Tonight’s NBA DFS slate has six games and a lot fewer injuries than we saw last night. Yesterday we had a few teams absolutely gutted in the Portland Trailblazers and San Antonio Spurs. We do not have as many key guys out for tonight, so we will have to look for more old-fashioned DFS value. Our bottom-end priorities here are guys who are just a bit too cheap, as that is our only way to find value as of now. With that said we are looking at a stars and scrubs lineup, as most of the mid-priced plays are weak tonight.
Here’s Two Core Plays For DFS Basketball 1/11/22 (using DraftKings Values)
| Point Guard | J. Morant | $8,900 | |
| Shooting Guard | |||
| Small Forward | |||
| Power Forward | D. Bazley | $3,800 | |
| Center | |||
| Guard | . | ||
| Forward | |||
| Utility |
Ja Morant is coming in at $800 cheaper than last game after a disappointing 35 FPT performance. However, Morant has been playing at a very high level guiding this Memphis team to eight straight wins. Morant has shown fantastic upside lately, going for 66 FPTS last week. The Warriors are a tough matchup, but they play at that fast pace Morant often shows his upside against. The Grizzlies are still banged up with Dillon Brooks sidelined, so Morant should have to do a lot here.
As we mentioned in our introduction we do not have value locks from crazy injury news tonight, so we are looking at more sensible budget options. Darius Bazley stands out here, as he is just coming in at a great price tag of $3,800. Bazley is averaging 22.3 FPTS on the season, and we know he is a high upside guy. Bazley should be about $500 more expensive than he is tonight, which is enough to make us interested in a slate like this.
Here’s a Fade DFS Basketball 1/11/22 (using DraftKings Values)
Outside of large field GPP’s, it is hard to justify Steph Curry where he has been priced this season. Curry is not the best DFS producer in the NBA, players like Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo are much more productive. However, Curry is consistently priced right around those guys. He hits bad value often, and we really need to see him explode from distance to have a good game at this price.
Now, what do you get if you sign up now for $99?
• A star guard who is cheap tonight.
• A few cheap options to save salary.
• Two superstars we will be getting to a lot on this slate.
• Our priorities for Cash games vs. GPP’s.
Point Guard
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – PG ($7,600 DK) Gilgeous-Alexander has been on a poor shooting stretch over the past three games, as he has shot under 37 percent in each of the three. However, his price has fallen $1,200 over those three games, and at this point, he provides a ton of upside if he has a better shooting night. We never really dig too deep into stars shooting the ball poorly, as it is a problem that fixes itself a lot more than if a role player is not getting minutes.
Shooting Guard
Fred VanVleet – ($9,600 DK) The Toronto Raptors are figuring out how to play winning basketball with their new rotation of guys. One thing that has changed from the start of the season, is increased usage for the stars VanVleet and Siakam and less usage for Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, and Gary Trent. VanVleet has been making a very convincing push for the all-star game, averaging over 54 FPTS across the past ten days. He is more expensive than he has ever really been before, but he is also playing at a higher level than we have ever seen from him.
Desmond Bane – ($6,500 DK) Bane has been crushing lately, and we would always expect him to do a lot with Brooks sidelined for Memphis. He is averaging 39.5 FPTS across the past ten days, and he has gone for over 40 FPTS in five of his last eight. Bane has emerged as one of the top players from last years rookie class, and his scoring has been trending upwards all season.
Jae Crowder – ($3,900 DK) Crowder is not the kind of DFS play that is going to get you excited with the overwhelming amount of value he presents. However, on a slate like tonight’s we need to find cheap guys that we are ok with, and Crowder fits the bill. He always plays solid floor time, and he promises to play more with Cameron Johnson sidelined. Crowder is averaging over 20 FPTS on the season, and that is all we are looking for here.
Nikola Jokic – ($12,000 DK) Any time we have a superstar DFS producer available with no one else in their stratosphere on the slate, they are going to be a priority. Jokic is averaging 59.3 FPTS, a stunning 12 FPTS more than the next highest on the slate. He can easily go for 70 FPTS, which could easily make him a must-have in this situation. The Clippers have weak centers, so there is nothing to worry about with rostering the Joker.
General strategy
There are a ton of directions you can go tonight because we do not have the value locks from injuries. At the top end, we like the Joker a lot, but you can also go cheaper and use Morant as your most expensive star. For Cash, tonight Jokic, Morant, and Bazley will be core plays for us. While we want to get more exposure to guys like Bane, Cade Cunningham, and Fred VanVleet for tournaments as they have amazing upside. Good luck tonight and keep an eye on if any big news breaks.
