Thursday, Feb. 20 brings us our first full set of NBA action in a week. Before you lock in your NBA DFS lineups and NBA DFS picks on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and FantasyDraft, make sure to check out Awesemo’s NBA DFS rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS Picks, including Bam Adebayo, De’Aaron Fox and more.
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Prime Time Players
Bam Adebayo: Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks
DraftKings $7,800, FanDuel $8,500, Yahoo $32; Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings TBA%, FanDuel TBA% Yahoo TBA%
Thursday brings us back to the NBA after an enjoyable break. There are plenty of value options available with buyouts (Reggie Jackson) and injuries that did not heal up during the week off (Karl-Anthony Towns).
We will have our pick among James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Giannis Antetokounmpo. So for this analysis, let’s look at a couple of mid-tier players who should outperform Thursday’s price tags.
Bam Adebayo had himself a fruitful All-Star Weekend, winning the Skills Competition and participating in his first All-Star Game for Team Giannis. He played only 11:40 and that was about 100 hours ago, so he should be fine on Thursday night. The matchup against Atlanta is an outstanding one as the Hawks are playing at the third-fastest pace over their last 15 games and they have the second-worst defense over that stretch, allowing 111.7 points per 100 possessions.
This will be the fourth and final meeting between these two teams. Through the first three, Adebayo is averaging 37.2 minutes, 19.7 points, 9.0 rebounds, 7.0 assists and 3.4 combined blocks/steals for a tick shy of 50 fantasy points per contest.
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Good Value
De’Aaron Fox: Sacramento Kings vs. Memphis Grizzlies
DraftKings $7,400, FanDuel $7,800, Yahoo $30; Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings TBA%, FanDuel TBA% Yahoo TBA%
This is a great game to target for fantasy purposes. It has a 228.0 implied point total with Sacramento holding a nominal point advantage at home. Memphis is improving on defense and is second over their last 15 games allowing 105.6 points allowed per 100 possessions. Still, they are playing at a top-five pace with 103.5 possessions per 48 minutes.
These teams have met twice before this season. On Jan. 2, Sacramento was victorious in a 128-123 track meet at home. On Dec. 21, it was the Kings with a 119-115 road victory. In these two games, De’Aaron Fox averaged an impressive 48.4 fantasy points in 29.5 minutes. This was on the strength of 54.5% shooting with 24.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 5.0 combined blocks and steals. The steals and excellent shooting may be hard to count on, but there is a solid expectation that Fox should be making a foray into 40 fantasy points.
Yahoo Fantasy Discount Dandies
Jordan Poole GSW vs. HOU – $11Â (11+ field goal attempts in last four games)
De’Anthony Melton MEM at SAC – $11
Cody Martin CHA at CHI – $10
NBA DFS Picks: SuperDraft
Bam Adebayo: Miami Heat at Atlanta Hawks – 1.40x multiplier
De’Aaron Fox: Sacramento Kings vs. Memphis Grizzlies – 1.30x multiplier
Andrew Wiggins: Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets – 1.50x multiplier
Marquese Chriss: Golden State Warriors vs. Houston Rockets – 1.70x multiplier
Our standout SuperDraft recommendations for today include Bam Adebayo and De’Aaron Fox who are covered in detail above and carry excellent multipliers for players of their caliber.
Andrew Wiggins has started three games for his new squad. In that time, he has averaged 32.9 minutes with 13.3 field goal attempts. I expect that second number to continue to inch towards a 17-18 baseline. In this trio of appearances, Wiggins is averaging 23.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and an unsustainable 4.0 combined blocks/steals. This works out to just over 40 fantasy points and that is a realistic target he should be approaching each night. Add in his 1.5x multiplier and we are in business.
Marquese Chriss presents an intriguing option at the pivot position. In his last games since being moved into the starting lineup for the Warriors, he is averaging 26.6 minutes with 14.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 2.9 combined blocks/steals. Our biggest fear is that he may be run off the court, but I still believe he should see upwards of 20 minutes and/or blowout run if Houston takes care of business as 10-point road favorites. That could get him into the 26-28 minute range and with his heavy multiplier, he could be a great differentiation play.
Final Thoughts
Basketball is back! This should be a fun couple of weeks before the tanking and playoff rest begins in earnest. There are 25-27 games remaining for most teams and a lot of players should be healthy and refreshed after a week off. Naturally, we could also see guys like Clint Capela, Kyrie Irving and George Hill, Wendell Carter Jr. types returning to muck up rotations. So going forward, we will definitely want to be careful.
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