NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Time for a Jordan Poole Party! (Oct. 30)

Wednesday NBA action gets underway at 7:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS picks and core plays like Jordan Poole, Trae Young, Jakob Poeltl, and LaMelo Ball and friends.

NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Wednesday, Oct. 30

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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks

Jakob Poeltl: Raptors at Hornets

NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 40.34 | FanDuel: 40.71
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 55.1% | FanDuel: 28.4%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $6,300 | FanDuel: $6,800

Toronto will be without Scottie Barnes (eye) tonight after he was injured in the last game. The team is also without Immanuel Quickley, Bruce Brown Jr. and Kelly Olynyk.

That means extra field goal attempts are available, which will trickle down to Jakob Poeltl in what should be a favorable rebounding matchup.

Last year Charlotte was the second-worst rebounding team in the league, in the 2022-2023 season it was 23rd and the year preceding that it was 26th. Three different coaches, along with multiple lineup iterations and the Hornets were just bad at rebounding. This year, they have the second-best rebounding rate, trailing only Toronto, but a three-game sample size is not indicative of a change in trajectory.

Poeltl had a whopping 19 rebounds in 40.2 minutes of action as the Raptors lost in overtime to the Denver Nuggets. Anything less than a double-double for Poeltl tonight and 32.5 points + rebounds + assists with a couple of blocks, well, that will just be a travesty.

RJ Barrett made his debut on Monday, playing 29 minutes and putting up 20 points, five rebounds, and three assists, which was a tick below his stat line with the Raptors last season. Barrett missed the first three games with a sore right shoulder but looked pretty solid on the court. He was a little handsy with five fouls, but that also could have been getting used to NBA speed after missing time. Expect Barrett to be inside the top 5 most popular options on DraftKings ($6,600) and just outside the top 10 on FanDuel ($7,400).

Turning our attention to Charlotte, once again LaMelo Ball is popping in the models, and had he not already been the featured player in this article, he would have been today. Despite playing only 48 games over the last two seasons, he has been outstanding with a 46.8% success rate from the field, which is well above his 42.8% career rate. Even better is a 41.7% conversion rate on 12.0 3-points attempts per game, also above his 7.7 and 37.5% career norms. Yes, it is a small sample size, but he looks to be returning to All-Star form quickly.

Tre Mann stands out on DraftKings ($5,000) with eligibility at both guard positions, though he is about half as popular at $5,700 on the blue site.


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Jordan Poole: Wizards vs. Hawks

NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 40.55 | FanDuel: 38.59
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 32.3% | FanDuel: 38.8%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $7,500 | FanDuel: $7,600

Jordan Poole tallied 26 points on Monday, while Kyle Kuzma logged 25 as the Wizards got their first win of the season in Atlanta.

Sadly, Kuzma is out with a strained groin, but this opens up quite a few minutes and statistical opportunities in the matchup with the second-highest total (233.5) of the night.

Poole had a rough first season in Washington, even being relegated to reserve duty for part of the year. Through three games he has at least seemed more engaged, and perhaps he has realized that strong play could get him moved to a contender, or at least he could put up some gaudy stats. Now that Tyus Jones and Deni Avdija are in the Western Conference, the Wizards are desperate for Poole to be the lead point guard. Malcolm Brogdon was part of the return from Portland in the Avdija deal, but he is out with a thumb injury that required surgery, which, of course, further weakens the backcourt depth.

Bilal Coulibaly has a favorable salary, which should enable him to be profitable more often than not. Last year he didn’t have much of an offensive presence, mostly getting putbacks or filling the lane on fast breaks, with some garbage buckets thrown in. This year he actually has been on option on a couple of different set plays, and while his 16 points per game may not be consistent, it is a major improvement from his 8.4 per game last year. He also has doubled his assists to 3.3 per game, working as a secondary facilitator from the wing.

Dyson Daniels was fun for DFS, but he is going to miss at least a week and perhaps two with a strained hip flexor. Bogdan Bogdanovic (hamstring) is likely to be out through the holidays, while Cody Zeller (personal) is away from the team. De’Andre Hunter (knee) missed the last game and is questionable, but Onyeka Okongwu (rest) will be available, relegating Larry Nance Jr. to a nominal role as the third center. Perhaps it will be Clint Capela who gets a night off, which, of course, would push Okongwu and Nance into prominence, otherwise the Atlanta frontcourt is not overly appealing at this time.

Trae Young stumbled on Monday, making only 2 of 15 (13.3%) from the field, both from long range. In the first three games, he averaged just over 31 points but also had 23 turnovers. Take the good with the bad and consider Young for some in-game synergy with a couple of Washington options.

Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick

Pascal Siakam is someone to consider in the DFS world, but we can also pick against in the sports wagering markets.

Tonight the under on his 7.5 rebounds prop is worthy of our attention. By using Portfolio EV to do the heavy lifting when researching favorable bets, we can quickly spot inefficient lines like this one, and having accounts at multiple sportsbooks allows us to pivot to the best number quickly. This pits the books against each other, which shows that the BetMGM line has jumped way ahead of all the other major operators.

Lines are constantly shifting and moving, so when you find a good number, pounce on it. That is the beauty and power of Portfolio EV to find the best lines at any point in the day.

Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Siakam projected for 32.9 minutes and 7.61 rebounds. That is above the line but still below the eight needed for this wager.

Last year, after landing with the Pacers, the Cameroonian averaged 7.8 rebounds, which was in line with his last four-plus season with Toronto. That is far fewer than what most reading this article are envisioning, which is why it is key to look at the actual numbers. In 41 starts with Indiana last year, Siakam had 15 games with nine or more rebounds, six with eight and 20 with seven or fewer.

BONUS BET: We can also go back to Clint Capela for the under on 9.5 rebounds which is +100 on most books. Check out Monday’s analysis here. Even though Okongwu was out and Capela got four more minutes than expected, he still had just four rebounds. He will be close to double that tonight, but getting to 10 could be a stretch.

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Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today

Get all the latest news and updates for NBA DFS picks today on the Stokastic NBA Live Before Lock Show at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, breaking down all of the key elements for today’s slate.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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