For those familiar with DraftKings, their daily fantasy basketball is formatted differently this season. There is no multi-position eligibility, which makes it a bit harder to set your lineup.
For those unfamiliar with DraftKings, you are given $50,000 in cap space to select a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, center, a guard, a forward, and a utility player. There are no points deducted for missed shots, which changes the strategy from other sites. To read the full scoring, click here. Keep in mind that a double-double awards a bonus, which can be the difference between cashing in and winning nothing.
Generally, the goal for value is at five times a player’s salary. That brings a lineup to 250 fantasy points, which will cash on most days.
Give DraftKings a shot, as there will be a few freeroll opportunities each night in Daily Fantasy Basketball. Click here to play.
Without further ado, the value plays and lineups for November 25th:
Value Plays
Normally I would fill up on value picks to spend on the high-end guys at other positions. Today I went another way, filling up almost entirely on mid-priced guys with good matchups. Here’s a few decent value plays for you to consider if you’re in a bind, though only one made it into my lineup.
I leaned heavily on the Denver-Chicago game, which has the highest over/under on tonight’s slate at 220 points. There’s some good values in the Miami-Golden State game as well, depending on who suits up tonight and who doesn’t.
There’s also an alternate lineup that includes Anthony Davis and a few roster tweaks at the end that I don’t like as much but Davis makes or breaks contests on a regular basis.
Guard
Shabazz Napier vs. GS ($4,400): Napier is averaging around 30 minutes per game over his last three games with the Heat backcourt banged up and figures to see plenty of court tonight against the Warriors. At $4.4K, we’re looking for him to get around 22 fantasy points for solid value, which shouldn’t be too hard since he’s averaging 23.9 FPS since the bump in minutes.
Forward
Nikola Mirotic vs. DEN ($4,300): Mirotic has played a ton of minutes the last two games, even playing 28 minutes last night against the Jazz despite Pau Gasol returning to the lineup and playing 37 minutes of his own. Mirotic needs 21.5 FPS to be a solid value, a number he’s eclipsed twice and came close to twice in the last four games. Going against a Denver team giving up the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards in what promises to be a high-scoring affair, I’ll take my chances on the over rather than the under.
Center
Zaza Pachulia vs. DET ($3,800): I would prefer other options but if you feel you must save money at the center position, Pachulia isn’t a bad play. For one, the Pistons give up more fantasy points than any other team to opposing centers. Pachula needs just 19 fantasy points to be a value play and that number isn’t hard to accrue given that (outside of the shortened game against Toronto) he’s playing 25+ minutes per game right now.
Lineup:
PG – Mario Chalmers vs. GS ($6,400)
SG – Bradley Beal vs. ATL ($6,000)
SF – Wilson Chandler vs. CHI ($5,900)
PF – Pau Gasol vs. DEN ($7,200)
C – Timofey Mozgov vs. CHI ($5,600)
G – Klay Thompson vs. MIA ($7,100)
F – Nikola Mirotic vs. DEN ($4,300)
UTIL – Jrue Holiday vs. SAC ($7,500)
Alternate Lineup (with Anthony Davis)
PG – Mario Chalmers vs. GS ($6,400)
SG – Klay Thompson vs. MIA ($7,100)
SF – Derrick Williams vs. NO ($3,300)
PF – Anthony Davis vs. SAC ($11,500)
C – Timofey Mozgov vs. CHI ($5,600)
G – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope vs. MIL ($3,800)
F – Ersan Ilyasova vs. DET ($4,500)
UTIL – Jimmy Butler vs. DEN ($7,300)
