Core Plays LIVE: NBA DFS Picks for Monday, February 9th

by Derek Farnsworth (Notorious) Last Updated 2026-02-09 22:21:31 Premium Content Part of the product NBA DFS

A daily fantasy sports OG, Notorious has been roaming the DFS streets ever since they were invented. He has racked up multiple live final seats and several six-figure tournament wins in his DFS career. So, who better to walk you through the madness of NBA DFS slates on DraftKings and FanDuel? Core Plays LIVE will zoom out on the slate as a whole, zoom in on the best plays, and constantly update as news breaks. Whether you are diving into the slate 5 hours before it starts or 5 minutes before it starts, you’ve come to the right place.

Happy Monday!

I hope everyone enjoyed the Super Bowl. It was an underwhelming game to say the least, but I had an absolute blast. I had a hefty bet on the Seahawks; my favorite two props were Jason Myers o1.5 field goals and Rhamondre Stevenson o22.5 receiving yards, and I had the Seahawks defense in my main DFS lineup. I certainly wouldn’t say no to having more days like yesterday in the DFS and betting streets. I also thought the halftime show was great.

It was also a great week for the new PGA DFS model that you can download and customize here at RotoGrinders. Many of the top projected plays finished near the top of the leaderboard. I had a good main slate and an excellent week in Showdown contests. I was hoping Si Woo Kim could get the job done on Sunday to cash an outright bet as well, but we will settle with a great week of DFS. There are a lot of great events coming up, so we’d love to have you as part of the RG PGA community.

We have 10 games on the schedule in the association, but only the first 7 games are included on the main slates for FanDuel and DraftKings. As is the case every Monday, I’ll be on Crunch Time at 6:15 PM ET to break down the slate and answer any questions that you might have. I love doing the shows, as we have fun while talking some hoops. We’d love to have you join us, even if you don’t want to ham it up in the chat.

Let’s dive into this 7-gamer!

NBA DFS Top Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel: Core Plays LIVE for Monday, February 9th

Slate Overview

• 7-game main slate
  - 7:00 pm ET – Detroit Pistons at Charlotte Hornets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Chicago Bulls at Brooklyn Nets
  - 7:30 pm ET – Utah Jazz at Miami Heat
  - 7:30 pm ET – Milwaukee Bucks at Orlando Magic
  - 8:00 pm ET – Sacramento Kings at New Orleans Pelicans
  - 8:00 pm ET – Atlanta Hawks at Minnesota Timberwolves
  - 9:00 pm ET – Cleveland Cavaliers at Denver Nuggets
  - 10:00 pm ET – Oklahoma City Thunder at Los Angeles Lakers (not on main slate)
  - 10:00 pm ET – Memphis Grizzlies at Golden State Warriors (not on main slate)
  - 10:00 pm ET – Philadelphia 76ers at Portland Trail Blazers (not on main slate)
• NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA Starting Lineups
• NBA Injury Report
• Scroll to FanDuel and DraftKings Rankings & Core Plays

News Updates

This section will be updated as injury news is released throughout the day.

Team Previews

Detroit Pistons (at CHA)

We kick off tonight’s slate with the Pistons, who sit atop the Eastern Conference standings. They have a below-average matchup against the Hornets, who are 23rd in pace and 11th in points allowed per game. Detroit’s team total is 4 points lower than their season average. Ronald Holland II is out, but everyone else should be available.

If you have been fading Cade Cunningham recently, it has been a wise decision. He’s been held to 56 or fewer fantasy points in 6 straight games. At his price point, we are looking for at least 55 fantasy points on a regular basis. I don’t love the matchup against Charlotte and will be looking to spend up elsewhere. Ausar Thompson has topped 30 fantasy points in 3 of his last 5 games and is worth a look in tournaments at low ownership. Jalen Duren burned a lot of bridges the last time he was active, as he underwhelmed and then got injured against the Wizards. We should be able to target him at extremely low ownership.

Charlotte Hornets (vs. DET)

The Hornets have quietly won 9 games in a row and are now holding onto the final spot in the Eastern Conference Play-In tournament. They draw one of the worst possible matchups, as the Pistons are 17th in pace and 4th in points allowed per game. Charlotte’s team total is 6 points lower than their average. Coby White and Malaki Branham are both out.

LaMelo Ball has logged at least 30 minutes in 3 of the last 5 games. While the increased playing time hasn’t led to any huge fantasy outings, it certainly helps us feel better about clicking his name in DFS. This is not my favorite matchup, but he should enter the conversation if you are building 10 or more lineups. The rest of the Hornets are easy fades given the increased playing time for Ball and the matchup against Detroit. Kon Knueppel has a positive RGValue, but I’m fine being underweight on him in all formats.

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