NBA DFS First Look & Optimal Lineup Picks Today

The Slate Starter is a daily first look at to get your daily fantasy basketball lineup-building process started before lock tonight. Each day, we will go through some of the best NBA DFS picks, top stacks and optimal lineup construction for DraftKings and FanDuel. Be sure to check Awesemo’s NBA Starting Lineups page, as it will be updated throughout the day as the NBA injury reports are released and breaking news surfaces. Let’s dive into some players who stand out as key options on Tuesday’s five-game slate.

Want to see how your lineup stacked up against yesterday’s winning NBA DFS lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo? Check out our Optimal Lineup Review, which uses Fantasy Cruncher Rewind to analyze the winning plays from the night before.

NBA DFS Picks & Optimal Lineup Construction | Nov. 30

Dillon Brooks, SG/SF, Memphis Grizzlies

Ja Morant remains out of the lineup for the Grizzlies, and Brooks will have to pick up the slack. He’s seen a usage bump of +3.2% with Morant off the court this season, bringing his usage rate to a team-high 35.8%. That is a ridiculous number for a player who costs just $5,800 on FanDuel. To put that in perspective, Luka Doncic currently leads the league with a 35.7% usage rate.

Unsurprisingly, Brooks has provided plenty of fantasy value in that situation. He’s averaged 1.24 FanDuel points per minute, and he was even better than that in his first full game without Morant. He was limited to just 21.2 minutes in a blowout win, but that didn’t stop him from racking up 35.7 FanDuel points.

Expect him to be a popular option on FanDuel, but he should grade out very favorably in our NBA Projections.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Alec Burks, SG/SF, New York Knicks

Kemba Walker was the Knicks’ big addition this offseason, but head coach Tom Thibodeau told reporters that Walker would be out of the rotation moving forward. Walker hasn’t been a disaster this season – he’s shooting 42.9% from the field and 41.3% from 3-point range – but the Knicks simply have other players who are playing better at the moment.

Burks is one of them. He started a point guard on Sunday with Walker and Derrick Rose out of the lineup, and he finished with 40.75 DraftKings points over 39.1 minutes. Rose is questionable for Tuesday’s matchup against the Nets, and Burks would become one of the strongest values on the slate if he’s ruled out. Burks has averaged 1.06 DraftKings points per minute with Rose and Walker off the court, and he obviously has the potential to play plenty of minutes.

Unlike Brooks, Burks is standing out as a better value on DraftKings than FanDuel. He should own one of the top ownership projections on the slate, especially if Rose is ruled out.

Otto Porter, SF/PF, Golden State Warriors

This game should be an absolute blast. The Warriors will head to Phoenix to take on the Suns in a battle between the best teams in the league. The Warriors have gotten most of the attention thanks to their 18-2 start, but the Suns have put together one of the quietest 16-game winning streaks in league history.

The Warriors will be without Damion Lee and Andre Iguodala for the second straight game, making Otto Porter a very appealing target in DFS. Porter is an elite producer on a per-minute basis, and he put together 40.0 DraftKings points over 25.8 minutes in his last outing.

Porter could also be worth exploring in the player prop market. Make sure to take advantage of the Awesemo Player Prop tool, which highlights the most exploitable prop bets on each slate.

Thanks for reading to the end of this article! If you appreciate this free content and want to see more of it every day, you can help us out by sharing this article on social media!