NBA Daily Fantasy Rankings & DFS Optimizer Picks Tonight

The NBA DFS Big Board is a one-stop shop for building lineups. It gives each player on the slate a Points Rating, Value Rating and Leverage Rating on a scale from 1 to 100, which allows you to easily decipher some of the top options on the slate. There are just five games tonight so let us dive into some of the NBA daily fantasy rankings using the Big Board and Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections.

NBA Daily Fantasy Rankings & Big Board Projections

James Harden, PG/SG, Brooklyn Nets

DraftKings Points Rating: 96 | FanDuel Points Rating: 96

There are not many players on the big board that are over 95 in points rating on both sites but Harden is one of them. The past couple of games could point to James Harden coming out of his funk in the early part of the season with 39 real points and a triple-double. He’s also been a player that is in the isolation play type more than just about anyone in basketball. Harden is in the top-five in field goal attempts in the play type and the Oklahoma City Thunder is 28th in points per possession defending isolation so far this year.

Harden still leads the team in assist rate at 40.6% and that could open up opportunities in the prop market so be sure to check out the NBA Player Prop Tool to see what the assist prop is tonight. The Nets are still relying on Harden and Kevin Durant for so much in the offense and Harden has a usage rate over 27% and his fantasy points per minute are up to 1.30, only 0.12 behind Durant. Nikola Jokic as another player that features a points rating above 95 on both sites and he is discussed in-depth in the Sunday Slate Starter article.

Anfernee Simons, PG/SG, Portland Trail Blazers

DraftKings Value Rating: 99 | FanDuel Value Rating: 94

Anfernee Simons leads both sites in value rating and that is because Damian Lillard is out. The teammates of C.J. McCollum and Norman Powell are going to be popular and they should but it’s not crazy to think of playing three Trail Blazers just like last night with the Washington Wizards, who were missing Bradley Beal. Simons was already staggered in his minutes off the bench so he played with one of Lillard or McCollum, but typically not both. That allows for offensive upside in a normal game, let alone one without Lillard.

Since the start of last season, Simons has a usage rate of 25.2% and 0.97 fantasy points per minute. It should be expected that Simons plays more than his 22-minute average tonight since Lillard plays heavy minutes. At such a cheap salary, it’s very easy to see why he leads both sites in value rating even though Denver is second in defensive rating so far. Just be aware that the peripheral starts are not something to rely on, although the projected minutes increase certainly helps. Both McCollum and Simons are also featured in the NBA DFS Boom/Bust Picks article that comes from Zach Brunner.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Zach LaVine, SG, Chicago Bulls

DraftKings Points Rating: 89 | FanDuel Points Rating: 88

Zach LaVine does just miss the cut to make the 90 threshold in points rating on both sites but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a strong play. The Bulls are taking on the Clippers, who played last night and the Bulls are still without center Nikola Vucevic. That has meant a massive workload for LaVine this year with a 37.7% usage rate and 1.17 fantasy points per minute. He could also benefit slightly if DeMar DeRozan has to deal with Paul George on the defensive end. The back-to-back scenario may not mean a lot tonight because no starting player for the Clippers played more than 27 minutes in a blowout scenario.

While both teams are in the top-six in defensive rating, they are also in the top half of the league in pace and the Clippers are seventh. LaVine typically has a play style that thrives in up-tempo game environments and he is in the top 12 of potential for being in the optimal lineup. The Clippers have defended transition opportunities very well so far, holding teams to a 48.5% field goal rate. They are also facing the ninth-most attempts and LaVine is fifth in points per game in the play type.

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