Saturday, Feb. 5, has an expansive five-game NBA slate tipping off at 7 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: DraftKings, FanDuel & Yahoo Building Blocks Today | Saturday, Feb. 5
Yahoo Play of the Day — Julius Randle: New York Knickerbockers at Los Angeles Lakers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 38.68 | DraftKings: 41.55
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 34.6% | FanDuel 8.7% | DraftKings 17.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $31 | FanDuel $9,200 | DraftKings $8,700
It is important to understand not only the scoring system utilized by your DFS site of choice, but also how historical salaries have played out over the last few seasons. Julius Randle has seen his salary dip recently and it was as low as $29 this week which was a level not seen in three calendar years on Yahoo. Currently he rates out as the best point per dollar option among the 20 players with the highest fantasy projection on Yahoo tonight. Over the last seven games, both the Lakers and the Knicks have played at a league average pace with pedestrian defensive efficiency ratings. Pairing Randle with Anthony Davis does provide some in-game synergy and gives us two players who should be in the mix for a combined 90 fantasy points with upside ticking towards 100 fantasy points.
Chris Paul: Phoenix Suns at Washington Wizards
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 42.28 | DraftKings: 43.3
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 19.8% | FanDuel 13.5% | DraftKings 13.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $40 | FanDuel $9,900 | DraftKings $9,800
Tonight the Suns will be playing the Wizards in our Nation’s Capital and they are favored by half a dozen points. Though Bradley Beal is out, Washington has proven that they are a far deeper team than they were last season. If Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell can help keep this game close into the final frame, we should get close to full minutes from Chris Paul. Cameron Payne (wrist) and Landry Shamet (ankle) are both out which has thinned out the backcourt options. Paul leads the league in assists and we have seen him playing extended minutes down the stretch in games that are not particularly close out of necessity. Though he is not going to be driving to the hoop or chasing down loose balls in this type of scenario, if he is still on the court in maintenance mode, we could get a couple extra assists and a three-pointer or two as a bonus.
Portland Trail Blazers vs. Milwaukee Bucks
This is a back-to-back for the Trail Blazers who lost 96-93 last night to the visiting Thunder. They also traded away Norman Powell and Robert Covington for Eric Bledsoe, Justise Winslow, Keon Johnson and a second round pick. That trade will not be officially complete for another day or two with the players all needing to pass physicals. That means we should see 32-36 minutes once again from Jusuf Nurkic, C.J. McCollum and Anfernee Simons. While there is no need for Portland to run them into the ground with this shaping up to be a reset season, they at least should see a few more minutes than they would with a full roster. Larry Nance Jr. (knee) may return, but he has been out for 16 games so if he does play, he likely will have a minutes cap. C.J. Elleby, Trendon Watford and Dennis Smith Jr. become viable options on the two-game late-slate.
Milwaukee is double digit road favorites, but we know that there is a reason games still have to be played. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a luxury option if there are a few more discount dandies that reveal themselves prior to tipoff. In his last 11 games, only once has Antetokounmp played fewer than 30 minutes. Grayson Allen is cheap across the DFS sites and very much in play on all slates. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton are neutral options, though they would rocket up the projections list if Antetokounmpo were to get a surprise night off. That is in play with the Bucks heading to Los Angeles tomorrow to take on the Clippers. Bobby Portis is also a solid option, but there are many centers worthy of our consideration.
The NBA player props market for Portis tonight is one to exploit against the Trail Blazers as Awesemo has him projected for just over 9 rebounds. Currently his rebound prop is over/under 8.5 which is intriguing as there is a 68% chance of Portis exceeding this mark. In 8 of his last 13 games, Portis has double digit rebounds which demonstrates his upside potential.
Sacramento Kings vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
De’Aaron Fox has missed the last seven games with an ankle injury, though once again he is listed as a game-time decision. If he is in, then Tyrese Haliburton and Davion Mitchell will be directly impacted with their minutes and opportunities. There will be somewhat of a trickle down effect on the production from Buddy Hield and Harrison Barnes. Marvin Bagley III has missed the last three games with his own ankle issue and if he is back then Richaun Holmes, Chimezie Metu and Damian Jones will be negatively impacted from a minutes and fantasy production standpoint.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (ankle) has been ruled out through the All-Star Break and while this is a back-to-back game with the starters logging heavy minutes last night in Portland, we should expect to see another 30-34 minutes baseline from everyone in the starting lineup. Mike Muscala is unlikely to play on the back-to-back, so we probably will get an inconsequential 12-16 minutes from Derrick Favors tonight. The focus of course should be on rookie Josh Giddey with Luguentz Dort and Darius Bazley getting extra offensive opportunities as well. Tre Mann, Mamadi Diakite, Kenrich Williams and Ty Jerome are among the best cheapies in the player pool, though even in this fantasy friendly matchup, capping lineups with at most two of those three seems like a savvy move.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Saturday, Feb. 5 Slate
Tonight the slate is spread out with three different start times, including a double shot West Coast nightcap. 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.
