NBA DFS Advice for October 31, 2021

We only have four games on tonight’s NBA DFS slates, and at first glance it is looking like our toughest slate so far this season. We do not have a lot of injury news to play around with like we did the last few slates, so it is a lot harder to find good value for this one. We also do not have many price tags screaming out value tonight, so we must be a little bit more strategic. On a slate like this we must be a lot higher on good matchups as that is the big thing that stands out for some teams. We are also really interested in the Brooklyn Nets here, as their shortened roster seems to be our best source of value. We are going back to a stars and scrubs style for this one, as we have some studs that we really like taking the court. Our core plays here features the superstar we will start off Cash games with as well as some nice value options. We will go over some more guys who stand out in the premium content, as well as some strategy if Lebron James ends up out. 

Here’s a balanced core For DFS Basketball 10/31/21 (using DraftKings Values)

People have been waiting for a long time to see Cade Cunningham play NBA basketball. However, his long awaited debut last night was a little disappointing, as he only went for 14.8 FPTS. Cunningham was on a minutes limit, which we expect to see again today. With that said, Cunningham is only $3,600 here, so if he continues to start we like him a lot for value. We mentioned that this is a tough slate to crack, so we do not have a lot of options under $4,000 or even $5,000 that really stand out. Cunningham shot one for eight from the field last time out, and he probably would have provided some solid value. There is some nice upside here if Cunnigham can have a more productive night, and on a slate like this 20 FPTS will probably be good enough.

Khris Middleton is a guy who we are not always particularly fond of drafting for DFS, as he shows relatively underwhelming nights pretty often. Middleton is very scoring reliant which can lead to a lot of games where he doesn’t hit the total you want him to. However, Middleton is way too cheap tonight for the player he is, as we are getting him at only $7,500. We still expect Middleton to take a lot more shots when Jrue Holiday is not on the floor, and Coach Budenholzer has already said he doesn’t expect Holiday to play. Middleton has some fantastic upside he has a good shooting night, and on a slate like this we cannot ignore good price tags.

As is often the case when he is available, we are looking at Giannis Antetokounmpo as one of our favorite spend up options for tonight’s slate. Antetokounmpo is one of the best DFS producers in the league, and he always see’s a usage bump when Holiday is off the floor. We saw Antetokounmpo show his upside a few nights ago with a ridiculous 78.5 FPT outing against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Antetokounmpo is the guy we are going to be building around for Cash games tonight, and we like him a lot as a spend up for tournaments as well. Noone on this slate has a floor as high as the Freak’s, and that safety is something we are longing for tonight.

There is something rotten in the state of New York, as the Brooklyn Nets roster situation becomes even more dire. On one hand, Kyrie Irving remains inactive for the nets causing a severely underhanded guard rotation. While on the other hand recent injuries to Nic Claxton and Paul Millsap has caused for the Nets to be extremely thin on bigs. For DFS, there is a lot of value here on a slate that doesn’t have much else to offer. We really like getting to LaMarcus Aldridge tonight, as he is one of the only healthy centers the Nets have left. The veteran usually doesn’t see too much floor time, but tonight Brooklyn will be forced to play him all the minutes his body will allow. We are getting Aldridge at a nice $4,800 price point here, and he still has the upside for a big night. We saw Aldridge do well last game, scoring 34.5 FPTS in 28 minutes. Aldridge is in the perfect spot for a big game against the Pistons here, and his floor is solid due to the Nets big situation.

Here’s a balanced core For DFS Basketball 10/31/21 (using FanDuel Values)

Point Guard

George Hill – PG ($4,000 DK) As expected, Hill has seen a significant minutes boost in the games where Holiday was not available for the Bucks. We have seen Hill play 30 or more minutes in both of his past two games, in which he scored 22.25 and 23.5 FPTS respectively. On a ten game slate where we have a ton of interesting options, we would likely be quite uninterested with Hill as a DFS option. However, we really don’t have a lot of plays that stand out tonight, and Hill probably plays 30 minutes at $4,000. Hill has a solid floor for the price, and there is always some upside when a guy is seeing this much floor time. More then anything, on a slate like this budget plays often don’t need to do much to work out in lineups. 

Shooting Guard 

Jalen Green – ($5,600 DK) Green is more of a GPP option for us tonight, as he has shown a low floor for this price. However, we really want to talk about the upside on Green in this spot. The rookie has been shooting over 15 field goal attempts most nights, and he has shown upside of well over 40 FPTS. Green has had a lot of nights so far where he struggled from the field, but we are interested in him for tournaments in case he has that big game. This slate does not have quite as many options that could go off, so a huge game from Green could make him a real money maker.

Small Forward 

Kevin Durant – (10,500 DK) After Antetokounmpo, Durant is the stud that we really like finding the salary to spend up for tonight. Durant has been fantastic this season, and the role he is playing right now is immense. The lack of guards and bigs for Brooklyn means that Durant must facilitate and rebound more. All great things for DFS. We have seen some huge games already this year from Durant and we know more are coming. After Durant and Antetokounmpo there is a huge drop off tonight in terms of medium production, so we are happy trying to squeeze them both in for Cash games.

Miles Bridges – ($7,400 Dk) There is a little bit of a shock reaction whenever we see Bridges at this price point, but frankly $7,000 has not been enough for him all season. Bridges appears to be taking a massive step up this year, as he has emerged as a top scoring option for the Hornets. He is averaging a whopping 43.6 FPTS per game so far this season, and his worst game was 36 FPTS. Bridges has taken more shot attempts then any other Hornet so far, and he has been making them. Bridges has a fantastic matchup against Portland tonight and we could easily see another big night. If that is the case, Bridges could be a must play on this four gamer.

Power Forward 

Jerami Grant – (6,700 DK) Grant is one of those guys who is never quite as popular as he should be due to his lack of star reputation. Regardless, he looks fantastic where he is priced for tonight’s slate. Grant is averaging 35.6 FPTS per game so far this year, and that number was closer to 40 FPTS per game last season. We know Grant does a lot for the Pistons offence, and that gives him some great upside. Detroit have a nice matchup against the Brooklyn Nets tonight, which could mean a big stat line for Grant. We really like trying to squeeze Grant in alongside two stars like Durant and Antetokounmpo here, as his price tag allows him to be played alongside other priorities.

Center

PJ Washington – ($5,500 DK) Washington has had some injury troubles early this year, as last game was his first after missing a few contests. Washington has struggled this year due to his injury issues, which is why he is around $1,500 cheaper then where he started the season off. Regardless, we expect Washington to put together a nice year for the Hornets here, and he is going to start producing more soon when he can play his full role.

General strategy 

This is a tough DFS slate, we don’t have cheap budget plays that we know can’t fail, and we don’t have many studs who are coming in too cheap. However, these slates can be more fruitful for those of us who approach them strategically, as some people will have weaker rosters. When you have a slate where everyone can come up with a fantastic lineup, it becomes more of a shot in the dark to beat out the crowd. We really don’t have too much injury news so far for this slate, but there are a few big questionable tags. Lebron James is probably the biggest piece of news we are waiting on, as if he ends up out it opens a ton of value from the Lakers. We want to continue paying up for Russell Westbrook if James ends up out, as he plays a massive role for this team when he gets to be the primary ball handler. The other questionable tag we want to talk about is Kevin Porter Jr. If porter ends up out then we will be prioritizing Jalen Green, we also like Christian Wood as a spend up. Value plays like Armoni Brooks and Eric Gordon looks solid as well if Porter can’t go tonight.

Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.