NBA DFS Picks Today (12/11): DraftKings & FanDuel Top Plays, Sleepers
Now that the In-Season Tournament is in the rearview mirror, we can finally settle back into a regular NBA schedule. The league went ahead and put a whopping 13 games on the board for Monday night, and we’ve already got a bevy of value with the potential for even more injury news to break later in the day. This should be a wild slate with plenty of twists and turns, so get ready to babysit those lineups throughout the evening.
Below, you’ll find a few NBA DFS picks that stand out on DraftKings and FanDuel as of the early afternoon hours. If you’re looking for more in-depth analysis, sign up for RG Premium.
Top NBA DFS DraftKings Lineup Optimizer Value
C Omer Yurtseven ($4,700)
As you’ll find, center is the position with the most value tonight. It’s a bit problematic considering how many great spend-ups we also have at the position. Unless some other cheapies at different positions emerge later today, I’m planning to play at least one of the cheap Cs in every lineup. You’re not doing it wrong to prioritize Isaiah Hartenstein or Nick Richards, but Omer Yurtseven is the one popping most in our early projections on DraftKings.
Yurtseven has been starting at center already for the Jazz despite the recent return of Walker Kessler from injury. Tonight, however, Kessler will be sidelined again, this time by a foot issue. Yurt and Kessler have essentially been splitting the minutes lately, but the latter’s absence means we’re pushing our Yurtseven minutes projection up to 26 as of this writing. Lauri Markkanen is also out for the Jazz, while John Collins is questionable himself with an illness. If JC also sits, we could push Yurtseven even closer to 30 minutes with Utah severely shorthanded in the frontcourt.
Yurt is productive (1.05 FP/min.), which is enough to get me on board at just $4,700 here despite a difficult matchup against the Thunder.
Top NBA DFS FanDuel Lineup Optimizer Value
PF/C Isaiah Hartenstein ($4,900)
As mentioned, Hartenstein is in play tonight because the Knicks will be down Mitchell Robinson when they take on the Raptors at MSG. What makes him a more alluring value on FanDuel is that you can stick him at a power forward spot, which comes in incredibly handy given the vast array of options at center. Obviously, you can only play one true C on FD.
Hartenstein starting is no guarantee, but we do have him currently projected to get the nod. Don’t put it beyond Tom Thibodeau to do something needlessly silly like start Jericho Sims over him, but even if he comes off the bench, I’d expect Hartenstein to eat most of the minutes up front. We have him tentatively projected to log 28, but there’s upside for more. We’ve seen Robinson breeze well past 30 on numerous occasions, and Sims hasn’t even been in the rotation.
As is the case with most bigs that loiter around the paint for most of the game, Hartenstein is a good per-minute producer (0.95) and should have little issue absolutely smashing his cheap salary tonight.
NBA DFS Sleepers
C Alperen Sengun ($8,900 DK, $8,700 FD)
With most folks looking likely to pay down at center, that’ll naturally lead to some of the pricier options at the position coming in under-owned. Nikola Jokic (at ATL) and Joel Embiid (vs. WAS) both have terrific matchups that make them hard to ignore. If you go a little cheaper, though, Alperen Sengun really stands out in the $9,000 range in a home date vs. the Spurs.
The Spurs entered the season with a lot of Wemby-inspired hype, but this team is actually horrific. San Antonio is 3-18 on the year, and they enter tonight’s game in Houston riding a 16-game skid. Gregg Popovich’s grew has slumped to 27th in defensive rating, while they’re running at the league’s fourth-quickest pace.
Sengun (1.33 FP/min.) is in the midst of a breakout year, and he’s playing a career-high 33 minutes per game in his first season under Ime Udoka. Sengun comes with a very high floor thanks to his ability to stuff the stat sheet, and this matchup has me thinking we’ve got a real shot at a slate-breaking ceiling tonight.
SF/PF Bojan Bogdanovic ($6,500 DK, $6,200 FD)
The Spurs’ aforementioned 16-game losing streak has been overshadowed by the Pistons’ 19-gamer entering tonight’s game against Indiana. Will the Pistons win another game all year? That’s really the only reason to tune in. Detroit will be shorthanded up front tonight, with Jalen Duren (out) and Marvin Bagley (doubtful) both on the injury report.
Bojan Bogdanovic has only played 3 games since returning from his own injury, but he’s been productive (0.98 FP/min.) despite limited 19% usage. He’s been hovering around 30 minutes in the 3 games since his comeback, and I’d imagine he has upside for more if the Pistons can actually keep a game close enough to give their starters full run. We’ll see if that happens tonight, as they’re 7.5-point home underdogs to those high-flying Pacers.
Indiana is a good matchup, though. They’re leading the world in pace and ranked just 28th in defensive rating, and there’s a chance they’ll be a bit fatigued after having just played the IST Final on Saturday night in Vegas. I’m certainly still skeptical of whether the Pistons can score enough to keep up, but 32 projected minutes is enough to make Bojan look like a solid midrange forward play on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
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