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Top 5 NBA DFS Picks: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks 2/17
February 17, 2021
NBA DFS is a 10-game slate on DraftKings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft. These are the early morning Top 5 NBA DFS Picks for DraftKings and Fanduel. Be sure to dive into the NBA DFS Rankings, Cash Picks, and Player Pool or the GPP Picks and Player Pool afterward. And of course, the Rise or Fall NBA DFS Projections, ownerships, player ratings, and data are a good place to start for daily fantasy sports.
Top 5 NBA DFS Picks: DraftKings, FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks
DraftKings NBA DFS Target – Nikola Jokic, C, DEN @ WAS O/U 234
Joker put on a clinic last night, scoring 64 DraftKings points in a loss to a tough Celtics team. Tonight’s matchup against the Wizards is much better for the Nuggets.
Jokic projects to be the highest scoring stud on tonight’s slate per our NBA Study Hub. He is projected to score 63.33 DraftKings points which is nearly 10 points more than the next player in line.
DraftKings NBA DFS Target – Jayson Tatum, SF/PF, BOS vs ATL O/U 224
Tatum is the second highest rated playing on the NBA Study Hub with a rating of 114.93 behind only Nikola Jokic.
C’s coach Brad Stevens knew his team was on the first leg of a back-to-back last night and limited Tatum to only 33 minutes. In reviewing the “Minutes Trends” in the Study Hub we see that over his last 10 games Tatum was seeing about 36.5 minutes per game.
FanDuel NBA DFS Target – Damian Lillard, PG, POR @ NO O/U 237
Dame Dollar is the highest rated (116.20) and high projected scoring (52.93) point guard on tonight’s slate per the NBA Study Hub.
In reviewing the “Usage Trends” tab in the NBA Study Hub we see that over Lillard’s last 5 game no other point guards have nearly the same usage. In that timeframe Lillard is averaging a nearly 37% usage rate.
FanDuel NBA DFS Target – Jaylen Brown, SF, BOS @ ATL O/U 224
We’re heading back to Boston here with Jaylen Brown. While he is not the highest projected SF, that honor goes to Kawhi Leonard, Brown is projected for just 4 less points than Kawhi but Brown is $1400 cheaper.
Over Brown’s last three game no small forward has seen greater usage, which slots Brown at a solid 34.2% rate. My only concern is the number of minutes he played last night – 37. We’ll have to see how ownership is looking later this afternoon and see if this is a spot where we may have to pivot if we get any news.
NBA DFS Lineup Winning Pick – Joel Embiid, C, PHI vs HOU O/U 227
NBA DFS can be plagued with recency bias. Many DFS’ers will see the numbers Nikola Jokic has been putting up and hop right back on him tonight. However, a great way to leverage Jokic will be through a nice price point pivot in Joel Embiid.
Embiid is the second highest projected scorer at the center position only behind Jokic on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Yet, as of now Embiid is only projected for a fraction of Jokic’s ownership.
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Rise or Fall NBA DFS Projections and Daily Fantasy Basketball Content Published Daily
NBA DFS Core Builds (Building Blocks)
The NBA DFS Core Builds are also referred to as our NBA DFS Building Blocks. Each staff member identifies the core players they would build their cash or GPP lineup around for both DraftKings and FanDuel. These NBA DFS Picks are basically the Building Blocks of their NBA DFS Lineups.
NBA DFS GPP Pivots (Slate Breakers)
The NBA DFS GPP Pivots is for those chasing glory in DFS tournaments on both DraftKings and FanDuel. The goal here for our staff is to identify a GPP pivot, often a price point pivot away from a chalky player, that could potentially break the slate and win you a tournament. Have you ever seen the guy that is lower-owned and went nuclear in tournaments and you think to yourself, “I should have pivoted to him?”. Our goal is to identify those GPP Pivots.
NBA DFS Picks Rankings
The NBA DFS Picks Rankings will be a staple to your daily fantasy basketball research. This list of players is compiled by a staff member while they are making a player pool for DraftKings and FanDuel. These players then get ranked in the form of Tiered Rankings, which you often see in Fantasy Basketball or Fantasy Football. These Tiered Rankings will help you identify the value in both NBA DFS Cash Games and NBA DFS GPP’s as it shows you who they value more at each position than other players.
NBA DFS Picks and Pools (Cash Games)
The NBA DFS Picks and Pools for Cash Games is clutch for anybody who wants to play those on either FanDuel or DraftKings. These are identified in the Tiered Rankings and player notes. This small list of players gives you a road map to putting together an NBA DFS Lineup each and every night.
NBA DFS Picks and Pools (GPP Priority Picks)
The NBA DFS Picks and Pools for GPP’s is crucial for Single Entry players. This list of priority picks are players with slate winning upside each night. They aren’t just the top projected players, they are picks that take into consideration the Rise or Fall ownership projection, tournament leverage, and daily fantasy basketball roster construction.
NBA DFS Strategy and Player Notes
In the NBA DFS Picks Rankings, there is a section for strategy and player notes. These are written up in the form of analysis for the player and best use of the player for DFS. In addition to the notes, being a part of the Rise or Fall Discord Chat is a fantastic way to discuss Draftkings, FanDuel, and SuperDraft with both members and staff. Everyone is in there picking each other’s brains all day long and enjoying DFS together.
