If this is your first year playing NBA DFS, I am truly sorry. It seems that injury news (or lack thereof) is crazier than ever these days. Hopefully we move towards simpler times as December rages on. In the mean time, just keep rostering LeBron James. That seems to be working so far, right?
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 12/14/17. I will try to find the players who provide the most value based on their price, but also give you a few GPP dart throws for each position whose upside I have interest in.
If you have any questions or comments, let me know @BellRoto on Twitter. Let's get this money!
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DFS Guards to Consider
Spencer Dinwiddie - PG/SG, BKN vs. NY (DK - $6,700)
Along with a sprinkle of RHJ, Spencer Dinwiddie IS the Brooklyn Nets offense. Heck, he went 1-for-11 from long range Tuesday against the Wizards and still managed to hit tournament value. This matchup with the Knicks will be even faster-paced than Tuesday's, and his shooting can't get any worse. This price hike was not enough for Dinwiddie's monster usage.
Andre Iguodala - SG/SF, GS vs. DAL (DK - $4,200)
Andre Iguodala continues to serve as the jack-of-all-trades off of the Warriors bench. His role has expanded due to recent injuries, and it doesn't appear to be lessening any time soon. It seems that Draymond Green will remain out Thursday, and he'll join fellow scorers Steph Curry and Nick Young. So, not only should Iggy's playing time be secure (I expect his 32 minutes from Tuesday to be a minimum), but I think his shot attempts will increase too. I wish the pace was a little faster, but Iguodala seems like a lock for 25 or more DK points.
Other Guards to Consider: Jimmy Butler, Wesley Matthews/Yogi Ferrell (Probably best off picking just one), George Hill (Seriously, GPP only)
DFS Forwards to Consider
LeBron James - SF/PF, CLE vs. LAL (DK - $11,900)
Buckle up. I'm going to be asking for a lot of your salary with the next two players.
Everytime I think to myself, "eh, LeBron is too expensive. I'll fade him," he makes me look very stupid. He's hit 5x on this crazy 11.9k price tag in each of his last four games, and two of them touched 70 DK points. This is the dream situation for LeBron James fantasy production, as he's running point guard and still grabbing a bunch of rebounds and peripheral stats that only big men typically get. Was that not enough? Oh yeah, he's welcoming Lonzo and Lavar Ball into his dojo in a national TV thursday night TNT game. Do you really think he wants to lose this one? For the love of god, just play the man.
Kristaps Porzingis - PF/C, NY @ BKN (DK - $9,600)
Yes, I'm aware that DraftKings has jacked up Kristaps Porzingis' price tag over one thousand fictional dollars since his last game. Answer me this question before you tell me I'm chasing points: Who in the city of New York is going to cover him? The answer is likely no one, and the answer is certainly not going to be someone wearing a Nets jersey. For real though, he's back to his early-season usage, and the fast pace should once again allow him to rack up blocks and steals galore. Without Tim Hardaway Jr., there's nothing to slow down Porzingis on his way to 60 DK points.
Other Forward to Consider: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Kyle Kuzma, Tyler Cavanaugh
DFS Centers to Consider
Jordan Bell - PF/C, GS vs DAL (DK - $3,600)
For the record, I do think there's a chance that Karl-Anthony Towns is back from whatever rock he had crawled behind, but I firmly prefer the two forwards mentioned above over him. If you're going to get both of those guys in, you'll likely have to pay down at this position.
The analysis for Jordan Bell here is very similar to Iguodala's above. He played 26 effective minutes last time out, and the injury situation isn't any better here. The Warriors clearly don't want David West to play big minutes, so Bell will be forced to soak up at least that many again against an inept rebounding Dallas team. If you wanna have a lot of fun, pair Bell with his opponent Dwight Powell (who will likely get called upon to match up with Bell's athleticism), and watch the two bigs get after it. Keep in mind that if Green or Zaza Pachulia get upgraded, this play becomes a deep, deep tournament shot.
Other Centers to Consider: Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Dwight Powell,
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