Sunday, Dec. 5, has a succinct three-game main slate locking at 6:00 p.m. ET. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content.
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Sunday, Dec. 5
Yahoo Play of the Day — Brandon Ingram: New Orleans Pelicans at Houston Rockets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 39.61 | DraftKings: 42.0
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 49.0% | FanDuel 47.8% | DraftKings 35.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $31 | FanDuel $7,700 | DraftKings $8,800
Tonight, Brandon Ingram has an excellent matchup against Houston and he has a very affordable salary. The Rockets play at the fastest pace in the league with a bottom ten defensive efficiency rating. This should be a fun game as both teams have somewhat recovered from dreadful starts to the season with a recent stretch of weaker opponents. Houston started off the season 1-16, though they have reeled off five straight victories. New Orleans were not much better with a 1-12 record though they have won four of their last six. Ingram leads the team with 21.9 points and 47. assists per game. He also is second with a career best 6.3 rebounds.
Miles Bridges: Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 38.72 | DraftKings: 40.17
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 45.2% | FanDuel 35.1% | DraftKings 34.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $32 | FanDuel $8,600 | DraftKings $8,400
Suddenly Charlotte is very short handed with LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Jalen McDaniels and Mason Plumlee all in the health and safety protocol after testing positive for COVID-19. For extra depth the team has recalled Vernon Carey Jr, Kai Jones and James Bouknight from the G-League as well as two-way players Arnoldas Kulboka and Scottie Lewis. The last time these two teams squared off Miles Bridges was outstanding with one of his three 50 Yahoo Fantasy point performances of the year. Though he will be going against a solid frontcourt, as long as he can stay out of foul trouble he will likely approach 35-36 minutes and 20 field goal attempts with a double double very much in play. Kelly Oubre Jr., PJ Washington, Gordon Hayward, Ish Smith and Cody Martin are all very much in play as well depending on your positional needs.
Fred VanVleet: Toronto Raptors vs. Washington Wizards.
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 36.38 | DraftKings: 37.54
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 34.4% | FanDuel 44.8% | DraftKings 17.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $33 | FanDuel $7,900 | DraftKings $9,200
Though he never has MONSTER games, Fred VanVleet continues chugging along regularly reaching the 40 fantasy point plateau. In four of his last five games he has reached that milestone and Yahoo and FanDuel have not done much to adjust his salary. Washington has a much improved defense from last year and they have made marked improvement going from one of the worst defenses in the league to middle of the pack. They also no longer play at a frenetic pace. The overhaul is courtesy of new head coach Wes Unseld Jr. who also turned around Denver’s defense in recent seasons. They do not have a lock down stopper, but it is important to understand that a matchup with them is also not the automatic source of fantasy goodness that it has been for the last few seasons. VanVleet is a solid option tonight in all formats with just six teams in our player pool.
Middleton was one of the names popping up all over our NBA DFS lineup optimizer today. Check out all of our free NBA DFS picks from our NBA cheat sheets.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
Armoni Brooks: Houston Rockets vs. New Orleans Pelicans
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 23.68 | DraftKings: 24.91
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 17.6% | FanDuel 34.2% | DraftKings 40.9%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $10 | FanDuel $4,100 | DraftKings $3,700
In addition to the various Hornets players, Armoni Brooks is set to be one of the value plays du jour. Kevin Porter Jr. is out with a thigh injury and rookie Jalen Green is out as well so that means Brooks and 34-year old D.J. Augustin will be the main point guards. Garrison Mathews has been starting in place of Green, so he will pick up some of the distribution duties. In a pinch Jae’Sean Tate can also act as a non-traditional facilitator.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Sunday, Dec. 5 Slate
There is a plethora of value options for a three-game slate, so be sure to find ways to differentiate your rosters from the field in the gigantic tournaments. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.
