NBA DFS Picks DraftKings + FanDuel Expert Lineup Building Strategy 1/15

We’re just over three weeks into the season, and yet it feels like months since we’ve had a slate unencumbered from COVID. Friday is no different, so I’ll address that situation right off the bat before talking about some potential slate-altering news in the late-night hammer games. That’s what’s on the agenda for Friday’s Slate Starter article, where I’m hoping a few of my NBA DFS picks on DraftKings and FanDuel catapult you to the top of the leaderboard.

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NBA DFS Slate Starter: Picks & Strategy | Jan. 15

Brown (Hopefully) Back in Boston

This week has been chock-full of chalk teams with unbelievable amounts of eight- and nine-man rotations to discern between. From the 76ers to the Heat to the Rockets, there have been multiple teams in recent days to pluck free fruit off the value tree. Boston was shaping up to be that on Friday’s slate with multiple members of the Celtics on the COVID-19 list. While four players are still due to miss no matter what — headlined by star Jayson Tatum — it sounds like reinforcements are on the way.

Should Jaylen Brown clear health protocols, he’s going to be a priority on this slate. With Tatum off the floor this season, Brown sports a whopping 32.8% usage rating and 44.31 DraftKings points per 36 minutes. Considering it’s the Celtics’ first game in exactly a week, there is at least a chance they will ease everyone back into action. But I’m not factoring that in too heavily, as no Tatum means no question who the offense is going to revolve in this matchup versus the Magic.

It’s almost pointless to go on about the rest of this roster until we know exactly who’s going to be deemed active. Fortunately, it’s part of the first wave of games tipping off at 7:30 p.m. EST, so expect that news to be available well before lock. Be sure to catch the Deeper Dive with Loughy and Adam Scherer, who will break down the probable rotations more adequately than I could at the moment. That being said, if Brown is active, he automatically becomes an elite spend-up option for me on this slate.

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LeBron and Davis (Hopefully) Take a Seat

Another day, another opportunity for the Lakers to make a mockery of the injury list. It’s like the boy who cried wolf at this point, as LeBron James and Anthony Davis have had a permanent Q tag next to their names this entire season. While Davis has intermittently sat in spots, James has yet to take a night off.

While logic certainly says Davis would be far more likely to miss Friday’s tilt with the Pelicans, I’d be ecstatic to get one or both ruled out tomorrow. I’m already planning to backload a bunch of my lineups with the Clippers – Kings matchup with an identical 10 p.m. EST tip-off as the Lakers game. Should value emerge well after lock that one of the Lakers’ superstars sat, I’d be in a prime position to late swap into some super strong lineups. And if they don’t, at least I’ll have a bunch of pieces from a potential shootout game in Sacramento that currently boasts the highest total on the slate (229.5).

As far as I can tell, that makes patiently waiting on news a strong strategy should we have no news before lock. Should we learn they’re both ruled in before 7:30 p.m. EST, I’ll have to adjust my strategy. But fingers crossed they decide to take the night off and leave the likes of Dennis Schroder, Talen Horton-Tucker and the corpse of Kyle Kuzma to do all the work.

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Final Thoughts for Your NBA DFS Lineups

From now until the end of time, I will have tournament exposure to Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo on any slate they’re a part of. That being said, we don’t have the home-run value we’ve been blessed with these past couple of slates. That will make me prioritize whichever of the two is lower-owned (presumably Giannis) in lineups where I can’t fit both.
I suppose I should have inserted this in the above late-slate analysis, but the Eric Bledsoe situation is a huge piece of news, specifically on DraftKings. That’s because Wednesday’s savior Nickeil Alexander-Walker sits at just $4,400 and would become mega chalk again in Bledsoe’s absence. He might be regardless.
Play Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

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Author

Eric Lindquist

Eric Lindquist hails from Sioux Falls, South Dakota (yes, that’s the one with Mount Rushmore). A steady diet of three SportsCenters a day at an early age led to his obsession with sports, one that 30 years later is paying dividends for him as a successful DFS player and sports bettor. Despite over half a million dollars in net career earnings, he’s most passionate about helping others achieve their financial goals, an energy you can witness on the daily in his current role as a host and analyst at Stokastic. He’s a former Division I golfer at Iowa State, wishes he was a former Minnesota sports fan, and is a proud father to a 100-pound Bernese Mountain dog named Duke that wishes he could just eat people food instead of the crap he and his wife feed him on the daily.