New Year’s brings us a 10-game main slate locking at 7:00 p.m. EST. Before you lock in your NBA DFS picks and favorite lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS picks, including Bradley Beal, Nikola Jokic and more.
[2021-New-Year-Promo]
[SportsbookAffiliates]
NBA DFS Picks: Key Building Blocks | New Year’s Day
Bradley Beal: Washington Wizards at Minnesota Timberwolves
DraftKings $9,400, FanDuel $9,500, Yahoo $40
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 19.9%, FanDuel 28.7% Yahoo 38.8%
The sites did not pre-emptively adjust the pricing for the Washington Wizards with Russell Westbrook unlikely to play both sides of a back-to-back this season. Since the beginning of last year when he was “the guy” Bradley Beal has averaged a 34.0% usage rate culminating in 1.31 DraftKings and 1.26 FanDuel points per minute. According to NBA WOWY on AddMoreFunds.com in 103 minutes on the court this year with Westbrook, Beal is averaging 1.81 1.28 DraftKings and 1.79 1.27 FanDuel points per minute Update: my initial fantasy points per minute with Westbrook were incorrect, apologies for the error. With Beal averaging 36.6 minutes per game he makes for a terrific option tonight. Washington played yesterday afternoon and managed to lose to a Covid-19 depleted Chicago team. They are now 0-5 and searching for their first win so tonight should be a spirited game.
Nikola Jokic: Denver Nuggets vs. Phoenix Suns
DraftKings $10,600, FanDuel $10,200, Yahoo $48
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 3.3%, FanDuel 12.7% Yahoo 8.6%
Phoenix is on the altitude city back-to-back after shocking the Jazz in Salt Lake which is at 4,226 feet above sea-level. Tonight they are four point underdogs heading into the Mile High City to take on the Nuggets. After being a surprise late scratch with an elbow issue, Jamal Murray is expected to be available tonight. Even with all of these factors, I am strongly considering Jokic for my core player pool. Michael Porter is out due to Covid-19 contact tracing, so keep an eye on this situation to see if anyone else is impacted for Denver.
Value abounds today with the sites not adjusting for the thin Chicago roster, Westbrook resting for Washington and of course with 20 teams in action including four on the second half of a back-to-back. That means we have the luxury of looking for raw points and Jokic has certainly delivered this season so far. Through four games he is averaging 1.69 DraftKings and 1.55 FanDuel points per minute. The stat line is amazingly robust with 24.5 points, 11.5 rebounds, 13.5 assists an 2.3 combined blocks/steals. The 6.0 turnovers per game and the DraftKings bonuses for double-doubles and triple-doubles is what causes the fantasy production difference between DraftKings and FanDuel.
[NBAContentLinks]
NBA DFS Picks: Good Value
Raulzinho Neto: Washington Wizards at Minnesota Timberwolves
DraftKings $3,400, FanDuel $4,500, Yahoo $12
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 40.7%, FanDuel 9.3% Yahoo 15.4%
Ugh, Raulzinho Neto chalk day is typically a terrifying experience. The 28-year old Brazilian spent eight seasons playing in various international leagues before signing with the Utah Jazz in 2015. After playing in 81 games and starting 53 of them in his first season with Utah, Neto only played in 118 of 246 regular season games staring just one. Last year with Philadelphia he played in 54 of 73 regular season games starting three. In the last three years, the journeyman facilitator has played more than 25 minutes in just nine of 120 games where he saw action.
What we saw on Sunday when Neto drew the spot start for Westbrook was essentially a career game. In 32.2 minutes he posted 22 points, four rebounds, five assists and three steals with two three-pointers. The minutes were five off his career high and the only four games where he played more were back in 2016. The points tied a career high and for what it’s worth was just the sixth time he has scored more than 15 points in a game. The rebounds were his seventh most in a game, the assists were the tenth most and the steals were a career best as well. Yes we can absolutely play him, particularly in “cash games” but just have realistic expectations in tournaments and anticipate something in the low-20s for fantasy points.
NBA DFS Picks: Risky Value
Naz Reid: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Washington Wizards
DraftKings $5,200, FanDuel $4,700, Yahoo $16
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 24.9%, FanDuel 56.2% Yahoo 34.6%
Since December 30th of last year, Naz Reid has played 23 games without Karl-Anthony Towns. Via Statmuse.com we can see in those games he has averaged 11.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.7 combined blocks and steals. In these games he has averaged 21.3 minutes and topped 25+ minutes in just six of them. Even in a cherry matchup with a weak Wizards frontcourt, I am happy to let others assume the risk of a pedestrian performance on a ten-game slate.
 Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Derrick Jones Jr: POR at GSW – $10
- Paul Millsap: DEN vs. PHX – $12
- Tyus Jones.: MEM at CHA – $13
SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks
- Mason Plumlee: DET vs. BOS – 1.95x multiplier
- D’Angelo Russell: MIN vs. WAS – 1.45x multiplier
- Tyus Jones: MEM at CHA – 1.8x multiplier
Final Thoughts
Once again, we will have plenty of value, so we can facilitate a stars-and-scrubs build. Just keep in mind that it is not necessarily going to be the same players across all of the sites.
Be sure to into the Awesemo NBA Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock show beginning at 4:45 p.m. EST for all of your up-to-date information and analysis.
Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.
Looking for more NBA DFS picks content? We have loads of daily fantasy basketball articles, data, cheat sheets and more on the Awesemo NBA home page. Just click HERE.
