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. Let us dive into some of the NBA daily fantasy rankings using the Big Board and Awesemo’s NBA Projections.

NBA Daily Fantasy Rankings & Big Board Projections

James Harden, PG/SG, Brooklyn Nets

DraftKings Points Rating: 98 | FanDuel Points Rating: 98

Harden was cleared from health and safety protocols just in time to suit up on Christmas, and the timing couldn’t have been better. The Nets waste no time throwing Harden back into the fire, and he responded with one of his best games of the season. He racked up 38.9 minutes and finished with 36 points, ten rebounds, and ten assists vs. the Lakers.

Harden should be looking at another sizable workload Monday vs. the Clippers. The Nets remain shorthanded, with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and LaMarcus Aldridge all ruled out due to health and safety protocols. Harden has increased his usage rate by +10.1% in three games without Durant this season, and he’s averaged 61.92 DraftKings points in those contests.

From a raw points perspective, Harden is the clear top option on Monday’s slate. He’s projected for at least 6.5 more points than every other player on DraftKings.

Harden could also provide some value in the prop market, but not in the way that you’d expect. His assist prop has become inflated, and the Awesemo Player Prop tool gives him a 68% chance of hitting the under on 10.5 dimes. Harden can still have a massive fantasy day without handing out 11+ assists.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Skylar Mays, SG, Atlanta Hawks

DraftKings Value Rating: 100 | FanDuel Value Rating: 99

The Hawks have been an excellent source of value recently, and they’re going to be even thinner on Monday. The usual suspects remain out of the lineup – Trae Young, John Collins, and Kevin Huerter – and Delon Wright has also entered health and safety protocols. Wright has carried a sizable workload for the Hawks recently, averaging 35.4 minutes over their past three games, so someone else is going to have to step up on Monday.

Mays is the leading candidate. We have him projected for 32.3 minutes, which is a ton of playing time for someone who costs just $3,800 on DraftKings and $4,300 on FanDuel. Mays has also been a productive player when given a chance to play this season, averaging 0.86 DraftKings points per minute.

Mays stands out as an excellent option using the Boom/Bust Probability tool. He’s currently projected for just 21.1% ownership on DraftKings, but he owns an optimal lineup rate of 30.9%. The gap is even higher on FanDuel, making him one of the most positively leveraged players on the entire slate.

Nathan Knight, PF/C, Minnesota Timberwolves

DraftKings Value Rating: 100 | FanDuel Value Rating: 99

Knight is in a similar spot for the Timberwolves as Mays is for the Hawks. He’s expected to grab plenty of playing time on Monday with Karl-Anthony Towns, Naz Reid, and Jarred Vanderbilt sidelined due to health and safety protocols. Knight is expected to see around 26 minutes vs. the Celtics, and he’s averaged 1.09 FanDuel points per minute this season.

The big difference between Knight and Mays is the ownership. Knight is expected to be massive chalk across the industry, checking in with projected ownership of 52.6% on FanDuel. His optimal lineup rate is just 29.2%, so he’s expected to be considerably over-owned.

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!