very good scorer. That’s true a lot of the time. However, he still puts up a ton of NBA DFS Draftkings points on a regular basis. Luka now has five triple-doubles on the season and all of them have come in the last eight games. In his last two games, he’s put up 15 real points or less in two straight. He makes up for it with rebounds and assists though. Despite the hefty price tag, I’ll still have some Doncic on Saturday.
Value at Point Guard
Kendrick Nunn | PG/SG | Miami Heat – $5,600
Kendrick Nunn has been playing well the last few games and has seen an uptick in both usage and minutes played due to the injury to Tyler Herro. The Heat will get the Nets again on Saturday so the pace of the game should be up as well and Herro is expected to miss again.
Over his last two games he’s played 35 and 34 minutes, shot .667, .500, .533 and .750 from the floor including also shooting .500 or better from the arch. This efficiency level may be hard to maintain, but the dude is playing well right now and is getting plenty of opportunity.
NBA DFS Draftkings Top Play – Shooting Guard
Victor Oladipo | SG | Houston Rockets – $7,900
Victor Oladipo has had about a 38 percent usage rate since joining the Houston Rockets week. He’s played well along side Christian Wood while playing in relief of John Wall. He has positional flexibility on Draftkings at both point guard and shooting guard as well. Sincec coming over from the Indiana Pacers in a trade, his minutes played have actually went down slightly, but his usage is likely to increase as long as Wall and Wood are not in the lineup.
Someone has to have the ball for the Rockets, and for now it appears it will be Oladipo. Follow the injury report as lock approaches, but he should be a good upside play on Saturday.
Value at Shooting Guard
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope | SG/SF | Los Angles Lakers
Caldwell-Pope and the Los Angles Lakers will go to battle with the Chicago Bulls on Saturday. The Bulls will be on the second game of a back-to-back and KCP appears to be off the injury report. The game currently has a, O/U of 228 and should remain close throughout according to Vegas.
Caldwell-Pope never plays a ton of minutes, but tends to hit or exceed value in close games. He scored a season-high 23 real points on Wednesday which correlated to his highest fantasy production of the NBA season too. His price has jumped from $3,700 to $4,200 this week, but he should have another productive game on Saturday.
NBA DFS Draftkings Top Plays – Small Forward
LeBron James | PG/SF | Los Angles Lakers – $9,400
LeBron James is flat-out too cheap on DK. He’s been regularly been carrying the questionable tag on the team’s injury report. That will remain the case for Saturday’s game against the Bulls, Matthew Moreno of LakersNation.com reports. While sticking with Los Angles, we’ll again mention the Vegas odds predicting a 228 O/U.
For the first time in a few games, teammate Anthony Davis is cheaper than James on Draftkings. That’s not going to lure me away here though. James recorded a season-high 34 points over 38 minutes in Thursday’s win over the Milwaukee Bucks He also scored a season high in fantasy points with 59. At $9,400, I highly recommend some solid exposure to LBJ vs Chicago.
Brandon Ingram | SF/PF | New Orleans Pelicans – $8,100
I really like several New Orleans Pelicans’ players on Saturday. The reason? It’s not so much recent performance, but more to do with their opponent. That’s because they play the Minnesota Timberwolves this weekend. The Pelicans’ are seven point favorites, while the game currently sits at a 224 O/U.
I’ll have exposure to both Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson. Ingram hasn’t been posting stellar fantasy scores as of late, despite playing well. Over his last three games, his scores are 30.25, 30.25 and 30.75 fantasy points. It’s important to consider the Pelicans opponent the last two games, the Utah Jazz. The Jazz are not a great matchup for opposing scorers.
I look for Ingram to play his usual 35 minutes on Saturday, while adding some additional rebounds and assists vs the T-Wolves. The bonus? His price is down to $8,100.
NBA DFS Draftkings Top Plays – Power Forward
Zion Williamson | PF/C | New Orleans Pelicans – $7,600
This seams like a good time to keep the Pelicans discussion going. As previously stated, the matchup is great. Zion isn’t as safe of a play as his teammate, Ingram as he’s more reliant on scoring. The price however, is cheaper and Zion will probably be lower owned.
In GPP’s I actually prefer Williamson over Ingram. He’s been playing his usual 35-38 minutes, but he’s been shooting really well. Over his last three outings he’s shot .867, .737 and .643 from the field. He doesn’t get a ton of rebounds and other stats, as we said — he’s scoring dependent. However that could be much different vs Minnesota.
Zion is my favorite play on the slate.
Lauri Markkanen | PF | Chicago Bulls – $6,400
From what I’ve been reading Wendell Carter Jr. is expected to miss today’s game vs the Lakers. If he does, Markkanen should see a bump in usage and minutes. Unlike Friday, I actually expect him to possibly be bumped into the Center position.
I think people expected more from Markkanen in his start vs Houston, but he still had a productive game. What really makes him unique is that he has the ability to shoot three’s on one possession, then dominate the boards on the next. He’s priced at $6,400 for Saturday’s outing vs Los Angles. Despite likely facing off with Anthony Davis, look for Markkanen to have another solid game at a mid-range price tag.
Power Forward Value Play
Thaddeus Young | PF | Chicago Bulls – $4,600
While I wouldn’t recommend starting both Thaddeus Young and Markkanen in the same lineup, there is a lot to like here for a lot of the same reasons. The difference is, his price tag is much cheaper at $4,600.
The argument could be made that Young is actually the better play. He brought down a season-high nine rebounds last Monday nad his minutes have been getting closer and closer to 30 with the injury to Wendell Carter. If he gets the start for Chicago on Saturday, he becomes possibly the top value play of the seven-game slate.
NBA DFS Draftkings Top Plays and Values at Center
Nikola Jokic | C | Denver Nuggets – $10,800
There are several different players to consider at the Center position. The obvious in Nikola Jokic is always a solid play and carries a $10,800 price tag into Saturday’s matchup. His fantasy scoring over the last four games is as follows: 67, 64.5, 72 and 56. The guy is playing in whole other world at the position and it’s unlikely much changes.
He lost some minutes in a blow out last Tuesday, but it appears that the matchup with the Phoenix Suns will be much closer tonight. Look for Jokic to return to his old form vs the Suns. Even at $10,800 you’ll want to get him into some of your linups.
James Wiseman | C | Golden State Warriors – $5,200
It feels weird to say this, but I’m really not a fan of playing any Warriors so far in 2021. That almost even goes for Steph Curry lately. James Wiseman is the exception however.
He’s off to a great start in his rookie campaign. He’s been solid in shooting from the floor and when he plays around 25 minutes as he did over the last two weeks, he’s usually able to break 30 in fantasy scoring. With Draymond Green playing forgettable basketball and lashing out at Wiseman on the court, the youngster should continue to get more opportunity to prove himself — including on Saturday.
His roster has climbed to $5,200, but he’s still a good value play if he can play at least one third of the game.
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