Sunday, Dec. 19, has a six-game main slate tipping off at 6:00 p.m. ET. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content.
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Sunday, Dec. 19
Three games have already been postponed today and there are more positive COVID tests from players in the six remaining games.
Yahoo Play of the Day — Tyrese Haliburton: Sacramento Kings vs. San Antonio Spurs
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 37.78 | DraftKings: 38.32
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 37.2% | FanDuel 20.9% | DraftKings 30.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $25 | FanDuel $7,700 | DraftKings $6,900
Tyrese Haliburton has been quite productive in his second season, and he has definitely brought things up a notch. In his last two games assuming the role as the lead facilitator with De’Aaron Fox sidelined, Haliburton has averaged 37 minutes, 14.5 points, seven rebounds, 9.5 assists, 1.5 steals and two blocks. It is hard to see the blocks continuing at that frequency, but anything less than 40 Yahoo points from Haliburton tonight will be a disappointment.
Jalen Brunson: Dallas Mavericks at Minnesota Timberwolves
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 38.17 | DraftKings: 39.03
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 30.2% | FanDuel 28.3% | DraftKings 31.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $34 | FanDuel $9,300 | DraftKings $8,200
Luka Doncic, Reggie Bullock, Josh Green, Frankie Ntilikina and Willie Cauley-Stein are all out for Dallas tonight. That means Dallas should use a tightened rotation with Jalen Brunson as the main distributor. Brunson has been solid since moving into the starting lineup as the replacement for Doncic, averaging 32 minutes and just over a fantasy point per minute. The Timberwolves have played at the second-fastest pace in the league over their last 10 games and have played substandard defense at best. There should be plenty of fantasy goodness to go around, and gamers can also look to Kristaps Porzingis, Dorian Finney-Smith, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Maxi Kleber.
LeBron James: Los Angeles Lakers at Chicago Bulls
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.05 | DraftKings: 46.5
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 18.8% | FanDuel 14.7% | DraftKings 18.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $47 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $10,800
Anthony Davis is going to miss at least a month, so once again LeBron James is going to have to do some heavy lifting. Chicago is getting DeMar DeRozan, Javonte Green and Coby White back from the health and safety protocol, though it remains to be seen what their conditioning will be after missing nearly two weeks. Looking at various on/off combinations with James, Davis and Russell Westbrook, James should produce 1.4 to 1.5 fantasy points per minute as long as his legs hold up.
Portland Trail Blazers at Memphis Grizzlies
Damian Lillard has put up some excellent fantasy numbers since returning from a nearly two-week break to rest his ailing abdominal injury. Lillard has averaged 39.8 minutes and 22 field goal attempts in the four games since his return, including 13 shots from beyond the arc. This has resulted in 29.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, seven assists and one combined blocks and steals. That production came with C.J. McCollum out, who will miss another week. Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons are both at the $10 Yahoo minimum salary, and they are excellent options in all formats. If Larry Nance Jr. continues to start, he should be in the rotation for around 30 minutes. If any more games are postponed, Robert Covington enters the fray as a discount dandy and Norman Powell becomes an interesting mid-tier option.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Sunday, Dec. 19 Slate
New Orleans – Philadelphia, Cleveland – Atlanta and Denver – Brooklyn have all been postponed this afternoon, while the game between Orlando and Toronto on Monday has been shelved as well. Dallas – Minnesota could be next, so be sure to have contingency plans in place. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel
