Welcome back, everyone. For Tuesday night, there are five NBA games on tap Below are some of my favorite NBA daily fantasy picks for both FanDuel and DraftKings based on Awesemo’s grades and values.
NBA Daily Fantasy: Awesemo Grades + Ownership | Jan. 5
Point Guard: Kyrie Irving
DraftKings Grades: A, Values: B
FanDuel Grades: A, Values: B
Irving is a must-play tonight with Kevin Durant out due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols. He will be joining Spencer Dinwiddie on the sidelines for the Nets and in all the minutes Irving logged without these two key players last season, he led Brooklyn with a 35% usage rate and a 36.7% assist percentage. Overall, when Dinwiddie and Durant have been absent during his time in Brooklyn, Irving has supplied 1.6 DraftKings points per minute.
His matchup with the Jazz doesn’t rate well (Utah 12th in defensive efficiency), but this game still carries a healthy over/under of 226.5 points. Irving is averaging 49.1 DraftKings points per game in his last five game totals of 220 points or more, and his current Vegas prop line is slating him for 29 points, seven assists and five rebounds. This is already 45.75 DraftKings points before we add in defensive stats and DraftKings bonuses. Irving is fresh off 59.25 DraftKings points against the Wizards this past Sunday night, and we should see another eruption from the 28-year-old against the Jazz.
Projected NBA DFS ownership projection: DraftKings 27.8%, FanDuel 40.0%
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Center: Rudy Gobert
DraftKings Grades: B, Values: B
FanDuel Grades: B, Values: B
No one has really noticed, but Gobert has been very successful so far in 2020-21, averaging 39.8 DraftKings points per game and supplying a double-double in five of six starts. We are only a few weeks into the season, but the two-time Defensive Player of the Year has seen notable upticks in his rates. Currently, Gobert is posting a 19.3% usage rate, a 24.3% rebound percentage and is scoring 1.3 DraftKings points per minute, which are notable jumps from the 16.5% usage, 21.9% rebound rate and 1.1 DraftKings points per minute he contributed a year ago.
Now, the Jazz center is in a gorgeous spot against the Nets on Tuesday night. Seven games into their season, this Brooklyn squad is allowing the third-most rebounds per game and the fourth-most points in the paint per game to their opponents. Gobert destroyed them for 53 DraftKings points per game in a pair of meetings last season, and his dominance against the Nets should continue this evening.
Projected NBA DFS ownership projection: DraftKings 18.3%, FanDuel 9.9%
Center: Enes Kanter
DraftKings Grades: C, Values: D
FanDuel Grades: Â D, Values: B
Kanter went off for 44 DraftKings points in Sunday’s loss to the Warriors, and as a result, the center has seen his price tags on both FanDuel and DraftKings reach new season highs. While naturally you would think people would roster him because of his last showing, the new elevated price tags are expected to scare DFS players off Kanter, with him projected for very low ownerships on both DraftKings and FanDuel.
This creates an excellent situation to gain leverage in GPPs. Kanter has always presented strong upside when he sees decent playing time, and the Turkish big man has now seen at least 22 minutes of work in four of the Trail Blazers’ six contests in 2020-21. He is producing an effective 1.2 DraftKings points per minute, and after his massive double-double on Sunday, Kanter should continue to receive 20-plus minutes this evening against the Bulls. This Chicago defense has been horrible to start the season (23rd in defensive efficiency), and the Blazers currently hold the highest implied team total of the 10 clubs in action on Tuesday at 121 points. Kanter exposed the Bulls for 32.1 DraftKings points per game last season when he was in Boston, and I love attacking his low expected ownerships in large-field tournaments tonight.
Projected NBA DFS ownership projection: DraftKings 2.7%, FanDuel 1.1%
Point Guard: Dejounte Murray
DraftKings Grades: B, Values: A
FanDuel Grades: B, Values: A
If the Spurs can keep tonight’s tilt with the Clippers close enough that Murray sees usual workload (Clippers -9), the point guard should have zero issues returning at least 5x value at his current salaries. Derrick White (toe) made his season debut last Friday, but he reaggravated this injury and will be out for the foreseeable future. With his backcourt mate missing in five contests this season year, Murray has been very productive with 36.6 DraftKings points per game.
Additionally, LaMarcus Aldridge (knee) is questionable to suit up after missing the past three for San Antonio. When he and White have been off the floor this season, Murray has seen his usage rate rise 2.2%. Nonetheless, even if Aldridge is healthy enough to suit up tonight, Murray is rating as a top-three point-per-dollar value on DraftKings against the Clippers based on Awesemo’s projections. This clash of Western Conference clubs possesses the second-highest over/game total of the night (228 points), and the Clippers have been a mess defensively, ranking 22nd in defensive efficiency.
Projected NBA DFS ownership projection: DraftKings 20.0%, FanDuel 24.7%
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