FanDuel NBA DFS Picks for Today (Wednesday 11/6/24): Daily Fantasy Basketball Advice

It's another whopper tonight with 12 games on FanDuel's main NBA DFS slate. Narrowing down your player pool with so many players available can be difficult, but I'm here to help you do that and get your process started.

With so many other players listed as questionable, it isn't easy to know exactly what our lineups will look like by lock tonight, but we can certainly take a closer look at the guys who we do know are playing who have good matchups. I recommend some higher-priced players for cash games and GPPs while highlighting some of my favorite value plays and game stacks. If you want advice on the 7-game DraftKings slate, give my friend Zach Thompson's article a read!

This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 11/1/24. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our awesome NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at 7 p.m. EST on FanDuel. 

FanDuel NBA DFS Core Picks

Tyrese Haliburton, IND – PG/SG ($8,300)

Some cheaper point guards will likely be chalky tonight (more on those later), but I can't help but love Haliburton at this price tag. Haliburton is a guy we saw priced up to 9500 or more regularly last season. Despite his slow start to the season, he's come on strong lately - averaging 18 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 11.3 assists over his last four games.

The Magic are decimated by injuries right now and are a shell of the team that they were last season, especially on defense. They currently are allowing the second-most FD points to opposing point guards in the league.

There's always the potential for a blowout, but the Magic have enough depth to put up a fight and hang around - which would allow Haliburton to post a big number. We know he has a ceiling that is well over 50 FD points.

Jayson Tatum, BOS – SF/PF  ($10,300)

The Celtics continue to cruise right along with just one loss this season, despite not having Kristaps Porzingis in the lineup and missing Jaylen Brown for the last two games.

Brown is out again tonight for what should be a tough test for Boston as they host the 6-1 Warriors who just got their star player, Stephon Curry, back in the lineup.

The Celtics are 7-point favorites at home and this game has a solid 230-point total. We love high-scoring games that project to stay close in DFS as we tend to get starters playing their full allotment of minutes and there is always the potential for bonus overtime minutes and fantasy points.

Jayson Tatum COOKIN' in the 1st half 🔥

26 PTS
9-13 FGM
6 3PM pic.twitter.com/Q1vt5sU0Ew

— NBA (@NBA) November 5, 2024

Tatum has a 33.6% usage rate with Brown out of the lineup the last two days. He's producing 1.48 FD points per minute this season so if he's needed for close to 40 minutes tonight in a close game, then I think he has a great chance of going for 60+ FD points. For me, he's the safest of the 10k+ players on this slate and has a drastically higher ceiling than others at his position, while the point guard and center positions are loaded with options at all price tiers.

DeMar DeRozan, SAC – SF/PF ($8,100)

DeRozan has wasted no time in establishing himself as a very reliable (and predictable) fantasy player in Sacramento. Just like he did in Chicago, DeRozan has figured out a way to give his team 20+ points even while having to be the third option on offense playing alongside a high-usage guard and scoring center.

I love this game tonight (more on that in a bit) as Toronto continues to be pesky enough to push opponents into ceiling games. These teams already met last week and DDR scored 33 actual points on his way to 45.6 FD points.

He has 40 or more FD points in four straight games, giving him a really solid 5x floor and making him a super-reliable option for cash games.

FanDuel NBA DFS Tournament Pivots

Cade Cunningham, DET – PG ($8,700)

The Pistons are doing what I thought they might do this season - competing against good teams more often and winning some games they wouldn't have last year. Cunningham was a big part of their upset of the Lakers on Monday as he poured in 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists on his way to a triple-double and 43.7 FD points.

I like targeting Charlotte with opposing players as the Hornets are a pretty bad defensive team and right now they have no rim protection with both of their centers (Mark Williams and Nick Richards) injured and out tonight.

If you can't afford Cunningham tonight, or you just have a few other point guards you like a lot, then consider his backcourt mate Jaden Ivey (SG - $6,200) as he's off to a pretty nice start this season as well.

Chet Holmgren, OKC – C ($8,800)

If we toss out that first game then Holmgren has had three really good outings in a row against Jokic and the Nuggets. After getting off to a huge start this season, Chet's priced has dipped as the Thunder have been blowing teams out and limiting their starters' minutes.

But tonight I think we get a full four quarters of production from Holmgren and the OKC starters as Denver, even down two starters, is good enough to keep this game competitive.

The Nuggets are allowing the third-most FD points to opposing centers and Holmgren has been so efficient with his minutes on the court this season, averaging 1.55 FD points per minute. This gives him a massive ceiling and I think we could see him go off here in this spot with a tournament-winning line.

Others Under Consideration: Kyrie Irving - PG/SG ($8,600), Nikola Vucevic - C ($8,000), Karl-Anthony Towns - C ($8,700)

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FanDuel NBA DFS Value Picks

FanDuel is keeping their pricing tight once again this year, so while I would normally say a "value" play is under 6k, I included a few players today who are slightly above that threshold but good targets!

Russell Westbrook, DEN – PG ($6,400)

Westbrook is a lock for cash games with Jamal Murray missing yet another game. He's been pretty effective as a starter this year and is simply too cheap for his current role and production. He posted 26.5 FD points in the first meeting with OKC in just 21 minutes off the bench. He should see closer to 35 minutes tonight which, with his per-minute production, is why he will be so popular.

Chris Paul, SAS – PG ($6,300)

CP3 is settling on his new team and has the Spurs playing some competitive basketball. His minutes are up lately as he's played 32 to 33 minutes in three straight games. That's a great sign for his fantasy production and we've seen his FD points increase as well as a result.

Paul has 10+ assists in three straight games and has picked up his scoring lately as well. It's a very enticing price tag here and pairing Paul with Westy in cash might be a pretty appealing option in cash games.

Gradey Dick, TOR – SG/SF ($6,100)

Dick continues to shine with Immanuel Quickley and Scottie Barnes out of the lineup for Toronto. He now has 20+ points and 30+ FD points in five of his last six games. I tend to ignore the spread with these Toronto games, they've been able to stay close enough with opposing teams to put up some nice fantasy scores.

Naji Marshall, DAL – SF ($3,900)

Marshall flashed a huge ceiling in his last game, dropping 38 FD points in 33 minutes off the bench for Dallas. The Mavericks went small often with Dereck Lively II out with P.J. Washington at the five and Marshall at the four.

Tonight, Washington is out and Lively is questionable. I expect that if he plays, Lively will split minutes at center with Daniel Gafford while Marshall could slide into the starting PF spot and offer major production at a sub-4k salary.

Peyton Watson, DEN - PF ($3,700)

Aaron Gordon is out tonight for Denver, so not only do we get some chalky Westbrook value, but we also get Watson as a nice chalk block at the PF position. He just posted 32 FD points against Toronto on Monday in 30 minutes of action and should see a similar amount of minutes tonight. If he comes anywhere close to matching that production tonight, he will be one of the top values on the slate.

Others Under Consideration: Tristan Da Silva - SF ($4,600), OG Anunoby - SF/PF ($5,900), Al Horford - PF/C ($4,800), Zach Edey, MEM - C ($4,600)

Today's Top NBA DFS Game Stacks

Toronto Raptors at Sacramento Kings (238 total, 10-point spread)

Yes, the Raptors are undermanned and on the road but if you fade this game because of a potential blowout script you could miss out on some big performances from Gradey Dick, RJ Barrett ($8,500), and Jakob Poeltl ($7,500) on the Toronto side.

I mentioned DeMar DeRozan already, but don't forget that the first time these two teams met Domantas Sabonis ($9,600) had a triple-double, and De'Aaron Fox ($8,700) had five steals on his way to 42 FD points, too.

Oklahoma City Thunder at Denver Nuggets (222 total, 7-point spread)

We need the Nuggets to bring their A-game at home for this one to stay competitive, but they have the depth and coaching to make it happen. Westbrook, Christian Braun ($5,500), Peyton Watson, and Nikola Jokic ($12,000) are all in play for Denver, while Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams ($8,000), and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,600) are all potential options to bring it back with from the OKC side. It was Holmgren and SGA who had the big numbers in the first meeting so they are probably my favorite two OKC pieces.

My Favorite NBA DFS Picks for Today

Here is where I leave you with some of my favorites.

• My favorite OVERALL play on the slate: Jayson Tatum
• My favorite CASH play on the slate: Russell Westbrook
• My favorite GPP play on the slate: Chet Holmgren
• My favorite VALUE play: Naji Marshall

NBA DFS News and Injury Alerts

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis