College basketball season is finally upon us, and DraftKings and FanDuel continue to provide sizable contests for CBB DFS grinders. Examining the slate for Feb. 16, a number of core plays stand out. In this piece I’ll be locating top plays from each college basketball matchup and determining the top CBB DFS picks for your DraftKings and FanDuel lineups.
CBB DFS Picks: DraftKings + FanDuel Core Plays | Feb. 16
Studs Tier
Ayo Dosunmu ($9,700) — With little available value on this slate, the expensive tier looks particularly difficult to navigate. Dosunmu enters the Tuesday slate with an impossible $9,700 price after scoring 50 fantasy points in back-to-back games. Illinois has the third-highest implied team total as 13-point a favorite over a Northwestern team that ranks 236th in defensive efficiency. Dosunmu has a 23.9% usage rate for this team while accounting for 27.8% of the shots and 30.7% of the assists on the season. For those looking at slightly cheaper options, Kofi Cockburn ($9,300) has a 21.4% shot rate and 32.5% rebound rate in Illinois’ last three games.
Zach Freemantle ($8,300) — Currently the best overall game environment on the slate, Xavier is a 2-point underdog to St. John’s in a game totaled at 155 points. Freemantle has played excellent basketball of late, seeing at least 36 minutes in three straight games for Xavier. He has a 17% usage rate this season, including a 29.5% shot rate, 34% rebound rate and 7.8% assist rate in Xavier’s last three games. St. John’s also struggles in the post, ranking 280th in interior defense.
Dru Smith ($7,300) — Another strong game environment, Missouri is a 3.5-point favorite over Georgia in a game totaled at 153.5 points. This gives Missouri the highest implied team total on the slate and makes Smith too cheap. Smith has played 43, 32 and 36 minutes in three straight games for Missouri and has a 15.7% usage rate. Smith now has a 26.6% shot rate, 15.1% rebound rate and 34.2% assist rate in Missouri’s last three games. Based on usage alone, Smith is one of the top values on the entire slate.
Mid-Priced Tier
Moses Moody ($7,000) — Another solid game for DFS purposes, Arkansas is a 5-point favorite over Florida in a game totaled at 150 points. Moody and most of the Arkansas starting five are underpriced in this spot. Moody has a 16.8% usage rate and has played at least 34, 29 and 38 minutes in Arkansas’ last three games. Moody has at least 13 points in each of those games and quietly is a candidate for a ceiling performance here.
Justin Smith ($6,300) — Another emerging performer for Arkansas, Smith continues to play excellent basketball. Smith has played at least 33 minutes in three straight games for Arkansas. He has a 15.1% usage rate and a 14.9% shot rate, 19.2% rebound rate and 16.3% assist rate in Arkansas’ last three games. With a similar ceiling to Moody, Smith provides a cheaper, reliable attachment to the Arkansas offense.
Xavier Pinson ($6,200) — For those looking at cheaper options within the Missouri offense, Pinson should find more consistent minutes tonight. Jeremiah Tilmon ($6,500) will miss this game after the death of a family member. While Pinson doesn’t play the same position, Tilmon’s absence removes 25-ish minutes and 13% of the team’s usage from the offense. Pinson played 29 minutes in Missouri’s last game and scored 23 points. With Georgia providing an up-tempo matchup and a defense ranked 228th in efficiency, this Missouri team looks like a strong bounce-back candidate.
K.D. Johnson ($5,900) — On the other side of the Missouri game, Georgia still has a healthy 75-point implied team total as a 2-point underdog. Georgia typically plays a nasty eight-man rotation, but their elevated pace opens the potential for DFS scoring. Freshman Johnson continues to play well for Georgia off the bench with a 19.5% usage rate. Johnson does have minute concerns with 29, 22 and 19 in his three most recent games. The 29-minute game also came in a 33-point loss. However, Johnson looked like Georgia’s best player, scoring 24 points and adding 4 steals. While unlikely to start, Johnson’s enormous usage rate is worth considering in GPPs in this strong game environment.
CBB DFS Value Tier
Adam Miller ($4,600) — For those looking at value on the Illinois side of the ball, Miller continues to start for Illinois. Miller has also played 36, 26 and 31 minutes in Illinois’ last three games. While he only has a 12.3% usage rate, Miller still accounts for 12.5% of the teams shots, 7.9% of the rebounds and 4.9% of the assists in Illinois’ last three games. With few viable punt options on the slate, taking the somewhat secure minutes with Miller in this matchup make sense.
Adam Kunkel ($4,500) — With very little value on the St. John’s side of the ball, Xavier also provides a potential value play in Kunkel. Kunkel played 27 and 28 minutes in back-to-back games for Xavier. He has a 15.2% usage rate on the season, including a 13.3% shot rate and 19.6% assist rate in Xavier’s last three games. While he continues to start, Kunkel should continue to provide value on the DraftKings and FanDuel main slate.
Desi Sills ($3,900) — Again, this slate is short on value. Sills could be a potential speculative option as he continues to work his way back from injury. Sills started most of Arkansas’ games prior to the injury. Since then his minutes have slowly increased from 4 to 10 to 20. Sills has a 15.9% usage rate on the season, which provides value at the 20-minute mark. If Sills re-enters the starting lineup, he would immediately become the top value play on the entire slate.
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.
Looking for more college basketball CBB DFS content? We have loads of articles, data, cheat sheets and more on the Awesemo CBB home page. Just click HERE.
