Thanks to the odd start time, tonight’s main slate excludes what is perhaps the best and most exciting game of the day from a DFS perspective. Even without Houston and Sacramento we have five games to dissect in our quest for that big GPP win.
However tonight is likely a slate in which I would recommend tilting your play more towards 50-50s as opposed to GPPs based on the potential lack of differentiation at least at the top end of your rosters as the true star power is limited.
For those who have yet to subscribe, what are you waiting for? Until then you will get one free pick to whet your appetite. Toronto picked up their first victory of the season on Thursday against the Knicks without Pascal Siakam ($8,300 DK, $7,800 FD) as he was suspended for disciplinary reasons. The forward is slated to return tonight against the Pelicans as he looks to continue his strong start. Siakam is averaging 18.7 points, nine rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game and there is no reason why he shouldn’t pick right back up where he left off. It has been a rough start to the season for Toronto, playing in Tampa Bay likely hasn’t helped, but things should improve for them now that they found their way into the win column.
Subscribers can now expect us to continue digging into today’s slate. Where will we find tonight’s bargains below $6,000 and who is making their season debut tonight? So, keep on going and take a look at what we have to offer. This is just the beginning though. For a one-time fee of $99 per year we have all sports covered here including NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, PGA, NASCAR, and League of Legends. We know how profitable these picks can be so you can even try it out for one month for free.
With an over/under of 230 the match-up between Cleveland and Atlanta should bring with it the most DFS production tonight. For obvious reasons we can’t ignore Trae Young ($10,200 DK, $9,700 FD) who is averaging 30.6 points per game along with eight assists so far this season. But just because he must be on our radar, it doesn’t mean he needs to be on our rosters. Young was nursing a calf injury entering last night’s game against the Nets, and while he played 32 minutes which lines up this workload so far this season, the guard “only” scored 21 points. There doesn’t appear to be any concern about Young’s status for tonight’s game but it is something to keep an eye on.
Instead I prefer to go a little contrarian and look across the court at Cleveland’s backcourt. While the upside isn’t there the production has the potential to be relatively similar and this especially true if you look at the point per dollar. Collin Sexton ($7,100 DK, $6,800 FD) is only averaging 3.8 assists per game but with 25.8 points per game he can come close to keeping up with Young from a scoring perspective. Sexton has also been consistent with at least 20 points in each game so far this season.
From a scoring perspective Darius Garland ($6,000 DK, $7,500 FD) doesn’t offer the same upside as Sexton (19 points per game) but he is averaging 7.2 assists per game which helps to make for the times when he struggles to find his shot. This isn’t a stance I expected to take but we can also take things another step forward in our Cleveland stack by moving towards Larry Nance ($6,900 DK, $6,800 FD). Nance’s price has increased some from the beginning of the season but that also corresponds with increased minutes following the calf injury to Kevin Love. The forward has yet to show off much in the way of offensive upside but his well-rounded stat line offers a nice predictability from a DFS perspective with nine points, seven rebounds, five assists, 2.6 steals, and one block per game.
Aside from offering upside going with a Cavaliers stack frees up some cap space to attack a few other high-priced options. The problem with this though is that you will not be alone from an ownership perspective. With that being said maybe fade Joel Emblid ($10,000 DK, $10,500 FD) despite his 26.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and drop down slightly to Domantas Sabonis($9,400 DK, $9,400 FD). Sabonis faces the Knicks for the second time this season after scoring 32 points against them and grabbing 13 rebounds to begin the year. With season averages of 22.4 points, 11 rebounds, and 7.2 assists and a double-double in each game, that was not an isolated incident and there’s no reason not to expect a repeat performance tonight.
In the same game Julius Randle ($9,100 DK, $8,000 FD) has emerged as the go to option for the Knicks and with three straight double-doubles he is living up to those expectations averaging 23 points, 10.4 rebounds, and seven assists per game. The problem now though is that his price isn’t exactly a bargain and it offers little to no room for value.
Zion Williamson ($7,800 DK, $8,100 FD) is sometimes a continuous highlight reel and he certainly turns in some standout performances but he is also inconsistent. After opening the season with three straight double-doubles Williamson has played in just 46 minutes over his last two games with just seven rebounds between them. The season averages of 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds per game paint Williamson in a favorable light but he is just to streaky for me to trust at his price. If you are looking for help at the center position I would prefer to look towards his teammate as Steven Adams($6,000 DK, $6,000 FD) is coming off a double-double in which he scored 14 points while adding 10 rebounds.
Two other guards who I think should be worthy of our attention are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander($7,800 DK, $8,200 FD) and Malcolm Brogdon ($7,400 DK, $7,500 FD). The mention of Gilgeous-Alexander should come as no surprise but this time he is coming off what was easily his worst performance of the season in which he scored just eight points while adding four rebounds and four assists. Based on the composition of the slate he is still one of the better options and I like targeting guards that we know will have high usage rates and whom their teams rely on. Brogdon might not jump off the page at anyone but there has been little deviation on a game-to-game basis in his performance and he sports a well-rounded stat line with 20 points, four rebounds, and 6.2 assists per game.
After missing the first two games of the season due to injury Clint Capela’s ($5,200 DK, $6,100 FD) career with Atlanta has gotten off to a slow start. While they are not the Rockets, the Hawks offense is close as far as pace and the style of basketball played and Capela is coming off his best game of the season in which he scored 12 points while grabbing 11 rebounds in 30 minutes of play.
Without Alec Burks ($5,400 DK, $6,200 FD) the Knicks have been searching for offense in their last two games. He is still a game time decision with an ankle injury but if he does take the court Burks is worthy of your attention as he is averaging 20.7 points and 3.7 assists to start the season. Given New York’s struggles at the point guard position another name to watch, even more so if Burks is sidelined, is Austin Rivers ($3,700 DK, $3,700 FD) who the Knicks wasted no time getting involved on Thursday. Rivers had yet to have a full practice with New York but he jumped right in playing 21 minutes and scoring seven points while also adding five assists.
