NBA Picks: Friday, Oct. 25 presents a healthy nine game main slate on Yahoo, DraftKings, FanDuel and FantasyDraft. Before you lock in your NBA DFS lineups and NBA DFS picks, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s DFS basketball NBA rankings and projections. We’ve got you covered for all your daily fantasy basketball needs, for DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo, FantasyDraft and more! Let’s dig into some NBA DFS Picks, including Karl Anthony Towns and more!
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Welcome to our DFS series which focuses on foundational plays to help you get started by suggesting some NBA core players to target. From there, we’ll update and augment our advice and lineups as inevitable news breaks leading up to contest lock.
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Karl-Anthony Towns – MIN at CHA – DK $10,800, FD $11,500, Yahoo $48 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DK 33.0%, FD 36.0%
Yes, Towns had a phenomenal game on Wednesday in overtime against the Nets. Setting that aside, this is still an excellent matchup and it is clear that Towns is going to be in line for the top fantasy scorer of every slate he is on. In two games last season against Charlotte, he tallied 35.0 minutes, 28.0 points, 14.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 1.5 steals, 4.0 blocks and 3.0 threes per game for 64.5 fantasy points.
It is not hard to see Karl Anthony Towns imposing his will on Cody Zeller, P.J.Washington and Marvin Williams. There are still plenty of “value” options with 18 teams in action, so the only question is if we want to slot in a premium center on our roster.
Good Value
Elfrid Payton – NYK at BKN- DK $4,600, FD $5,700, Yahoo $25 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DK 33.0%, FD 36.0%
Hopefully coach David Fizdale realizes soon that he is going to need an actual point guard to keep things moving among the many power forwards on the Knicks. This is actually a beautiful situation for Payton, if he actually can get minutes. Despite not making his regular season debut until midway though the second quarter, he did start the second half. His stellar outing was punctuated by five steals in 26 minutes. His career numbers are 11.1 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 45.4 from the field and 30.3 from three with 16 triple doubles across 343 games.
Risky Value
Minutes, minutes, who gets the minutes? That is going to be the rallying cry tonight for the Sacramento Kings. It will be interesting to see how their new coach Luke Walton puts the pieces together. Marvin Bagley is out for the next few weeks with a fractured thumb on his non-shooting hand. Recent contract extension recipient Buddy Hield is questionable with a sprained ankle.
I am including this group together as we will likely get more hints and or perhaps even direction throughout the day from the Kings. If Hield is out, all four have merit. If Hield is in, we have to get inside the mind of Luke Walton.
Richaun Holmes – SAC vs POR – DK $3,400, FD $3,700, Yahoo $13 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DK 33.0%, FD 33.0%
We have seen him get it done seemingly out of nowhere in his time with Philadelphia and last year in Phoenix. At various times in his career he has been slotted in as a SG, SF, PF and C depending on your fantasy site of choice. In reality he is a “skinny” big who plays well on the wing and can go into the paint against weaker second units.
Bogdan Bogdanovic – SAC vs POR – DK $4,600, FD $5,000, Yahoo $15 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DK 15.0%, FD 9.0%
Bogdanovic is one of the key building blocks for the Kings on their way to respectability. He had a rough first game, but we know the talent is there. If Hield is out, that is the best case scenario for Bogdanovic owners. He is also fine coming off the bench as he should be one of the main sources of offense along with our next guy.
Nemanja Bjelica – SAC vs POR – DK $3,600, FD $3,700, Yahoo $15 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DK 3.0%, FD 13.0%
Comments from Walton have him giving consideration to moving Bjelica into the starting unit to replace Bagley. We know he is not afraid to shoot and had a tremendous two-month stretch last season before fading as the season wound down.
Dewayne Dedmon – SAC vs POR – DK $4,500, FD $3,800, Yahoo $17 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DK 19.0%, FD 6.0%
Dedmon is my personal favorite as I like his ability to shoot from afar. However, being new to the team, the minutes are likely going to be all over the place. The trick will be to see how he is utilized based upon various opponent types. He may actually be in the most tenuous spot of this quartet with regards to opportunities tonight. We really need some firm news on his role before taking a chance on him.
Pricing is sort of all over the place so depending on news, here are how I would use these players across the sites:
DraftKings/FantasyDraft: Bogdanovic, Bjelica, Holmes, Dedmon
FanDuel: Bjelica, Bogdanovic – hard to give up the center spot on FanDuel, but Holmes/Dedmon make for interesting late slate options.
Yahoo: Bogdanovic, Bjelica and then as a bonus look to Dwayne Bacon – $10 or P.J. Washington – $15 from Charlotte instead of the Sacramento front court
FantasyCruncher NBA DFS Tip of the Day
Use promo code PRIMETIME to receive 50% off any one-month premium subscription (including FantasyCruncher options).
With the incredibly user-friendly FantasyCruncher, we can take our lineup construction to the next level.
Today’s highlighted feature is the “Swaptimizer” that makes life oh so much easier on DraftKings when that unexpected news breaks after the main-slate action has begun.
Step 1: download your current CSV lineup file from DraftKings (you need to have the current file so the “Swaptimizer” knows which players have been locked).
Step 2: in FantasyCruncher select the games that have yet to tip off and adjust any of your rules, exposures, projections, etc. so they are appropriate for the remaining available player pool.
Step 3: it’s time to Swaptimize!
Be sure to play around with this feature when you are not under pressure, it is good practice and of course you do not have to upload those practice files.
As always, you can reach out to me via Awesemo.com Premium Slack or Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any NBA DFS questions.
Good Luck NBA DFS Gamers! ~ EMac
