Sunday, Oct. 31, brings a four-game main slate with some value options. 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, Oct. 31
Yahoo Play of the Day — Rudy Gobert: Utah Jazz at Milwaukee Bucks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 41.95 | DraftKings: 41.49
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 30% | FanDuel 24% | DraftKings 13.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $33 | FanDuel $8,200 | DraftKings $8,400
This is a back-to-back for the Jazz, who lost last night in Chicago 107-99. Their starters played their usual rotation and closed out the game, though only Donovan Mitchell topped 35 minutes, and he barely crested over that mark. Tonight Mike Conley will be back in the mix after being pre-emptively rested on the front end of weekend set. Rudy Gobert is leading the league in rebounds with a career-best 18 rebounds per game, though he also has a career-low 1.2 blocks as a starter. While Gobert will have to contend with Giannis Antetokounmpo at the rim, at least he will not have to deal with chasing Brook Lopez out to the 3-point line. This is a favorable salary for Gobert, who should be able to flirt with a 15/15 game tonight.
Jusuf Nurkic: Portland Trail Blazers at Charlotte Hornets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 34.9 | DraftKings: 34.74
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 21.8% | FanDuel 20.7% | DraftKings 18.9%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $30 | FanDuel $7,400 | DraftKings $7,300
Rarely will two centers be recommended in this article, but on Yahoo the utility slot allows for two centers. Jusuf Nurkic has been solid this season, topping 30 Yahoo points in four of five games, including three with 38-plus. Do not worry about the low 24.2 minutes per game; Portland has been involved in several lopsided games, which has limited the need for Nurkic and the other regulars to log many fourth quarter minutes. The Trail Blazers are 1-point road favorites in Charlotte, and the Hornets do not have an answer to Nurkic in the paint. Mason Plumlee and P.J. Washington will do their best, but this looks like a tremendous fantasy opportunity for Nurkic.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Utah Jazz
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.62 | DraftKings: 55.55
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 21.8% | FanDuel 34.7% | DraftKings 28.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,300 | DraftKings $11,000
Last night the Bucks lost at home to a frisky Spurs squad, which should not be a complete surprise considering Lopez, Jrue Holiday and Bobby Portis are out with injuries. Giannis Antetokounmpo logged 34 minutes, which is not an overbearing workload since Milwaukee had been off for 48 hours heading into the weekend doubleheader. Antetokounmpo is matchup-proof, and he has flirted with or topped 60 fantasy points in each of his last three meetings with the Jazz. Building rosters with Antetokounmpo and the two centers creates an excellent starting point. However, it makes things tricky if trying to take advantage of at least one of the Lakers big three getting the night off against Houston in the Sunday nightcap.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
Grayson Allen: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Utah Jazz
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 21.31 | DraftKings: 22.46
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 39% | FanDuel 11.8% | DraftKings 14.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $11 | FanDuel $4,900 | DraftKings $4,700
Tonight Grayson Allen gets to welcome the franchise that drafted him to his new hometown. The Yahoo salary algorithm continues to undervalue Allen with Holiday, Lopez and Portis out of the mix. In his starting role he should be secure with something in the low-20s for fantasy points, and he has a bit of upside if his shot is falling or if he can get a couple extra rebounds or steals. It is unlikely that he will top 30 fantasy points, but he is a nice building block that takes care of a relatively thin shooting guard roster requirement.
Bruce Brown Jr: Brooklyn Nets vs. Detroit Pistons
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 24.31 | DraftKings: 24.04
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 39.2% | FanDuel 37.8% | DraftKings 24.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $11 | FanDuel $4,500 | DraftKings $4,500
Nicholas Claxton is out with a non-COVID related illness, and Paul Millsap is away from the team for personal reasons. That should have Bruce Brown in the mix for 28 to 30 minutes as long as he is in the starting lineup. Teammate Joe Harris ($11) is coming off a game with single-digit fantasy points, but he is typically in the mix for something in the low-20s. Brooklyn is favored by a dozen tonight, so there could be extra run in the final frame with Kevin Durant and James Harden getting an easy night. Brooklyn does not play again until Wednesday when they face Atlanta before embarking on road trip with six games against the Eastern Conference in nine days.
Kent Bazemore: Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 19.5 | DraftKings: 19.12
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 16.6% | FanDuel 20.8% | DraftKings 8.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $10 | FanDuel $4,000 | DraftKings $4,100
Tonight there is a strong chance that either Anthony Davis or LeBron James will get the night off against Houston. Kent Bazemore sees more usage when one of them is off the court, and he becomes the third option on offense rather than being a complete afterthought. Wayne Ellington is dinged up, and Malik Monk has been working through some minor nagging issues, so there is a chance that Bazemore will see a healthy helping of fourth quarter minutes in mop-up duty.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Sunday, Oct. 31 Slate
It seems like something wonky always happens after the contests lock on Sundays. Tonight is Halloween, so do not let the trick-or-treaters distract from keeping one eye on the news just in case anything unexpected happens, especially with the Lakers in the final game of the night. 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.
