NBA Starting 5 (GPP): Wednesday, December 13th
The Starting 5 Series will provide Grinders a quick look at the day’s top positional plays, as analyzed by one of our daily fantasy sports experts.
Wednesday, December 13th
What’s up everyone? Welcome back to another edition of Wining247’s GPP Starting 5. I hope everyone is having a great holiday season, with Christmas right around the corner.
I am feeling very confident in my picks tonight and hopefully we can get all five selections correct on this solid nine-game slate. As usual, I will be using DraftKings pricing and will try to keep each player $9,000 and below.
Point Guard: Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers – $9,000
Damian Lillard is having a stellar NBA season and to me is the easiest play on the slate. Everyone can say what they want about my love for Lillard, but I am the one laughing now. He has had four straight games over 50 DraftKings points, yet somehow his price tag went down. The Trail Blazers may end up running Lillard into the ground this NBA season, as he is averaging over 37 minutes a game. There is also a chance Nurkic returns against the Heat, but if he is out for another game, Portland will continue to run anything and everything through Lillard, and if I were a betting man, my money would be on Nurkic sitting this one out.
The Trail Blazers head to Miami, and this game has an extremely close spread with a total over 200. We have seen the Miami defense get torched by some opposing point guards in Hassan Whiteside’s absence, and that trend will continue here. Everyone is scared of this Miami defense, and when people see the DvP most people will shy away from Lillard, but he is matchup proof in my opinion and I will continue to play him while no one else does.
Shooting Guard: Khris Middleton, Milwaukee Bucks – $6,800
I originally had Jeremy Lamb written up here, but we all know the NBA and their updates on injuries.
Khris Middleton has been in great form as of late, scoring over 30 DraftKings points in each of his last six games. The Bucks will be taking on the Pelicans, and this game has one of the highest totals on the slate, along with a really close spread. Middleton is a great way to get cheaper exposure to this game. He will have a size advantage against Jrue Holiday, who I am assuming will be guarding him.
Small Forward: DeMar DeRozan, Toronto Raptors – $8,300
I am so pumped that we can play DeRozan at small forward on DraftKings. He is a player that always gets thrown to the way side on every slate, despite the fact he’s averaging just under 35 minutes a game and is shooting a solid 47% on the season. When it comes to DeRozan I would always worry about peripheral stats, but not this season. He is surprisingly averaging 5.2 assists and 4.2 rebounds.
DeRozan and the Raptors lost to the Clippers the other night and will have a chip on their shoulders heading into Phoenix. We have one of the highest totals on the slate, though we do have a high spread. That does not scare me whatsoever, as even if this game were to blow out, DeRozan could easily reach value in three quarters.
Power Forward: James Johnson, Miami Heat – $5,600
It is time to get a little riskier, and that is why I am going with James Johnson. He is always one of my favorite tournament plays on any given slate, considering he has tremendous upside in all stat departments, especially steals and blocks. Johnson is easily one of the most volatile players in the NBA when it comes to ceiling and floor, but what helps me breathe easier is the consistent minutes with the injury to Whiteside.
The Heat will host the Trail Blazers, and I think Johnson makes a great pairing in my lineups with Damian Lillard, especially with this game having an extremely close spread. Portland has been tough on opposing frontcourts, but most of that was due to Nurkic. Now, even if Nurkic plays in this matchup, that does not worry me, but it would be a nice bump if he were to sit. Johnson is one of my favorite tournament plays on the entire slate.
Center: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz – $6,600
Rudy Gobert has played in four games since his knee injury and has shown no ill effects. That is always one of my biggest concerns when a big man goes down with a knee injury, but let’s hope Gobert has no ongoing issues. That being said, the Jazz are coming off a three-day break, so Gobert should be fresh here, and even if he were to play only 30 minutes, that does not concern me in a matchup against the Bulls. Chicago is probably the worst team in the entire league, meaning Gobert should have no issues with Robin Lopez. Big men have had their way against the Bulls frontcourt and that will not change any time soon. I am going to buy low on Rudy Gobert before we see the inevitable price increase.