Wednesday, Dec. 8, has a gargantuan 13-game main slate tipping off at 7:00 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, Wednesday, Dec. 8
Yahoo Play of the Day — Joel Embiid: Philadelphia 76ers at Charlotte Hornets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 47.91 | DraftKings: 48.83
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 15.2% | FanDuel 14.8% | DraftKings 5.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $49 | FanDuel $10,400 | DraftKings $11,700
In his last outing Joel Embiid rolled to 71.5 Yahoo points against these same short-handed Hornets. While that game did go to overtime, Embiid still posted 60.4 fantasy points in regulation. The tandem of P.J. Washington and Nick Richards was simply no match for Embiid. While it would be folly to expect another 60-plus fantasy points, anything less than 50 tonight should be considered a disappointment. There are several premier centers in action tonight considering there is a 26-team player pool, though on Yahoo Embiid is still a priority target.
Awesemo NBA experts Greg Ehrenberg and Adam Scherer have a full video breaking down the NBA DFS Injury Report Today, including news updates on stars like Kevin Durant, Damian Lillard, Luka Doncic and more.
Zach LaVine: Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 41.56 | DraftKings: 44.18
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 18.8% | FanDuel 10.7% | DraftKings 1.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $37 | FanDuel $9,100 | DraftKings $10,500
The Yahoo salary algorithm clearly did not realize that DeMar DeRozan will be missing at least the next week while in the health and safety protocol after testing positive for COVID-19. This absence has not been accounted for in any of the Chicago salaries, which is leading all of them to rise up in the player rankings when sorting by a point-per-dollar ratio. Zach LaVine has been locked in this month, averaging 20.3 field goal attempts at a 50.8% success rate and 30 points per game. NBA WOWY shows that LaVine gets a bump from 1.07 Yahoo Fantasy points per minute with DeRozan on the court to 1.17 without. This is slated to be a close matchup with Cleveland favored by a bucket at home. Lonzo Ball and Nikola Vucevic are also desired plays tonight across all of the DFS sites.
Cole Anthony: Orlando Magic at Sacramento Kings
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 36.16 | DraftKings: 38.73
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 23.6% | FanDuel 3.8% | DraftKings 20.1%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $28 | FanDuel $8,200 | DraftKings $7,600
In their last game the Magic suffered a 126-95 loss in Golden State against the Warriors. The only starter who played more than 30 minutes was rookie Franz Wagner, and he topped out at 31 minutes. Heading into this game, second-year guard Cole Anthony tallied more than 34 fantasy points in eight of the preceding nine games. On the seasons Anthony is averaging a stellar 36.2 fantasy points per game, and tonight he gets an excellent matchup against the defensively challenged Kings.
Yahoo Discount Dandies
Charlotte Hornets vs. Philadelphia 76ers
In the second game with LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Mason Plumlee, Jalen McDaniels and now Ish Smith all in the health and safety protocol, Miles Bridges, Kelly Oubre Jr. and P.J. Washington all played heavy minutes, even excluding overtime. Gordon Hayward also played major minutes, though he is the one regular that will likely settle in the 32- to 34-minute range given his past injury history. These players are all once again targets in all formats and on all DFS sites, though they are at particularly appealing salaries on Yahoo.
Brooklyn Nets at Houston Rockets
Just as this article was going to press, the Nets announced that Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge would be resting on the second half of the back-to-back. This means that James Harden will be the primary offensive option against his old team, and it should open up opportunities throughout the rest of the Brooklyn rotation. It will be interesting to see if Blake Griffin will be in the rotation tonight, so watch for additional updates that will help guide gamers to the priority options stepping into a larger workload tonight.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Wednesday, Dec. 8 Slate
Tonight brings one of the largest player pools of the season, with plenty of moving parts, pending news, and already identified injury, rest and health situations. There may be better options that are unveiled as lock approaches, but the players featured above will still maintain their respective value or even improve. 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.
