The NBA DFS season is officially underway for the year 2021. While New Year’s Day provided us with a large 10-game main slate, January 2 will see the slate drop back down to five contests not including an earlier 5:00pm/EST game left off of the slate. Depending on who you are and what style you prefer to utilize while playing NBA DFS this can either be viewed as an advantage or disadvantage.
Obviously things like pricing, previous performance, health and game script will determine each individual owner’s builds and their lineups. At any rate, we will be looking at some targets and values on Draftkings as well as separating GPP and cash players where needed.
Here are the scheduled games for Saturday’s main slate along with their implied total projected score. Let’s dive in.
Oklahoma City Thunder vs Orlando Magic – 7:00pm/EST |
Target: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander | PG | $7,900– Gilgeous-Alexander has been one of the true bright spots on the Thunder through the first four games of the 2020-21 NBA season. In his first three games of the season, his fantasy points were 46.26, 39.75 and 41.25. However, the third-year Canadian struggled a bit last game vs the Pelicans shooting just .300 from the field and finished the game with just eight points total points and 23 Draftkings points. The New Orleans defense proved to be just too strong for SVA and company with the end result being a blow-out loss for Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander will look to rebound on Saturday when the Thunder face the Orlando Magic as he continues to average 30 plus minutes per game and should be able to get back on track in the new year.
Other targets: Nickola Vucevic – $8,700
Value: Cole Anthony | PG/SG | $4,600– Orlando Magic point guard/shooting guard Cole Anthony has quietly put together a solid start to the season, partly due to injuries to teammates Evan Fournier and Terrence Ross. He put together his best game of the year thus far on New Year’s Eve when Fournier headed to the locker room after just three minutes of action. He wound up playing a total of 30 minutes, hitting 5-of-5 free throws, while shooting 5-of-18 from the floor. He finished the game with 27.25 fantasy points, adding that to his totals of 19, 22.25, 23.25 and 20 DK points through the first five games. While the completion percentage isn’t good by any means, he’s not afraid to take his shots and will get a fair amount of assists. It will be important to monitor the injury status of the Magic prior to lock on Saturday. If Fournier can’t go or is on a minutes restriction, Anthony will be a solid value to play allowing you to spend up elsewhere.
Other values: Al Horford – $6,100
Avoid: Aaron Gordon | PF | $5,600– The old saying goes, “minutes equal money” in NBA DFS and while that’s not always true, it certainly has some weight in the case of Magic power forward, Aaron Gordon. Gordon has been on a minutes restriction for his past three games averaging 21 minutes and 16 FPPG. His price is now down under the $6k mark, but there are better places to find value on this slate.
New York Knicks vs Indiana Pacers – 7:00pm/EST | 215 O/U
Target: Domantas Sabonis | PF/C | $9,400 – Domantas Sabonis was a stud for the Indiana Pacers to close out the year of 2020. The 6-foot-11, 240-pound big man is averaging 50.6 FPPG through the first five games of the season and has been on the floor for the Pacers a ton playing no less than 34 minutes in a single game and breaking the 40-minute mark once. He consistently puts up a solid number off of assists while also average 22.4 points and 11 rebounds per game. His price tag of $9.4k is fair in my opinion as Sabonis will look to lead Indiana to a victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday in a game that has the Pacers as nine-point favorites. Sabonis has a solid floor for cash contests but also has considerable upside for tournament play.
Other targets: Julius Randle – $9,100 (his price tag is getting a bit steep) | Malcom Brogdon –$7,400 | Victor Oladipo – $6,700
Value: Reggie Bullock | SG/SF | $4,400– Knicks’ shooting guard/power forward Reggie Bullock has seen a sizeable uptick in his playing time following an injury to the NBA’s leading three-point scorer, Alec Burks. Since Burk’s ankle injury, Bullock has played north of 38 minutes in each of the two games. He’s also not afraid to let it go from beyond the arc, even if they don’t always go in, the opportunity for the scoring upside is certainly there. In the Knicks’ last game, Bullock missed all nine of his three-point attempts after hitting 5-of-9 in the previous contest. If Bullock can find his three-point shot on Saturday, it’s likely that he once again tops 30 fantasy points. All of this is contingent on the status of Burks however, something that needs to be monitored as lock approaches.
Other values: Elfrid Payton – $6,100
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Charlotte Hornets vs Philadelphia 76’ers – 7:00pm/EST | 214 O/U
Target: Tobias Harris | SF/PF | $7,300 – When talking about the Philadelphia 76’ers players to target, first though likely to most has to be the center and focal point of the team, Joel Embiid. For today’s slate, however, we’re going to focus on his supporting cast for GPP purposes. This doesn’t mean that Embiid is not in play, because he is. However, there are other big men at center that are closer to the $9k range that may be better options. For this reason, we’re going to target Tobias Harris at $7.3k on Draftkings. Harris has shot .500 or above in four out of five games, is averaging 8.5 rebounds per game and is playing roughly 30-32 minutes per game on average. He’s also scored 38 fantasy points or higher in three straight, including 53.75 four days ago. Harris provides a nice compliment to Embiid and the 76’ers are nine-point favorites on Saturday.
