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We only have one game tonight. The newly anointed league MVP will try to take a game in Phoenix before this series heads for the mountains. Jokic put up a pedestrian-by-his-standards game in Game 1. One of the few guys to start every game this season will be out there trying to keep from digging an 0-2 hole. If he gets Will Barton back alongside him, it will go a long ways toward helping his cause. It will also render Austin Rivers mostly irrelevant.
We will stay in Showdown mode for DFS on DraftKings again tonight. To build our rosters for this particular format, we need to identify a Captain and five utility players. It's just like the analytics nerds dreamt it up: positionless basketball. The Captain will earn 1.5 times the amount of points he regularly tallies, but it also drives up the price for your more prominent players.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 6/9/21. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. With COVID-19 a significant factor, remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lineups lock.
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Phoenix Suns (-6)
Devin Booker - SG (Captain: $14,700, Utility: $9,800)
Booker only took 12 shots in Game 1, which is his lowest total in any game of the playoffs. He still made 8 of those, but the drop in attempts has to be a little concerning for a guy that we are considering at captain. Still, it means that Booker wasn't forcing shots and that his teammates played well enough to still notch a 17-point win with Booker having a somewhat disappointing game by his standards. I'm not being chased off that easily. Booker still has the most upside on the team.
Chris Paul - PG (Captain: $13,200, Utility: $8,800)
Paul put up some huge numbers in Game 1. Denver can't guard him without Jamal Murray on the floor. That's the easy answer and the main reason why I'll run CP3 at captain more often than not. The ceiling is very high for the price, and if you're paying $1,500 less for Paul, then you can easily fit in another star be it Booker or someone else. Paul has averaged 46 DraftKings points per game in four games against the Nuggets this year. It just feel like he gets us more bang for our buck.
Mikal Bridges - SF ($6,800)
I could make a good and compelling argument to run Bridges at captain if you want to listen to it. He has been far more assertive on both ends of the court in the last three games. It took him a few games to get his playoff legs, but now Bridges is a big part of the team like he was down the stretch. The minutes are there, but it's hard for me to run a captain that doesn't have the ball in his hands all that much. The floor on Bridges is too low for me, but I don't mind taking this shot in a large field GPP. I may even do it myself!
Other options: Deandre Ayton ($8,400), Jae Crowder ($5,400)
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Denver Nuggets (+6)
Nikola Jokic - C (Captain: $17,700, Utility: $11,8o0)
Will the MVP deliver a MVP-like performance? It's certainly possible. The 46.75 DraftKings points for Jokic in Game 1 isn't bad, but it also wont vault you to the top of a GPP. Fading Jokic overall is terrifying, but considering how he has fared against Phoenix and his statements about Ayton being one of the toughest guys for him to play against make it viable in GPP formats. I still think we have to ride Jokic in cash because no one comes close to his ceiling from either team.
Facundo Campazzo - PG/SG ($7,000)
The Suns have more problems with Campazzo than Monte Morris. They were able to slow Morris down on the second unit, but Campazzo was a strong second or third option for the Nuggets. He played 36 minutes in Game 1, which means that no matter how well Morris plays, he's not taking away the starting job from Campazzo. The consistency just isn't there to try and get cute and run him at captain. Quite honestly, the consistency isn't either.
Aaron Gordon - SF/PF ($6,600)
We all knew that Denver acquiring Gordon was for them to make a run in the playoffs. He struggled to get acclimated with the team and struggled with consistency as a result. Is that finally behind him? Gordon has three straight games of more than 30 DraftKings points. Every time I start to believe Gordon has turned a corner though, he faceplants. The bottom could fall out at any moment.
Other options: Michael Porter Jr. ($7,800), Austin Rivers ($4,000)
