NBA DFS: Top DraftKings and FanDuel Picks - Tuesday, January 18th
Hello Grinders, we have an unusually small two-game slate on this Tuesday night. We’ll go through the top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel, highlighting key plays using data from our RotoGrinders Premium tools, which you can access here. However, I’m going put a small wrinkle to this article but highlighting one top pick on both DraftKings and FanDuel, as well as one more under-the-radar pick to see if we can also get a little different with our lineups. Let’s dive in.
NBA DFS, DraftKings Picks
Stephen Curry – Curry’s price tag on DraftKings of $10,600 may feel high for someone who has only scored fewer than 33 DraftKings points in four of his last six games, but this is the cheapest he’s been since November 8th. Our RotoGrinders CourtIQ tool shows that when Draymond Green has been off the court this season, Curry has averaged 1.31 fantasy points per minute. Granted, Curry now has fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson back who is going to take some of Curry’s usage away, but raw points are going to also matter on this short slate and Curry has the highest floor and ceiling on this slate. If you can afford Curry and feel good about the rest of your lineup, I think he’s worth spending up for and building around if possible, especially on DraftKings where you’re rewarded with the three-point bonus.
Trey Lyles – Lyles is the type of player I like on smaller slates because of his boom/bust nature. To illustrate his boom/bust nature, just look at his recent box scores. In his last five games, he’s scored 42.3, 31.5, 11.3, 39.3 and 28.5 DraftKings points. The crazy thing is that he’s averaged just 24.8 minutes per game in that five game stretch while averaging 30.6 DraftKings points per game. Lyles continues to fly under the radar because he mainly plays backup center minutes to Isaiah Stewart, who has underwhelmed as a starting center in this league so far. It wouldn’t shock me if Stewart eventually gets shifted to the bench in favor of Lyles or Kelly Olynyk, who is expected to return soon from injury. In the meantime, I like Lyles as a top DraftKings pick because his wide range of outcomes is what you want to take chances on for a small slate.
FanDuel Plays
Karl-Anthony Towns – On such a small slate, there’s going to be a huge opportunity cost missing out on center. Karl-Anthony Towns stands out as a top FanDuel pick given his salary and the fact the center position drops down big time after the first few options. First off, the $9,600 price tag on Towns is very appealing, especially considering this is the lowest price he’s been since December 17th, just over one month ago. The Knicks are the second slowest paced team and rank middle-of-the-pack in terms of defensive efficiency, so the matchup isn’t anything special. But if you look at the overall center position, we only have two high-priced studs (Karl-Anthony Towns and Julius Randle, and then Mitchell Robinson all the way down at $5,400). Towns has now scored 43 or more FanDuel points in six straight games and I’m willing to pay up for his floor on this slate.
Cade Cunningham – The matchup against the Warriors isn’t ideal as they rank 1st in defensive efficiency, but we’ve seen Cade Cunningham step it up lately. At $6,000, I think he’s worth taking shots on as a top FanDuel pick. He’s now scored 30+ FanDuel points in back-to-back games and in five of his last eight games. The Warriors are without their top defensive player in Draymond Green and have allowed an average of 112.25 points per game to their opponents in their last four games (Green has missed all four of those games). For the season, the Warriors have allowed just 102 points per game to opponents, the lowest number in the league. Perhaps Cunningham can take advantage of a Warriors team struggling a bit lately on the defensive end. If you’re curious what Cunningham’s floor and ceiling projections are in this matchup, you can find all that information in LineupHQ through your RotoGrinders Premium access.
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