NBA DFS Showdown Core for June 28, 2021

We have game five of the Western conference finals tonight as the Clippers fight for there lives in Phoenix. We have had the chance to tackle this matchup five times throughout the series, so to some degree we know what to expect for DFS here. Kawhi Leonard remains out for game six, and the Clippers are forced to run a shorter rotation. We still like the Clippers more for DFS, and most of our favorite captain options come from L.A. We are going to talk about a few paths for captain today, as we are taking an entirely different approach for cash games compared to GPP’s. 

Here’s a showdown core For DFS Basketball 6/28/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Paul George is still a strong captain play, and we expect him to be the highest owned captain for tonight. If you are playing Cash games, you want to captain George and call it a day. George is also our favorite captain for smaller, single entry tournaments. However, for bigger tournaments tonight, we really like getting different by pivoting to a cheaper Ivica Zubac. Zubac saw next to no floor time against the Mavericks and Jazz, but he has been playing a ton of run in the conference finals. Zubac has played 34, 33 and 40 minutes in his past three games and he has been the best value play on a few slates. Zubac has scored over 30 FPTS in all three of those games and he has showed 44 FPT upside. The price tag on Zubac allows us to play three studs at the top end tonight, which is hard to do while captaining George. A lineup with Zubac at captain can have a ton of upside for tonight, as we are able to get strong plays throughout the roster.

If you are captaining a cheaper guy like Zubac, you are doing it so that you can fit in some of the top end stars. George will be a priority here at $11,800, as he is being asked to do more then anyone else this series with Leonard out. George only shot 25 percent from the field last game, and he still went for 55 FPTS. That shows us the immense role George is taking on to try and get the Clippers to the finals. George is a guy you want somewhere on your roster tonight, and he is a strong captain play to consider.

Devin Booker has been shooting terribly the past few games. He has scored around 29 FPTS three games in a row, as his peripheral stats have not been there since the return of Chris Paul. With that said, we know Booker will play around 40 minutes today and get a ton of shots up. Booker has only delivered on two of his fifteen three-point attempts over the past three games. We expect his shooting to come back to normal soon, and his price has come down to $11,000. Booker is close in price to Paul here, so we like him more as he has higher upside. However, if you are captaining Zubac we like trying to fit George, Booker and Paul in the flex.

Here’s a showdown core For DFS Basketball 6/28/21 (using FanDuel Values)

Chris Paul – ($10,600 DK) As we mentioned we do prefer Booker to Paul here as their prices have gotten very close. With that said, we like trying to fit both if possible and we know Paul is often the Suns leading FPT producer. Paul has not missed a beat since his return, as he has been playing nearly 40 minutes a night. Paul is doing a lot of playmaking, rebounding, and scoring for this team right now, so there is a lot of ways that he can get his. The reason we are not higher on Paul is his price has risen significantly. Regardless, we still really like getting to him where we can.

Deandre Ayton – ($9,200 DK) The last game was a defensive slug fest, which benefited Ayton a lot as the Suns Center. Ayton was who you wanted at captain for the last one, as he had a slate leading 61 FPTS. Ayton is still an interesting captain play here as he remains a lot cheaper than the established stars tonight. Ayton played over 40 minutes last game, and we expect to see a ton of run again tonight as both teams are going big. It is quite difficult to fit all of George, Booker and Paul in a lot of lineups, so Ayton is a nice pivot from one of those guys.  

Reggie Jackson – ($8,600 DK) Jackson has gotten expensive here, so we are a little less interested than we were in past slates. If it is going to be Jackson or Ayton at a similar price we prefer getting to Ayton. However, Jackson is seeing a role that needs to be mentioned. He played 40 minutes last game and put up 24 shot attempts. He only converted on one third of those opportunities, but we know he is going to have the usage to have a big game. If Jackson has a good shooting night he is a guy you will want regardless of price. 

Patrick Beverly – ($3,200 DK) All of the sub $3,000 budget plays look very weak tonight, as the teams tighten up their rotations. Beverly is the only viable value we have in this price range, and he is one of our favorite plays on the slate. Beverly has been playing a ton of minutes lately, and we expect him to play around 30 minutes tonight. We do not have a lot of value here and we need some cheap guys to pay up to studs with even if we captain Zubac. Beverly really does not need to do much here, and we are hoping his minutes give him a solid floor. 

General strategy 

We have already discussed how we are approaching the slate for different contest types, as we are captaining George in Cash but looking to diversify for big tournament. This is a really great slate to try playing multiple lineups, as there are a lot of paths that have their own upside. If you are able to play multiple lineups tonight, we suggest getting a healthy amount of George, Booker, Zubac, Paul and Ayton at captain as their different levels of production and price points allow for some unique builds. Value is tough on this one, but we can make up for that by avoiding the superstars at captain.

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