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WELCOME BACK, ROTOBALLERS!!! It is my honor and pleasure to kick off the 2024 NBA regular season DFS slate with you all. Tonight we have a two-game slate headlined by what could be a preview of this year's Eastern Conference Finals. These articles focus on the overall best plays, which are typically more suited for cash games. However, some exceptions may apply, depending on the size of the slate.
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 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 10/22/24. Remember to monitor NBA injury news and our awesome NBA injuries report tool, as the slate can completely change before lineups lock at 7:30 p.m. EST on FanDuel and DraftKings. Good luck RotoBaller!
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Today's NBA DFS Core Picks
If you're new here, this is where we look at some of the higher-priced players who we can use as building blocks for both cash and GPP contests.
Quite frankly, this slate is insane. I can't explain how the sites, primarily DraftKings, landed on these prices for the first night of the season. With Anthony Davis the highest-priced player at only 9.4k, you can easily fit two stars with an easy path to jamming a third. From a projection standpoint, you can't go wrong with any of the top five players.
I'd say my favorite play of the night is Anthony Edwards. With Karl-Anthony Towns now in New York, Edwards is primed to explode on offense. Last year without KAT on the floor, Edwards carried a massive 36% usage rate, as well as small bumps in his rebounding and assist rates. The offense will be running through Edwards even more this year, and I'm excited to see if he can challenge for the league scoring title.
- Anthony Edwards, MIN at LAL – SG ($8,800 DK; $9,400 FD)
- LeBron James, LAL vs MIN – SF/PF ($8,900 DK; $9,900 FD)
- Jalen Brunson, NYK @ BOS – PG ($8,700 DK; $8,900 FD)
Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards on how he fits in with USA Basketball Olympic team: “I’m still the number one option. Y’all might look at it differently. … They’ve got to fit in around me. That’s how I feel.” pic.twitter.com/Cga5kTiR2J
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) July 7, 2024
Today's NBA DFS Value Picks
This is where we talk about saving salary. Whether it's a severely underpriced backup, or even as simple as a guy who's playing like someone priced $500 higher, this is where you'll find guys that make lineups work.
Here are today's projections sorted by fantasy points per dollar. As I just mentioned, salary is not an issue on this slate.
It's pretty hard to ignore the top 3 guys - I would assume most lineups will contain at least two, if not all three. If you're looking for more leverage, I think the Celtics, especially Jrue Holiday, are very interesting plays.
Top Value Plays:
- Donte DiVincenzo, MIN @ LAL – PG/SG ($5,100 DK; $5,800 FD)
- Josh Hart, NYK @ BOS – SF/PF ($5,600 DK; $5,900 FD)
- D'Angelo Russell, LAL vs MIN – PG ($6,200 DK; $6,500 FD)
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Today's NBA DFS Picks: Point Guard
Brunson will likely be the least-owned player of the top five most expensive guys; he seems like a major candidate to see his ownership squeezed with people looking to play Russell or Divicenzo. PG is the only position with any sort of real depth tonight, so anyone who's only PG-eligible is just naturally going to be less played.
Top PG Options:
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- Donte Divincenzo, MIN @ LAL ($5,100 DK; $5,800 FD)
- Jalen Brunson, NYK @ BOS ($8,700 DK; $8,900 FD)
- D'Angelo Russell, LAL vs MIN ($6,200 DK; $6,500 FD)
Today's NBA DFS Picks: Shooting Guard
The two Timberwolves are going to make up the vast majority of SG roster spots tonight. Divicenzo may end up coming in as the most-owned player on the slate, thanks to how easily he and Edwards fit in lineups together. Playing anyone else will give you leverage on the field, and again, the two Celtics options here really stand out.
Top SG Options:
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- Anthony Edwards, MIN at LAL ($8,800 DK; $9,300 FD)
- Derrick White, BOS vs NYK ($6,300 DK; $6.900 FD)
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Today's NBA DFS Picks: Small Forward
Minnesota might have a great defense, but if you tell me I can get LeBron for under $9k with the most rest he'll have all season, I'll take my chances every time. The combination of LeBron, Jayson Tatum, and Josh Hart taking up two, or possibly all three, forward spots tonight will undoubtedly be very popular.
Top SF Options:
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- LeBron James, LAL vs MIN ($8,900 DK; $9,900 FD)
- Josh Hart, NYK @ BOS ($5,600 DK; $5,900 FD)
- Jayson Tatum, BOS vs NYK ($9,000 DK; $9,600 FD)
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Today's NBA DFS Picks: Power Forward
All of the best plays at PF are also eligible to be played at SF. The two guys who stand out and don't fit that criteria are Al Horford and Naz Reid.
Both are interesting options to save salary, but with the abundance of funds available on this slate, they don't pop like they typically would.
Top PF Options:
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- Al Horford, BOS vs NYK ($5,200 DK; $5,600 FD)
- Naz Reid, MIN @ LAL ($4,900 DK; $5,000 FD)
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Today's NBA DFS Picks: Center
Somehow we've made it this far without really talking about Anthony Davis! In his last 3 full games against Rudy Gobert, Davis is averaging 32.6/14/4 and 7 total blocks. Speaking of Gobert, he averaged almost 37 fantasy PPG last season, and on a more standard slate, he'd stand out as clearly underpriced.
Karl-Anthony Towns is one of my favorite tournament plays tonight, thanks to his low ownership projections and potential ceiling outcome.
Top C Options:
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- Anthony Davis, LAL vs MIN ($9,400 DK; $10,800 FD)
- Rudy Gobert, MIN at LAL ($6,700 DK; $7,800 FD)
- Karl-Anthony Towns, NYK @ BOS ($7,800 DK; $7,900 FD)
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Today's Top NBA DFS Game Stacks
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- Knicks @ Celtics (221.5 O/U)
- Timberwolves @ Lakers (219 O/U)
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Today's Top NBA DFS Avoids
It's pretty challenging to avoid any of the guys who project to be top plays. If I had to poke holes in someone projected to be one of the most-owned players on the slate - I do think there's plenty of opportunity for Josh Hart to fail. The newest Knick, Mikal Bridges, plays a much more similar role to Hart than the departed Donte DiVincenzo.
My Favorite NBA DFS Picks for Today
Here is where I leave you with some of my favorites.
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- My favorite overall play on the slate: Anthony Edwards
- My favorite CASH play on the slate: Donte DiVincenzo
- My favorite GPP play on the slate: Derrick White
- My favorite value play: If everyone is a value play, does that make no one a value play?
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