DraftKings NBA Expert Survey: Saturday, January 12th
Want to know who Notorious is definitely paying up for in NBA DFS today? Wondering which value play STLCardinals84 is eyeing most? You’re in luck. Our daily fantasy sports experts will answer a handful of questions to help you make crucial lineup building decisions for tonight’s contests. For updates after 5 PM ET, be sure to check out Court Report and Crunch Time.
Saturday, January 12th
Who is your favorite player for cash games?
naapstermaan: Donovan Mitchell
MrTuttle: Donovan Mitchell
BigT44: Donovan Mitchell
STLCardinals84: Donovan Mitchell
Who is your favorite player for tournaments?
naapstermaan: Nikola Jokic
MrTuttle: Kemba Walker
BigT44: Nikola Jokic
STLCardinals84: Anthony Davis
Who is your favorite salary saver on the board?
naapstermaan: Royce O’Neale
MrTuttle: Royce O’Neale
BigT44: Royce O’Neale
STLCardinals84: Royce O’Neale
Which stud player are you likely to have little to no exposure to in tournaments?
naapstermaan: Kemba Walker
MrTuttle: DeMar DeRozan
BigT44: Lamarcus Aldridge
STLCardinals84: Nikola Vucevic
Which low-priced chalk player are you most likely to have little to no exposure to?
naapstermaan: Terrance Ferguson
MrTuttle: Dennis Schroder
BigT44: Dennis Schroder
STLCardinals84: Dennis Schroder
Which low-priced contrarian player are you most likely to be overweight on?
naapstermaan: Patty Mills
MrTuttle: Jonathan Isaac
BigT44: Bryn Forbes
STLCardinals84: Patty Mills
Which player are you afraid of being underweight on compared to the field?
naapstermaan: Paul George
MrTuttle: Paul George
BigT44: Paul George
STLCardinals84: Russell Westbrook
Which player(s) would benefit if currently questionable teammates miss tonight’s game?
naapstermaan: Taj Gibson, Dario Saric, Gorgui Dieng, Andrew Wiggins, Josh Jackson, Kelly Oubre, Malik Beasley, Torrey Craig, Jamal Murray, Mason Plumlee
MrTuttle: Darius Miller, Gorgui Dieng, Taj Gibson, Dario Saric, Malik Beasley, Torrey Craig, Mason Plumlee, Buddy Hield, Iman Shumpert, Justin Jackson
BigT44: Beasley, Craig, Murray and all the active Nuggets
STLCardinals84: Taj Gibson, Dario Saric, Josh Jackson, T.J. Warren, DeAnthony Melton, Kelly Oubre, Torrey Craig, Jamal Murray, Malik Beasley, Monte Morris
Want to get a full picture of the most important injury situations in NBA DFS each day? Be sure to check out The Situation Room!
Who will be the biggest bust of the day?
naapstermaan: Deandre Ayton
MrTuttle: DeMar DeRozan
BigT44: Lamarcus Aldridge
STLCardinals84: DeMar DeRozan
Which NBA team are you targeting players from the most?
naapstermaan: UTA
MrTuttle: UTA
BigT44: UTA / DEN
STLCardinals84: UTA
Which NBA team are you looking to avoid most?
naapstermaan: CHI
MrTuttle: CHI
BigT44: CHI
STLCardinals84: ORL
What’s the best position to spend up on?
naapstermaan: C
MrTuttle: C
BigT44: C
STLCardinals84: PF
What’s the best position to save salary on?
naapstermaan: SF
MrTuttle: SF
BigT44: SF
STLCardinals84: SF
Which high total game do you like least from a DFS perspective?
naapstermaan: CHA/SAC
MrTuttle: CHA/SAC (still exposure in GPPs)
BigT44: CHA/SAC
STLCardinals84: SA/OKC
Which useful trend or statistic stuck out most during your research?
naapstermaan: With Rubio, Exum, Neto, and Sefolosha out for the Jazz last night they used just an 8 man rotation with all starters seeing 30+ minutes (besides Favors who had 26) even in a blowout game. Tonight still has blowout potential with the Jazz as 10 point favorites vs CHI, but assuming they stick to a similar rotation there is just too much value at their prices to not use 3-4 Jazz in all formats.
