Saturday, October 22 brings along the first weekend NBA action with an entertaining eight-game main slate on tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. As always, you can head over to the Stokastic NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate. Let’s dive into our NBA DFS Building Blocks.
NBA DFS Building Blocks Today: Sunday, October 23
Core Play of the Day — Chris Paul: Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 37.26 | FanDuel: 37.16
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 23.2% | FanDuel: 25.2%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $6,900 | FanDuel: $7,400
Chris Paul and the Suns have had 48 hours to ruminate on their heartbreaking 113-111 overtime loss in Portland on Friday. Tonight they will be in Los Angeles taking on the Clippers who narrowly edged the Kings 111-109 in Sacramento last night. Kawhi Leonard and John Wall were rested on Saturday in anticipation of this matchup.
This is Paul’s 18th NBA campaign and the 37-year-old continues to reinvent himself and tailor his game to his physical abilities. While he is no longer a lock down defender, he does have a knack for picking up steals and knowing when to choose his spots on offense. Now that Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton have become established stars, Paul can hang back and facilitate the offense and still make an offensive impression as needed in big games and moments. Last year Paul led the league with 10.8 assists and he is a strong candidate to do so again this season. The reasonable salary across the DFS sites as well as fresh legs early in the season have Paul as a core building block in all formats on Sunday.
Donovan Mitchell: Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Washington Wizards
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 43.94 | FanDuel: 41.88
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 25.7% | FanDuel: 36.3%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $8,600 | FanDuel: $8,500
On Saturday, Donovan Mitchell led the Cavaliers to a convincing 128-96 victory over the Bulls in Chicago. Darius Garland is out with an eye injury and of course Collin Sexton was sent to Utah as part of the trade package for Mitchell this offseason. That leaves the three-time All-Star in a familiar position as the main focal point of his offense. Last year Washington saw a major improvement on defense, though the team was in the middle of the pack allowing 112 points per game. However, that was better than the three prior seasons where they were last or second to last, clearly coach Wes Unseld Jr. has a good system after turning around Denver as an assistant coach and now working his magic with the Wizards.
Through their first two games, Washington has had trouble containing the opposing primary scorer. On Friday, they allowed Tyreese Haliburton to rack up 26 points and Buddy Hield to contribute 16 points. In the opener, DeMar DeRozan laid down a monster with 32 points. It is hard to envision Mitchell with less than 20 field goal attempts and the former Jazz star had 32 points last night on 19 field goal attempts.
Additional NBA DFS Picks Today – Sports Wagering Opportunities
Jusuf Nurkic is popping in the NBA player props market. Currently he has a 12.5 over/under points prop. The Stokastic NBA player projections have him for 14.3 points and a 61% chance of going over this milestone. For those worried that Nurkic may get “played off the court” he has performed well in his last five meetings against Anthony Davis averaging just shy of 30 minutes with 14.0 points, 13.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 combined blocks and steals. If Nurkic stays out of foul trouble and sees double-digit field goal attempts, he should get the 13 points needed to secure this wager.
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Rudy Gobert: Minnesota Timberwolves at Oklahoma City Thunder
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 43.96 | FanDuel: 44.02
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 9.2% | FanDuel: 21.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $8,900
This is a lofty salary for Rudy Gobert, but he is a near lock for 40 fantasy points per game, with 50 fantasy point upside. While he did not win against the Jazz in his return to Utah, he did roll up 23 points and 16 rebounds against the Thunder in the first game of the season. Minnesota is gearing up for a postseason run, so they can’t afford to drop easy games like they did on Friday. Look for a statement game today on the road from the trio of Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards.Â
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Minnesota Timberwolves at
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 43.41 | FanDuel: 43.3
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 22.1% | FanDuel: 23.1%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $8,700 | FanDuel: $9,600
Tonight is the home opener for Oklahoma City and though they dropped their first two games and of course will be in tanking mode soon enough, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has played 37 and 34 minutes so far this season. That alone is enough to make him a lineup mainstay, though his lofty salary on FanDuel does make him somewhat cost prohibitive. Of course this is the NBA so something wonky is likely to happen between now and lock to provide some unexpected value options, so we will not want to lose sight of Gilgeous-Alexander when that inevitably occurs.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Today
Do not get distracted by Sunday Night Football and lose track of any breaking news. Sunday NBA action is always a wild card with random players being scratched at the last minute. Be sure to check out the Stokastic NBA Boom/Bust tool which is a must for tournament players. Clicking on this link will allow you to get 10 days of all-access Stokastic+ for just $10 dollars – this includes projections and tools for every sport.
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