Welcome back, RotoBallers! Tonight, we have Game 1 of the NBA Finals! We have a star-studded matchup between the Boston Celtics and Dallas Mavericks. The lineup construction is a little bit different than your typical DFS slate as these include a 1.5x multiplier Captain's spot on DK that carries elevated salaries for each player, and MVP (2x), STAR (1.5x), and PRO (1.2x) spots on FanDuel, where player's salaries are the same regardless of roster spot.
The key to being successful in NBA DFS comes down to making adjustments during the day as injury information becomes available. But it's always really important to have a game plan and to have the best players and spots circled first before making those adjustments. To keep up with all the latest developments and get access to updated projections, grab an NBA season pass and also gain access to our RotoBaller Premium Discord, where @chiefjustice6 is talking about the slate up until lineups lock!
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 6/6/24. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our awesome NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at 8:30 p.m. EDT on FanDuel and DraftKings. As always, feel free to follow my X (@DFSKoby) to keep up to date with NBA news and for my nightly NBA bets if you're into that sort of thing. Let's go!
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Today's NBA DFS Core Picks (Captain/MVP/STAR)
Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum will be your top guys to grab on this slate; however, getting both could be difficult and there is quite a lack of value on this slate tonight. Choosing one and building around them is more than likely going to be the route I take in my lineups. Luka had incredible games against the Celtics during the regular season. Although they lost both games, he finished with 60+ FP in both. Tatum did well, too, and is $1,500 cheaper on FD. I highly recommend building a couple of lineups as it could go either way.
Jaylen Brown has been playing solid during the playoffs. In their two regular-season matchups, Brown finished with 43 and 49 FP. He is a good option if you want to get different in the captain spot and save a little bit of salary space on DraftKings.
In just 7 years of being teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have...
☘️ 5 Conference Finals appearances
☘️ 2 NBA Finals appearances
☘️ 8 combined All-Star selections
☘️ 5 combined All-NBA selectionsTheir story continues in Game 1 of the #NBAFinals presented by @YoutubeTV… pic.twitter.com/tUl6mGfXxM
— NBA (@NBA) June 4, 2024
Top Captain's Spot/MVP Plays:
- Luka Doncic, DAL at BOS – PG ($20.4K DK; $17K FD)
- Jayson Tatum, BOS vs. DAL – SF/PF ($17.7K DK; $15.5K FD)
- Jaylen Brown, BOS vs. DAL – SG/SF ($14.1K DK; $14K FD)
Also consider: Kyrie Irving, DAL vs. BOS - PG/SG ($13.8K DK; $13.5K FD)
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Today's NBA DFS Value Picks (Utility/PRO)
Derrick Jones Jr. has shown flashes of really good games during the playoffs and he is about as cheap as I would go on this slate. Josh Green gets minutes but doesn't do anything with them and Maxi Kleber is irrelevant unless Daniel Gafford or Dereck Lively II get injured. At 8K on FanDuel, though, Jones is worth a shot to get another star in the lineup.
Kristaps Porzingis is back, which hurts Al Horford's usage, but there is a chance Porzingis doesn't get full minutes, which could result in Horford still getting some decent scoring up. He should average around 25 minutes with Kristaps back. If we can get 20+ from him, I will take it with the lack of value on this slate.
Lively looked great in his return to the court in Game 4 against the Timberwolves, finishing with 31 fantasy points in 24 minutes. He has looked great during the playoffs and I expect that to continue going into the NBA Finals.
Among 236 players with 150+ FGA within 3 feet of the basket in 2023-24, Luka Dončić's 83.8 FG% led the NBA.
Dereck Lively II's 83.3%, a number helped by playing with Luka, was 2nd. 79.9% of those Lively makes were assisted. Only 26.9% of Luka's were, which was the 5th lowest… pic.twitter.com/qScK8MaYZO
— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) June 5, 2024
Top Utility/PRO Plays:
- Derrick Jones Jr., DAL at BOS - SF ($6K DK; $11K FD)
- Al Horford, BOS vs. DAL - PF/C ($2.6K DK; $7K FD)
- Dereck Lively II, DAL at BOS - C ($3.6K DK; $8K FD)
Today's Top NBA DFS Avoids
If Kristaps Porzingis does play, I can only imagine in his first game back that he will be limited in some way. That being said, I'm going to be fading him for Game 1 and getting an idea of how the Celtics use him right off the bat. He could end up being low-owned, so if you are looking to get different, he could be worth a shot in some of those bigger GPPs. Derrick White as well tends to take a hit in usage when Kristaps starts, so keep that in mind as well.
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: Luka Doncic
- My favorite GPP play on the slate: Jaylen Brown
- My favorite value play: Dereck Lively II
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