Tonight’s New Year’s Eve slate has seven games, as guys begin to pour back in with the adapted Covid protocols. Teams like the Toronto Raptors look atrocious for value tonight, as most of their plays are either way too expensive or dealing with conditioning after being sidelined. With that said, a few guys have also been ruled out recently, like Julius Randle and Ricky Rubio. We are not going to have a slate where it is tough to find value anytime soon, so we prefer slates where the injuries seem a bit under control.
Here’s Two Core Plays For DFS Basketball 12/31/21 (using DraftKings Values)
| Point Guard | |||
| Shooting Guard | C. Martin | $4,300 | |
| Small Forward | |||
| Power Forward | L. James | $12,000 | |
| Center | |||
| Guard | |||
| Forward | |||
| Utility |
We do not know what the Heat roster will look like tonight, but we know they will be missing enough guys that we want to get to Caleb Martin. The heat are missing a lot of their rotation pieces down the line, while Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry are questionable. If both the studs play Martin still looks good, as he should still start at the two and play a lot of minutes. However, he becomes a much bigger priority if Butler or Lowry end up out again. Martin has played over 28 minutes across the past ten days, and we expect that to hold up regardless of if the stars play. He is too cheap at $4,300, and one of our favorite options for cheap value here.
LeBron James has been dominating in full form lately, as he has had to pick up his scoring in the absence of Anthony Davis. The King has scored over 70 FPTS in back-to-back games here, and he is averaging over 69 FPTS across the past four games. He has a fantastic matchup tonight against the Portland Trailblazers, so we are betting on another monster performance from James.
Here’s a Fade DFS Basketball 12/31/21 (using DraftKings Values)
This is looking like it will be the first game of the entire season that this Toronto Raptors team is not missing core players. If you are a Raptors fan you are probably happy about that, but it makes them look quite bad for DFS. Fred VanVleet is on his first game back from health protocols, and we are used to seeing him play without all the Raptors stars. He is coming in at a season-high price tag of $9,800 here, so he is an easy fade with all things considered.
Now, what do you get if you sign up now for $99?
• A stud guard who must do a lot here.
• Some potential priorities from OKC.
• Our biggest priority for value.
• Our general strategy for this slate.
Point Guard
Derrick White – PG ($6,800 DK) We have not seen the Spurs play in a few days as their last game was postponed. However, we cannot forget the value they present with Dejounte Murray sidelined. White was fantastic last time in this spot, going for 43.5 FPTS. White had to take 16 shots, and he went for eight assists with the ball in his hands for a lot of the night. We expect him to do a lot again tonight, so we are happy paying this price to roster him.
Shooting Guard
Aaron Wiggins – ($3,800 DK) The Oklahoma City Thunder are without Josh Giddey and Darius Bazley. We also do not know if Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to play here. Wiggins looks solid regardless of if SGA plays, as we expect his role to be great for this price either way. However, Wiggins becomes much more of a priority if Gilgeous-Alexander sits, and we want to get to a lot of Ty Jerome as well.
RJ Barrett – ($5,600 DK) Barret has been three games returned since he was out in health protocols, so we expect him to be ready for big minutes. The Knicks are short-handed right now, as Randle is added to the list of guys unavailable here. Barrett should have to do a lot with Randle sidelines, especially with the way their guards have been struggling. He has not shown a big game since his return, but we know he is a high-upside guy.
Kevin Love – ($6,700 DK) We really liked getting to Love last time out as the Cleveland Cavaliers are missing a lot of their high usage options. All their dynamic guards are sidelined, so a guy like Love is looked at a lot for his scoring. He has been one of the better per minute producers in the NBA lately, so if he plays 30 minutes a night, he is way too cheap here.
Serge Ibaka – ($3,200 DK) The Clippers are missing all their other centers with Ivica Zubac being added to health protocols, so Ibaka is one of our favorite budget options here. Ibaka has not been playing great minutes lately, but we know he is a good DFS producer when he plays. We expect him to start in his return to Toronto tonight and should play some solid floor time.
General strategy
The slates are starting to feel a lot more manageable as the injury issues calm down. We still have a ton of value available, and some games get postponed only hours before lock. But at least we do not have so many strong options that it feels like a dart throw to pick favorites. We know we are going to use a ton of Ibaka tonight, and James at the top end. The key news we are waiting on here is if SGA is good to go, as a few of the cheap guards from OKC will be priorities if he sits.
