Tuesday, Feb. 8, has kicked off the flurry of trade activities heading towards Thursday deadline. Tonight there is a wild 10-game NBA slate tipping off at 7 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: DraftKings, FanDuel & Yahoo Building Blocks Today | Tuesday, Feb. 8
Yahoo Play of the Day — Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks at Los Angeles Lakers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.72 | DraftKings: 55.2
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 10.2% | FanDuel 16.3% | DraftKings 11.7%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $55 | FanDuel $11,300 | DraftKings $11,800
There have already been two major trades that have shaken up the player pool and created several value opportunities. This will enable the vaunted stars-and-scrubs roster construction with two and potential three superstars per lineup. This year Los Angeles has slipped to the middle of the pack with regards to defensive efficiency after the exit of Alex Caruso, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Kyle Kuzma. Currently Milwaukee is listed as 3-point road favorites, and Giannis Antetokounmpo is essentially matchup-proof. This should be a spirited game, and gamers can also look to LeBron James and Anthony Davis as viable options in all formats tonight with or without Antetokounmpo.
Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks vs. Detroit Pistons
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 31.02 | DraftKings: 32.84
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 11.6% | FanDuel 12.2% | DraftKings 18.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $32 | FanDuel $8,200 | DraftKings $7,400
Over their last 10 games, Detroit has the fifth-worst defensive efficiency rating in the league while allowing 117.2 points per 100 possessions. Kristaps Porzingis will be missing a fifth consecutive game with knee soreness. In his last five games, Luka Doncic topped 61 fantasy points four times. During this stretch he is averaging 36.1 minutes and 24.1 field goal attempts with a 49.6% success rate. This has culminated in 31 points, 9.4 rebounds, 11.8 assists and two combined blocks and steals. Doncic is a tick below Antetokounmpo tonight, as there are more point guard options, but both are well ahead of Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic, who are limited by comparison with only center eligibility.
Speaking of Denver, the NBA player props market for Will Barton against New York tonight is one to exploit, as Awesemo has him projected for just over 4.6 assists. Currently his assist prop is over/under 3.5, which is intriguing since there is a 67% chance of Barton exceeding that mark. Barton has four or more assists in eight of his last 10 games, and while this is not going to be an up-and-down matchup, he has been sharing secondary facilitation duties with Monte Morris and should continue to record a handful per game, which is perfect for this player prop.
New Orleans Pelicans vs. Houston Rockets
This afternoon New Orleans and Portland announced a trade that would move Josh Hart, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Tomas Satoransky, Didi Louzada and draft picks for C.J. McCollum, Larry Nance Jr. and Tony Snell. Tonight the Pelicans have a premium matchup against Houston, and now they will be rolling with an eight- or nine-man rotation. Brandon Ingram and Jonas Valanciunas are core options today, with Jaxson Hays, Devonte’ Graham and Herbert Jones as solid point-per-dollar options. Jose Alvarado is interesting on sites where he is at or near the minimum salary, but he is hard to be overly excited about. Veteran Garrett Temple garners a similar assessment — though both are in play on the 8 p.m. ET slate.
Christian Wood, Kevin Porter Jr. and Alperen Sengun continue to be among the more intriguing Rockets, though with only Eric Gordon out of commission, it is hard to imagine any of this trio being slate breakers, with Wood and Porter likely to see 32 to 35 minutes and Sengun in the 22 to 25 range.
Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
Sacramento also announced a trade this afternoon with Indianapolis where Tyrese Haliburton, Buddy Hield and Triston Thompson will be exchanged for Domantas Sabonis, Jeremy Lamb, Justin Holiday and a 2027 second-round pick. De’Aaron Fox has missed the last eight games with an ankle injury, though he did go through a full practice yesterday. There is some risk of a minutes limit, or at least a semi-soft cap in the 28- to 30-minute range after such a long layoff. Marvin Bagley III is also questionable with an ankle injury and has missed the last four games.
Harrison Barnes, Davion Mitchell and Chimezie Metu should be the direct beneficiaries for most of the minutes void that needs to be filled. Richaun Holmes has played more than 28 minutes once in his last 10 games since returning from his own injury. Even though Holmes is starting, Bagley, Damian Jones and even Alex Len are around to take the other half of the center minutes.
Minnesota currently has D’Angelo Russell, Patrick Beverley, Naz Reid and Taurean Prince listed as questionable. Depending on who is in or out, Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns could be good to great plays. Unfortunately, this is one of the final games of the night. Fortunately, there are three games tipping off at 10 p.m. ET, which will provide plenty of flexibility for late swaps.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Tuesday, Feb. 8 Slate
Tonight will be a wild one, with the trade deadline looming and games tipping off at six different start times. 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.
