NBA DFS action on Tuesday, Dec. 29 locks at 7:00 p.m. EST with a sizable 10-game main slate. 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 Russell Westbrook, Julius Randle and more.
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NBA DFS Picks: Key Building Blocks | Dec. 29
Russell Westbrook: Washington Wizards vs. Chicago Bulls
DraftKings $9,700, FanDuel $10,600, Yahoo $45
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 19.4%, FanDuel 20.1% Yahoo 24.6%
Keep in mind that the Wizards plan on continuing the Houston strategy of resting Westbrook on one side of back-to-backs this season. This will have a two-fold effect for fantasy; when he is in he should be more effective and efficient, which means he is likely to be a little underpriced unless the sites make some manual adjustments to their pricing algorithms. It also means we will want to focus on Bradley Beal when Westbrook is out. Now, we know that the DFS sites will be more likely to adjust Beal’s salary accordingly, but it is worth keeping an eye on.
Westbrook has triple-doubled in both games he has played for the Wizards, with twin 36-minute outings. The DraftKings double-double and triple-double bonuses are in his favor while turnovers tend to ding him more on FanDuel and Yahoo. We have plenty of value options tonight, so we can definitely treat ourselves to a few top-shelf luxury plays.
Andre Drummond: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. New York Knicks
DraftKings $8,700, FanDuel $9,400, Yahoo $45
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 11.9%, FanDuel 30.4% Yahoo 5.2%
Without Kevin Love, we should see Larry Nance Jr. start alongside Andre Drummond. New York is not equipped to deal with Drummond in the post. While there is a double-overtime game in Drummond’s solid fantasy production this year, we can neutralize that by looking at his 1.66 FanDuel/Yahoo and 1.64 DraftKings points per minute in his three games this season. In his last four games against the Knicks (while with Detroit), he has averaged 55 fantasy points at 1.8 per minute.
NBA DFS Picks: Good Value
Julius Randle: New York Knicks at Cleveland Cavaliers
DraftKings $8,200, FanDuel $7,700, Yahoo $32
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 9.7%, FanDuel 22.8% Yahoo 25.2%
While he is not an overly exciting option, Julius Randle is an excellent building block, particularly on FanDuel and Yahoo. In his three starts this season, he has averaged 35.6 minutes courtesy of new head coach Tom Thibodeau. A lot of the offense is running through him, and he has 15-plus field goal attempts in each game while averaging 23.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 0.6 combined blocks/steals. That has culminated in mid-40s for his fantasy production depending on your site of choice.
NBA DFS Picks: Risky Value
Naz Reid: Minnesota Timberwolves at Los Angeles Clippers
DraftKings $5,100, FanDuel $4,500, Yahoo $13
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 46.3%, FanDuel 52.4% Yahoo 45.0%
Welcome to Naz Reid chalk day. NBA DFS is always interesting in how people handle heavy-chalk plays. We can roll with it, play even more than the field or undercut the field. The type of player and number of options on the slate have a significant impact to our strategy, as does the game format. In cash games it is usually worth riding it out; for tournaments we have decisions. On the larger slates like today, there will be plenty of ways to differentiate our lineup if we choose to play Reid in tournaments at levels approaching where the field is landing. On a shorter slate we would likely focus on more direct leverage, depending on what options are available.
In his last 502 minutes without Karl-Anthony Towns on the court, Reid is averaging 1.14 DraftKings and 1.16 FanDuel/Yahoo fantasy points per minute. With Towns on the shelf against the Lakers Sunday night, Reid started and played 28 minutes but was in some foul trouble. This game was a laugher, and both teams played the far ends of their respective benches for the final seven minutes of the game. A reasonable projection for Reid tonight would be 1.0-1.1 fantasy points per minute with around 28-30 minutes played. This also leaves a little bit of upside, as he could see 32 minutes if he stays out of foul trouble. Please note that in the last dozen games he started down the stretch last season and on Sunday, he has topped 27 minutes only three times with 28, 28 and 33. Pivoting away in tournaments becomes a viable strategy, and there are many better upside options, albeit with a less secure floor.
 Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Delon Wright:Â DET vs. GSW – $11
- Josh Jackson:Â DET vs. GSW – $10
- Paul Millsap: DEN at SAC – $13
SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks
- Blake Griffin: DET vs. GSW – 1.5x multiplier
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: OKC vs. ORL – 1.50x multiplier
- Mason Plumlee:Â DET vs. GSW – 2.0x 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.
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