Other targets: Joel Embiid – $10,000 | Ben Simmons – $9,000 | Gordon Hayward – $7,200
Value: LaMelo Ball | PG | $5,500 – While the youngster’s NBA debut was likely not what he wanted to leave as a first impression after going scoreless, he has bounced back nicely since. Over his last three games, the rookie point guard has scored 22.75, 21.25 and an impressive 44.5 fantasy points per game. Just three days ago he went 7-10 from the floor, played 29 minutes, hauled in eight rebounds and added five assists. That type of production is likely unsustainable with Devonte’ Graham and Terry Rozier healthy, but he is showing that there is potential upside to be had with a price tag of $5.5k on Draftkings.
Other values: Miles Bridges – $6,200 | PJ Washington – $5,500
Avoid: Danny Green | SG/SF | $3,600 – Danny Green’s 2020-21 season has a small sample size just like his peers, but perhaps none are more inconsistent. Through five games, Green is 8-for-25 in field goal attempts, 4-for-19 from beyond the arch and has produced a fantasy point scoring spectrum ranging from five to 25.25. It’s always good to find value when setting your DFS lineups, but I urge you to look elsewhere to do so for the foreseeable future.
Toronto Raptors vs New Orleans Pelicans – 7:30pm/EST | 213 O/U
Target: Fred VanVleet | PG/SG | $7,700– One thing about the Toronto Raptors is that if you’re in the starting rotation, you’re going to see heavy minutes usage. Four of the five Toronto starters are averaging over 35 minutes per game. In terms of cash builds, I would actually go with Kyle Lowry here due to his slightly higher floor, but for the sake of GPP discussion, we’re going to talk Fred VanVleet. Both are in play though. Over the last two-three games Raptors head coach Rudy Tomjanovich has allowed the Toronto offense to run through VanVleet. His scoring has been a bit inconsistent early on this year, with nine, 27, eight and 25 points at the end of regulation in the last four games. He has managed to attribute nicely with his rebounding and assists throughout and offers some great upside if he can find his shot vs the Pelicans who do possess a tough defense to kick off the year of 2021.
Other targets: Kyle Lowry – $8,000 | Pascal Siakam – $8,200 | Brandon Ingram – $8,100 | Zion Williamson – $7,800
Value: Lonzo Ball | PG | $6,600– The elder of the two Ball brother finds himself in our value plays as well, however, it needs to be noted that this is strictly in a tournament setting as everything is up and down in terms of performance on the stat sheet early this season. That includes minutes usage, field goal completion percentage, rebounds, assists — you name it. About the only thing that has stayed consistent is Ball’s mid-six thousand dollar price tag. If Ball hits the floor and puts up 7.5 fantasy points like he did against the Phoenix Suns on 12,29 that price of $6,600 will severely hurt. However, if he can produce to the level that he did just two days prior to that vs the San Antonio Spurs, scoring 43 fantasy points on Draftkings — you’ll more than exceed value.
Other values: Josh Hart – $4,800 | Chris Boucher – $4,700
Cleveland Cavaliers vs Atlanta Hawks – 7:30pm/EST | 233 O/U
Target: Andre Drummond | C | $9,200– The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t had a lot of bright spots to start off their 2020-21 campaign but one player who has stood out amongst his teammates is center, Andre Drummond. The big man’s stat line is quite impressive totaling, 38.5, 64, 67, 59.7 and 37.25 fantasy points per game through his first five games. Drummond has now also doubled-doubled in each of Cleveland’s first five games while averaging a healthy 18 points and 14.8 boards over that span. To top it off, the former Detroit Piston is also averaging 2.5 steals and 2.5 blocks. He is a good play in both cash and GPP lineup construction with a solid floor, and tremendous upside.
Other targets: Trae Young – $10,200 | John Collins – $7,500
Value: De’Andre Hunter | SF/PF| $5,300– De’Andre Hunter is a great value play in GPP’s and cash lineups, likewise, to wrap up this five-game slate. The 23-year-old has been producing at a consistent clip to kick off the new season as he put up scores of 15.75, 39.25, 23.5 and 29 through his first four outings. Things even got a bit more interesting last night, when Hunter went 9-for-10 on field goal attempts, 3-for-4 from beyond the three-point line, added 6 rebounds and an assist while scoring a season-high 23 points for the Atlanta Hawks. Hunter has been playing through a sore knee, but it’s yet to slow him down as he has played 30 minutes plus in all five games. He’ll have plenty of opportunities Saturday on his team’s second of their back-to-back with Danilo Gallinari likely to miss again. As always, keep an eye out for an update of his injury status prior to lock this evening.
Other values: Cam Reddish – $5,000 | Kevin Huerter – $4,500 | Javale McGee – $4,100
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