High-Upside NBA Daily Fantasy Picks for DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups Tonight

The Association is finally back! This NBA season is going to be the best one yet at Stokastic. For the opening slate, there are two games featuring the reigning NBA champion Golden State Warriors vs. the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics vs. the Philadelphia 76ers. This article will feature three boom candidates in all each pricing tier and one bust/fade option. These plays below are driven by Stokastic’s NBA DFS Boom/Bust Tool.

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Boom/Bust NBA Daily Fantasy Projections & Picks Today

Boom: Joel Embiid: $9,900 DraftKings/$10,700 FanDuel

39.1% DraftKings Boom/23.9% FanDuel Boom

Looking at this opening slate, the best pay-up option is 76ers center Joel Embiid. Last season, Embiid took another major step forward in his ascend to being the best center in basketball right now. He led the league in scoring with 30.6 points per game and ranked second in usage rate with 36.9%. Despite being the highest-priced option on DraftKings tonight and the second highest on FanDuel, Embiid has the highest projection on both sites. The 76ers added ball hog James Harden to the team during the middle of last season, but that didn’t slow down Embiid one bit.

Usually, a matchup against the Celtics’ frontcourt is a nightmare, but they will be without Robert Williams for a little while due to injury, making this a juicy spot to target the 76ers’ big man. Embiid has historically dominated the Celtics throughout his career. In 18 total games, he is averaging a double-double with 26.1 points, 12.1 rebounds and 51.8 DraftKings points per game. He has a double-double in 14 of those 18 games and should feast on this depleted Celtics’ frontcourt. Embiid has the highest boom percentage on DraftKings and the second highest on FanDuel. Simply put, pay up for Embiid.

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Boom: Al Horford: $4,900 DraftKings/$6,000 FanDuel

39.0% DraftKings Boom/21.1% FanDuel Boom

One of those Celtics’ frontcourt options is veteran Al Horford, who is a great salary reliever for this slate. With Williams out for the foreseeable future, Horford will start and likely play heavy minutes, especially in this matchup against Embiid. The major concern with this spot is foul trouble, but Horford is smart and knows the best option behind him is Blake Griffin. Stokastic’s NBA DFS projections have Horford projected for 31.7 minutes, which should be more than enough to pay off his relatively cheap salary.

Horford has spent the last three seasons with three different teams, including one full year playing alongside Embiid with the 76ers. Playing nearly 30 minutes per game last season, he averaged 7.7 rebounds per game, the most he has had since the 2013-2014 season. Even more impressive is Horford has averaged double-digit points per game in all 15 seasons of his career. Horford and Embiid are the only two players who rank in the top four of Stokastic’s NBA DFS ownership projections for both DraftKings and FanDuel. Don’t be intimidated by playing them in a lineup together as the salary savings with Horford is impossible to ignore.

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Boom: Patrick Beverley: $4,300 DraftKings/$4,900 FanDuel

36.9% DraftKings Boom/28.5% FanDuel Boom

The best value play on the entire slate according to Stokastic’s Boom/Bust tool is Lakers backup point guard Patrick Beverley. On his third team in the last three seasons and always reaching the playoffs in his 10-year career, Beverley’s tenacity is hopefully exactly what the Lakers need to get back on track after back-to-back disappointing seasons. Dennis Schroder is another free agent point guard the Lakers added this off-season, but he is out tonight due to injury. Beverley is currently in the projected starting lineup for the Lakers, which secures his minutes and makes him a great fantasy value.

For what it is worth, the Lakers led the preseason in pace, so expect this team to play quickly at least when they are all fully healthy. LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain the focal point of the offense, and both are great options tonight as well. Beverley is a great salary-saver in order to get to those Lakers studs along with Embiid. In Stokastic’s NBA DFS projections, Beverley has the best value on DraftKings and FanDuel, as he has dual eligibility on both sites. He scores fantasy points in a variety of ways and will be guarding Stephen Curry for most of opening night, which also helps stabilize his playing time.

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Bust: Stephen Curry: $9,400 DraftKings/$10,000 FanDuel

41.0% DraftKings Bust/61.7% FanDuel Bust

Speaking of Curry, he is Stokastic’s first bust/fade of the season. The reigning NBA Finals MVP will get another ring this evening as the Warriors face a familiar foe in the Los Angeles Lakers. These two teams opened up the season last year and the Warriors won 121-114 behind Curry’s 21 points and 10 assists. However, he only shot 5-for-21 from the field in that opener, which turned out to be the story all season. He finished the season averaging a career-low 43.7% from the field and 38.0% from behind the arc. Curry will still have the volume more than likely, but this Warriors team is also the deepest it has ever been.

The Warriors have a slate-high 116 implied point total, so getting exposure to this team feels like a necessity. However, paying up for Curry with the other stud options on this slate feels like the wrong move. He is the second-most expensive option tonight on DraftKings and has the worst value in Stokastic’s NBA DFS projections for both sites among the elite players. Curry was a popular fade last season with his poor shooting numbers and lack of explosion games. It may not happen tonight, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Warriors start to save the 34-year-old’s legs as this season goes along.

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