NBA DFS Showdown Core for July 6, 2021

It is that time of year again as the Pheonix Suns Host the Milwaukee Bucks tonight for game one of the NBA Finals. It has been a rocky path to get here, but here we are. The Suns are coming into this series as sizeable favorites, largely due to the injuries plaguing Giannis Antetokounmpo. Antetokounmpo has been ruled doubtful for tonight’s game, so Vegas expects the Suns to clean up here. We have an interesting DFS Slate, as a lot of the studs are quite easy to get to where they are priced. We are looking at a more midrange lineup tonight, as we do not have any true superstars to pay up for if Antetokounmpo does not play. We are higher on the Bucks here at the top end, but some of the value guys have been priced up too much from Milwaukee.

Here’s a showdown core For DFS Basketball 7/6/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Jrue Holiday is a guy we have been getting to a lot lately in the captain spot and we like him even more with Antetokounmpo out. Holiday is our favorite price tonight, as we can captain him for only $3,800. Holiday has taken a massive role in the past few games, and we have no doubt he will try and do a lot starting the finals without the Bucks best player. Holiday was great closing out the conference finals with 62.75 in 42 minutes. We expect Holiday to do a little bit of everything with Antetokounmpo out, and he is significantly cheaper than the other stars tonight. Our two favorite plays with Antetokounmpo out will be Holiday and  Khris Middleton, and Holiday is a staggering $1,200 cheaper than Middleton tonight.

We really lack cheap value options tonight, and we want to roster at least three of our studs. We are getting to a ton of Cameron Johnson here simply because he is the only viable play under $4,000 here. Johnson is only $2,800, which makes the bar of what we need from him quite low. Johnson is $1,200 cheaper than he was in his last game simply because he missed a game due to illness. A price drop that seems a bit extreme. Johnson went for 25 FPTS last time out, but we are happy with anything over 15 given how the salaries work out here.

As we mentioned we like Holiday a lot more then Middleton tonight as the $1,200 gap between them is way too much. However, Middleton still looks good enough to be one of our core plays, even though we do not love his $10,400 price tag. Like Holiday, we expect Middleton to take a huge role in the finals without Antetokounmpo. Middleton was great in the last two conference finals game without Antetokounmpo, scoring 62.25 and 52 FPTS, respectively. Middleton has seen a nice usage and rebounding bump, so we are still rostering him at this price point.

Here’s a showdown core For DFS Basketball 7/6/21 (using FanDuel Values)

The salary is very forgiving on FanDuel tonight, as it feels like we can practically roster whoever we want. For that reason, we are squeezing a third stud into our core lineup. A few studs are way too cheap on FD tonight, including Holiday and Devin Booker. Booker had a few disappoint outings during the conference finals, but we know he has some of the best upside on this slate and he will see the opportunity. At $13,500, we love taking a chance on Booker as this is as cheap as he is going to get.

Chris Paul – ($9,800 DK) You are not going to be able to play Paul in every lineup while also getting lots of exposure to both Bucks studs, but we want to get him as much as we can. We prefer Paul to Booker over on DK tonight as he has been much more consistent, and he always looks great when we know he is going to take on a huge role. We saw a massive 67.5 FPT performance out of Paul to close out the conference finals, and we expect to see some giant games from him in his first ever finals. Paul has fantastic upside, and we expect him to show up big time here.

Deandre Ayton – ($8,400 DK) We really like Ayton on both sites tonight as his midrange price is working out in a lot of our lineups. The way the salaries work out for lineup construction, it is going to be hard to play all of Holiday, Middleton, Paul and Booker in one lineup. However, we can roster three of those guys alongside Ayton. Ayton is a nice tournament option as he provides a lot of variance in his production. We have seen him put out a low floor, but we also have seen him have some monster nights.

Bobby Portis – ($6,800 DK) Portis is the main beneficiary when Antetokounmpo cannot play. We expect Portis to continue to start tonight and he has played well over 30 minutes the past two nights. If Portis continues to start tonight he still looks solids here, but he has been priced up significantly.

Pat Connaughton – ($4,800 DK) Connaughton has gotten a bit expensive for tonight’s slate, but that has happened to most of the value guys here. Connaughton usually plays at least 20 minutes, and we expect him to play closer to 30 with Antetokounmpo out. Connaughton scored 30 FPTS in just over 30 minutes last game, and we are hoping he plays the same role tonight. 

General strategy 

We really know who we like tonight, which are all plays at the top end of the slate. The salary is easy on both sites tonight, as we do not have that $12,000 superstar to pay up for. For Cash tonight we want to captain Holiday, as his fantastic price point will likely warrant a lot of ownership. For bigger tournaments, we are happy getting to some Paul, Booker, Ayton, and Middleton at captain, however we are not looking at any cheaper captain options tonight. We really like trying to play multiple lineups tonight, as we want to try all the possible combinations of our top end studs.

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