The NBA is back and with it comes NBA DFS on DraftKings, FanDuel and SuperDraft. Greg Ehrenberg looks at some NBA DFS Picks to build around and fade for Thursday’s two-game slate.
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NBA Building Blocks: DFS Picks, Values, Studs + Locks for the NBA’s Return | July 30
Value NBA DFS Picks: Joakim Noah
DraftKings $3,100, FanDuel $3,800, Yahoo $10, SuperDraft 1.8x
The center situation for the Clippers is a total mess. Montrezl Harrell had to leave the bubble to attend to a family matter and has been ruled out, while Ivica Zubac was just cleared to play after testing positive for COVID-19. Even though he will play and likely start, Zubac might not be able to handle a full workload. Playing against the Lakers, the Clippers won’t be able to play much, if any, small ball. The Lakers have one of the biggest frontcourts in the league, and it’s unlikely the Clippers want to be in a situation where Marcus Morris would be forced to guard Anthony Davis or Dwight Howard.
This is where Joakim Noah enters the picture. Yet to play this season because he cut his Achilles in a freak accident, it looks like Noah will be forced into action immediately. The Clippers need big bodies to throw at the size of the Lakers, and Noah is one of the only players available that can fill the role. Even though he wasn’t the player he once was, Noah is cheap and proved to be a good fantasy player when given minutes last season. With the Grizzlies, he averaged 19.3 DraftKings points in just 16.5 minutes per game. I have Noah pegged to play over 20 minutes on Thursday, making him a strong value option.
Stud NBA DFS Picks: Anthony Davis
DraftKings $10,000, FanDuel $10,400, Yahoo $51, SuperDraft 1.05x
It’s the first NBA slate back and Davis is on the injury report. What can go wrong? Here’s the good news: Davis practiced on Wednesday, putting him in line to play on Thursday. Also, this isn’t exactly a serious injury. Davis got poked in the eye, so this shouldn’t be a long-term issue. Despite this, I think fantasy players could be a bit spooked by Davis being listed on the injury report. It’s understandable that people might not want to deal with his variance for the first basketball slate in months.
Assuming Davis is able to play, I think he’s the guy on the Lakers to pay up for over LeBron James. The reason is the matchup. The Clippers have Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to guard James. To guard Davis, they have Noah coming off of a torn Achilles and Zubac coming off of COVID. Davis is going to face much weaker defense. He is also cheaper than LeBron, and early ownership projections show the field having more exposure to James than Davis.
Fade NBA DFS Picks Derrick Favors
DraftKings $5,800, FanDuel $5,400, Yahoo $10, SuperDraft 1.65x
In initial lineup builds, there doesn’t seem to be much reason to target Favors. Priced in the mid-range, there are better value options at center like Noah and Zubac. There is also reason to worry about a matchup against Rudy Gobert. Speaking of which, spending a bit more money for Gobert over Favors seems to make sense since the Pelicans have the weakest defense of the four teams playing on Thursday. We also saw a slight downtick in playing time for Favors when playing alongside Zion Williamson. Since the Pelicans are fighting for a playoff spot and Williamson is cleared to play in the first game back, it stands to reason New Orleans will play Williamson as many minutes as he can handle. This hurts the upside of Favors, who is playing at one of the more value-loaded positions for this slate.
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