NBA DFS action on Wednesday, Jan. 20, locks at 7:00 p.m. EST with a two-game main slate. Before you lock in your NBA DFS picks and favorite lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS picks, including Luka Doncic, Domantas Sabonis and more.
NBA DFS Picks: Key Building Blocks | Jan. 20
Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks at Indiana Pacers
DraftKings $10,700, FanDuel $11,500, Yahoo $55
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 20.0%, FanDuel 14.7% Yahoo 12.6%
Indiana is a middling team defensively with Myles Turner, and there is a good chance he misses this game with a minor fracture in his right hand. The price tag for Luka Doncic is just silly on DraftKings, which makes him a priority play there. On FanDuel and Yahoo he is more of a luxury, though with 20 teams in action, there will be plenty of value plays we can look to.
While Doncic disappointed in his last game, he had topped 50 fantasy points in the seven preceding appearances. This looks mostly like it was a function of him taking only 11 field goal attempts. For perspective, he has had 11 or fewer shot attempts in four of his last 109 regular season games.
Domantas Sabonis: Indiana Pacers vs. Dallas Mavericks
DraftKings $9,800, FanDuel $9,600, Yahoo $47
Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 12.3%, FanDuel 24.5% Yahoo 5.4%
This season we have seen Domantas Sabonis really improve his all-around game. Keep in mind that Victor Oladipo is now with Houston, Caris LeVert is out and Turner has a hairline fracture in his right hand. since the beginning of last year, Sabonis has averaged 10% more fantasy points per minute without Turner on the court. Sabonis is leading the Pacers with 12.8 rebounds per game, and he is a tick behind Malcolm Brogdon with 21.7 points and 5.8 assists.
NBA DFS Picks: Good Value
Portland Trailblazers vs. Memphis Grizzlies
Value and opportunities abound on both sides of this matchup. Portland will be without C.J. McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic for the foreseeable future. This means Damian Lillard will be the sole offensive focus. Since the beginning of last year, Lillard has averaged 1.28 DraftKings points with McCollum on the court and 1.45 DraftKings points without. This information can be found on NBA WOWY via AddMoreFunds.com.
Enes Kanter should approach 28-30 minutes with Jonas Valanciunas (health and safety) out and nobody on Memphis that can consistently embarrass him on defense. Kanter is averaging 1.30 fantasy points per minute, and it is looking like a double-double is well within the range of realistic outcomes along with 40 fantasy points.
Xavier Tillman is going to be a popular option at his discounted price tag, and we should see Brandon Clarke see a more secure rotation and workload without Valanciunas available. The key here is that we need Tillman to start. If Gorgui Dieng draws the start, then that could mean it will be at the expense of Tillman, which would suppress his minutes upside.
NBA DFS Picks: Risky Value
With 10 games on the slate, we do not have to force ourselves into many bad situations. Looking at the preliminary run of ownership for each site, here are the plays I think may be a little dicey.
Jarred Vanderbilt looks fine on Yahoo but maybe a little risky on DraftKings/FanDuel. He started the last game, but his best fantasy performances have been fueled by multiple steals. He has scored more than 9 points only three times this season.
Cameron Johnson seems solid on all three sites, but we need to keep in mind that if he draws a second consecutive start, we don’t know how that will impact his usage and opportunities compared to when he was seeing significant run with the reserve units. Phoenix is playing at the second-slowest pace in the league. Houston has been league averaged on defense, so this is not the cherry matchup we may think it is based on prior year’s results. The other risk is that in close games, Johnson is in the closing unit only half the time depending on matchups.
Willie Cauley-Stein has scored fewer than 17 fantasy points in three of his last five starts. While he does have 29-plus in the other two, there are a lot of good better center options tonight from a point-per-dollar perspective.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Xavier Tillman: MEM at POR – $11
- Justin Holiday: IND vs. DAL – $10
- Gary Trent Jr: POR vs. MEM – $10
SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks
- Enes Kanter: POR vs. MEM – 1.85x multiplier
- Keldon Johnson: SAS at GSW – 1.80x multiplier
- Chris Boucher: TOR vs. MIA – 1.60x multiplier
Final Thoughts
There are a lot of fun sub-slates tonight in addition to the 10-game main slate. Be sure that you are not forcing anyone into your lineups, as there are plenty of available options with excellent potential up and down the pricing lists.
Be sure to tune into the Awesemo NBA Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock show beginning at 4:45 p.m. EST for all of your up-to-date information and analysis.
