Wednesday, November 9 brings a 12-game slate on DraftKings, with the standard 7:00 p.m. ET lock, while FanDuel has decided to keep the Dallas at Orlando game in their main slate with an early 5:30 p.m. ET tipoff with the matchup having been moved forward in anticipation of bad weather.
Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings and FanDuel 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. Now we shall dive into our NBA DFS Building Blocks.
NBA DFS Building Blocks Today: Wednesday, November 9
Core Play of the Day — Fred VanVleet: Toronto Raptors-Houston Rockets
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 41.69 | FanDuel: 41.13
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 15.0% | FanDuel: 15.6%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $8,100 | FanDuel: $,8500
Tonight the Raptors are hosting the Rockets and they will be without Pascal Siakam, who is going to miss at least two weeks with an adductor strain. This means that Fred VanVleet and Scottie Barnes will see a big uptick in their usage and responsibilities. OG Anunoby and Gary Trent Jr. also benefit from the trickledown effect, particularly for field goal attempts. Chris Boucher and Precious Achiuwa benefit directly from additional minutes.
VanVleet is still the standout option as he goes from a 21% usage rate with Siakam since the start of last season to nearly a 27% rate when the Cameroonian is off the court. He also gets nearly a 15% increase in his per-minute fantasy production as well. The matchup with Houston is one of the more favorable from a fantasy perspective, which is a bonus as well.
Darius Garland: Cleveland Cavaliers at Sacramento Kings
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 40.61 | FanDuel: 38.45
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 33.7% | FanDuel: 11.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $6,900 | FanDuel: $8,000
In his last three games, Darius Garland has been stellar with a mega 39.7 minutes of playing time along with 18.3 field goal attempts, including 9.7 from beyond the arc. This does include one overtime performance, though at nearly 1.2 fantasy points per minute during this stretch.
Sacramento is playing at a top-10 pace with the sixth-worst defensive efficiency rating, allowing 112.5 points per 100 possessions. Garland has an appropriate salary on FanDuel, though he is about 15% underpriced on DraftKings.
Additional NBA DFS Picks Today – Sports Wagering Opportunities
Garland has a 2.5 over/under rebound prop for his matchup against the Kings tonight. The Stokastic NBA player projections have him for 3.9 rebounds, which works out to a 71% win rate. Last season, Garland averaged 3.3 rebounds per game and with his minutes workload, he should be in the mix for three or four most games. Sacramento is slightly below average when it comes to rebounding and while Cleveland does have a solid frontcourt, Garland is active enough to surpass this hurdle tonight.
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Milwaukee Bucks-Oklahoma City
Milwaukee starts off their two-game road trip in Oklahoma City tonight, followed by a game in San Antonio on Friday, and then a free weekend before hosting Atlanta next Monday. Jrue Holiday (ankle) is doubtful, which opens up a lot of backcourt minutes.
Elder statesman George Hill and journeyman Jevon Carter will pick up most of the vacated point guard minutes, though with Khris Middleton (wrist) and Pat Connaughton (calf) still out, there should be plenty of fantasy production up for grabs for those players not named Giannis Antetokoummpo.
Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis and Grayson Allen are all solid tournament options. Even though the Bucks are 7.5-point road favorites, the tanking Thunder typically keeps things close at home and actually have a 3-2 record at home, losing to Minnesota by 10 and Denver by a dozen points.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has been sublime so far this season and his 52 fantasy points per game are nearly 10 more than last season. There will be games where he sits, but for tonight this is a nice benchmarking moment to see how he stands against a semi-shorthanded Milwaukee squad.
Even if Aleksej Pokusevki (shoulder) is out, the Thunder still run a deep rotation. If anyone else is randomly ruled out such as Mike Muscala, Kenrich Williams or Tre Mann, there is some evening-slate tournament appeal depending on other value options that reveal themselves for the sub-slate.
Memphis Grizzlies-San Antonio Spurs
This matchup provides some intriguing fantasy options on both sides of the court. Steven Adams is questionable after missing the last game with a sore ankle, but with an additional 72 hours off, he could be ready to return. Brandon Clarke looks like an excellent option at a reduced salary on both DraftKings ($4,500) and FanDuel ($4,200) and would be a phenomenal play if Adams sits. Santi Aldama would also be in the mix if Adams is out.
Desmond Bane is intriguing on both sites with both shooting guard and small forward designations, which makes him eligible at four different roster positions on FanDuel and five on DraftKings. Ja Morant is always in the mix, though he is at a neutral point per dollar ratio. As more discount dandies reveal themselves throughout the afternoon and up to tip-off, he becomes more appealing for his total point projection.
Zach Collins will be out indefinitely with a non-displaced lower leg fracture, but Romeo Langford is expected to return from his toe issue. The days of the Memphis grit and grind defense are long gone and the team plays at a league-average pace with a below-average defensive efficiency rate. Devin Vassell and Keldon Johnson are strong plays across the industry in all formats and center Jakob Poeltl is a solid differentiation option on the evening sub-slate. This matchup has a 234.0 projected point total, so if anyone gets a night off for San Antonio, additional opportunities will become available.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Today
Tonight is a frontloaded slate with all but two games tipping off before 8:00 p.m. ET and the dual West Coast nightcap starting at 10:00 p.m. ET. Do not lose track of the news as both Los Angeles teams are in action and they tend to have plenty of questionable injury designations. One one easy way to do this is to follow the Stokastic NBA Twitter handle and let them do the heavy lifting. Plus, if you are a premium member, be sure to check out the Stokastic Discord for all up-to-the-minute analyses.
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