MrTuttle: Karl-Anthony Towns is listed as questionable on Saturday night. Both Jeff Teague and Andrew Wiggins average 7+ more fantasy points per 36 minutes over the last two seasons with KAT and Jimmy Butler off the court.
BigT44: These slates all come down to who is sitting and tonight we have teams like Utah super shorthanded in a great spot and also places like Denver to pay close attention to. There is going to be value all around the board.
STLCardinals84: Donovan Mitchell is averaging 30 actual points per game over Utah’s last four contests, as his involvement in the offense has spiked thanks to all of the team’s injuries. His 32-33% usage rate for the season has gone up to 36% without Ricky Rubio, and it has risen to almost 40% without Rubio, Exum, and Neto. He pretty much exclusively ran the point last night and was spectacular. Take advantage while the price tag is not outrageous.
What’s your hot take of the day?
naapstermaan: Patty Mills goes for 35+ FP
MrTuttle: Kemba breaks out of his slump with a 30/10 double-double.
BigT44: Jokic and Denver against Phoenix doesnt feel like a far fight he goes for 30-20-10
STLCardinals84: Donovan Mitchell and Anthony Davis combine for 140 fantasy points.
Who is your top contrarian play (when considering price, matchup, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
naapstermaan: Andrew Wiggins – Wiggins hasn’t shown huge upside in DFS much this year, and now that his price is $7k+ on both main sites I expect his ownership to be miniscule today with all of the value and studs in play. At home against New Orleans tonight Minnesota has one of the highest team totals on the slate, and if you include the chance Towns sits out with an ankle he injury he suffered last night, Wiggins upside is huge against a team he’s averaging almost 40 FP in two meetings so far this year.
MrTuttle: Kemba Walker – We would be talking about Kemba as a cash game play if his recent form wasn’t so poor. Kemba has only topped 30 fantasy points once in the past five games which isn’t very inspiring for a guy priced in the mid-$8K range. Still, this is a great spot for Kemba who will be playing up in pace against a Kings team that runs the second fastest pace in the league. Not only do the Kings play fast but they are also poor defensively, allowing the sixth highest effective field goal percentage in the league (53.6%).
BigT44: Kris Dunn is going to be completely unowned against a team like Utah on a B2B but I really like the spot for a guy like Dunn. It is definitely more of a tournament play but with all of my Utah guys it makes a ton of sense to run it back and I think the Bulls hang around tonight behind Dunn crushing.
STLCardinals84: Jerami Grant – He is your prototypical hustle big man who never seems to be more than 6-8% owned in DFS. Grant isn’t the highest usage player, but he continues to get the job done with solid contributions on a nightly basis. He scored a career high 25 points in the last game, he almost always plays 30+ minutes, and he should get a few more center minutes with Nerlens Noel sidelined with a concussion.
Who is your top overall play (when considering price, matchup, projected ownership, etc.) on the board and why?
naapstermaan: Donovan Mitchell – After putting up over 57 FP last night Mitchell’s price barely changed, and in a similar situation tonight with all of UTA’s injuries, Mitchell should be the first guy you lock in today. As the de facto PG last night Mitchell had 9 assists and 33 points, well over his season averages of 3.6 and 21, so his floor and upside in all categories is just too high to fade today.
MrTuttle: Donovan Mitchell – Point Donovan didn’t disappoint on Friday night, pouring in 33 points and adding 9 assists in 33 minutes of court time. Mitchell will once again be in line for a bigger workload on Saturday night and his biggest obstacle may be avoiding a blowout as the Jazz are 11-point home favorites against the Bulls. Encouragingly, Mitchell did log 33 minutes of action in last night’s 113-95 blowout so I’m not overly concerned about Mitchell getting enough minutes to pay off his price tag.
BigT44: Mitchell is just a complete lock tonight with these guys out and him finding his mojo over the last few weeks. He is hitting on all phases and with guys out there is just no way around him crushing his current price point. He is easily my top play of the night.
STLCardinals84: Donovan Mitchell – Simply put, this is a no brainer. The point guard role, the increased usage, the safe minutes, a reasonable matchup against the Bulls, and Utah’s simple lack of other play-makers on offense right now makes Mitchell the best point per dollar play on the board by a wide margin. He has been fantastic over the last week and has a much higher floor now than he did before all the point guard injuries. There’s a solid ceiling, too, making Mitchell a great play in all formats.
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