NBA DFS Picks Today (10/28): DraftKings & FanDuel Top Plays, Sleepers
After a massive 11-game slate Friday night, things calm down for a much more manageable 7-game NBA DFS slate on both FanDuel and DraftKings.
The Heat and Suns are the clear targets on Saturday night. Phoenix will be without both Bradley Beal and Devin Booker, while the Heat ruled out Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Kevin Love. Both teams are mega sources of value, although Phoenix has begun to get priced up for the situation. In addition to the injuries already laid out, we’re still waiting on news about OG Anunoby, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton, who are all questionable.
While Anunoby’s absence would be a bump to the other Raptors, Mitchell and/or Haliburton being out would blow the slate wide open. All of these games take place a half hour after lock, so it will be incredibly important to tune into Crunch Time with Tim and me for last-minute updates. As it stands right now, I’ll be using cheap Suns and Heat players as my top values, with Jordan Goodwin being my favorite of them all (whether he starts or not).
Top NBA DFS DraftKings Lineup Optimizer Value
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PF Kevin Durant ($9,700) – DraftKings
Kevin Durant holds the best RG Value in LineupHQ on DraftKings without Devin Booker and Bradley Beal. He’s been priced up from the obscene mid-8K range he was previously, but he’s still ridiculously underpriced at $9,700. Durant boasts a 44.7% usage rate on the Suns with Devin Booker and Bradley Beal off the court so far this season and had 39 points and 11 assists en route to nearly 60DKP in the exact same situation last game.
Utah has the second-worst defensive rating on the slate, and although Walker Kessler is a force on the interior, Durant can score from everywhere. He’s an important part of every single facet of their offense as a scorer, rebounder, and distributor without Booker or Beal on the court. While it’s obvious Durant is a great play, I’ll use the lineup optimizer to ensure I have Kevin Durant in single entry and all 150 lineups I run tonight. I wouldn’t quite go lock button territory on FanDuel, but he’s still my favorite spend-up option on the slate.
Top NBA DFS FanDuel Lineup Optimizer Value
SG/SF Tyler Herro ($6,600) – FanDuel
Since the Heat have already ruled out Jimmy Butler, Caleb Martin and Kevin Love for the game, Tyler Herro is a phenomenal play on both sites, particularly on FanDuel. He has the highest RG Value in the lineup optimizer by a significant margin. His $6,600 price tag is a fantastic value for his 36.6 FDP projection for RotoGrinders.
The Heat were without Caleb Martin last night in a tough matchup against the Celtics, and Herro went to work in a tough loss where he had 28 points, 6 assists and 6 rebounds in a whopping 40 minutes. With the addition of Butler out in this one, Herro should be in line for another 40-minute night as long as this one stays close. Without Martin, Butler, and Love on the court last season, Herro boasted a 30% usage rate alongside a 26% usage rate with only Bam Adebayo being a better per-minute producer on the team. Herro is my second favorite play on the slate behind Durant on DraftKings and the number one option tonight on FanDuel.
NBA DFS Sleepers
C Jalen Duren ($5,900 DK / $7,800 FD)
I like Jalen Duren for totally different reasons on both FanDuel and DraftKings, but I like him on both sites nonetheless. On DraftKings, Duren is a fantastic value at $5,900 and is currently projecting for ownership in the teens. He could end up dropping even further down with all the Heat value and potentially more opening up as we await news out of Toronto, Cleveland, and Indiana.
Duren has been an absolute beast to start the season, averaging over 15 points and rebounds apiece through two games. The 19-year-old was already a stud defensively in his rookie season and looks to have put on some more muscle in the off-season as well. He has gone well over 40 fantasy points in both games this year, averaging 32.5 minutes per game and should have a great floor/ceiling combo as long as he stays out of foul trouble.
On FanDuel it’s a different story, but I think he’s still incredibly intriguing for tournaments. While the price tag is tougher to get to and the position is even more valuable, that’s currently leading Jalen Duren to have an ownership projection of less than 1%. He’s proven the ceiling is there over the past two games, and it’s incredibly easy to get significantly overweight on Duren tonight if you’re playing multiple lineups.
Lauri Markkanen ($8,900 DK / $8,500 FD)
We all want to load up on Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns tonight and rightfully so. However, the Jazz are going overlooked on the other side of this game. Markkanen is currently projecting for a measly 10% ownership on FanDuel while coming in at only 3% on DraftKings. We’re hoping for ceiling games out of Durant and the Suns, so we need this game to stay close. Markkanen is my favorite run back, as salary is no issue tonight, especially when rostering Suns.
Lauri Markkanen has looked great through the first two games of the year, picking up where he left off in his all-star season last year. It only took him until the second game of the season to eclipse the 50 fantasy point mark, and he still put up a solid game in his first outing where he struggled shooting the ball from the field. I don’t feel the need to play multiple Jazz in the same lineup tonight, but Markkanen is the highest upside way to get additional pieces of this game while also differentiating from the field.