Wednesday, Feb. 9, keeps things humming with a six-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 | Wednesday, Feb. 9
Yahoo Play of the Day — LeBron James: Los Angeles Lakers at Portland Trail Blazers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 49.31 | DraftKings: 50.69
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 4.6% | FanDuel 23.2% | DraftKings 13.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $55 | FanDuel $10,800 | DraftKings $10,800
Tonight the ripple effects of recent trades and anything that may occur this afternoon will be evident. Even if a trade has yet to be consummated, some teams are holding out players to avoid injury until agreements can be reached prior to Thursday’s deadline. Fortunately, that is not a worry for LeBron James, as the Lakers are continuing to slide down the standings. Last night they lost to Milwaukee 131-116 in a game that was not particularly close. Tonight they are in Portland taking on the Trail Blazers, who may be shorthanded after being a participant in several of the main deals that have gone down so far.
Los Angeles is currently favored by 9 points, but it has a 4-6 record over their last 10 games and this is a borderline must-win game. While this is a back-to-back, James played a reasonable 34 minutes last night, and prior to that his last game was on Saturday. The Lakers’ next matchup is this Saturday on the road against Golden State, so there should be no concern about minutes for James tonight. Even if the Lakers somehow cruise to a victory, it is hard to imagine many outcomes where James does not at least flirt with 40 fantasy points.
Stephen Curry: Golden State Warriors at Utah Jazz
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.71 | DraftKings: 48.88
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 9.2% | FanDuel 16.9% | DraftKings 9.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $44 | FanDuel $9,500 | DraftKings $10,300
Stephen Curry is always an intriguing option in tournaments, as he is one of a handful of players that has attainable 50- to 55-fantasy-point upside in any matchup. Tonight Golden State will be in Utah taking on a Jazz team that is in flux. Rudy Gobert (calf) will be missing his eighth straight game, and Rudy Gay is questionable with a back injury. Joe Ingles (knee) is out for the season and was just traded along with Elijah Hughes to Portland as part of a three-team deal, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Juancho Hernangomez ending up in Utah. Tomas Satoransky will land in San Antonio.
Utah has allowed 112.5 per 100 possessions in the last seven games without Gobert, which is in the bottom third of the league during this timeframe. This means they are not as daunting a matchup as they have been for with Gobert defending the paint. Once again Draymond Green is out, and in his absence Curry has taken on a major workload over his last nine games, with 36.3 minutes and 18.7 field goal attempts. In this stretch he is averaging 24.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.6 combined blocks and steals. Curry in this stretch has reached the 60-fantasy-point plateau, and he had 50 or more in two other games. Klay Thompson, Nemanja Bjelica and Andre Iguodala are out tonight, and Kevon Looney is questionable. This is shaping up to be a game where Curry flirts with two-dozen field goal attempts and double-digit assists.
Tonight the NBA player props market for Stephen Curry against Utah tonight is one to exploit, as Awesemo has him projected for just over 7.8 assists. Currently his assist prop is over/under 6.5, which is intriguing since there is a 67% chance of Curry exceeding that mark. Curry had seven or more assists in eight of his last 10 games, which is perfect for this player prop.
Chicago Bulls at Charlotte Hornets
This game leads the slate with a 236.5 implied point total. Chicago is without Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Derrick Jones Jr., and now Ayo Dosunmu is joining them on the shelf. That makes the big three of DeMar DeRozan, Nikola Vucevic and Zach LaVine core options in all formats tonight. Coby White and Javonte Green are secondary options, though there is some appeal for a game stack.
Gordon Hayward, Cody Martin, Jalen McDaniels and James Bouknight are all out with various maladies for Charlotte. That means they should continue to use a tight seven- or eight-man rotation, with LaMelo Ball, Miles Bridges and Terry Rozier seeing the most opportunities. Kelly Oubre Jr. and P.J. Washington can be incredibly inconsistent, but their salaries are appealing, particularly on Yahoo. Mason Plumlee is an option, though like most nights center is a loaded position.
Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings
This is the rare back-to-back matchup in the same city for the Timberwolves and Kings. Last night Minnesota cruised to a 134-114 victory, and they also welcomed back several players who had been dinged up. Tonight they are favored by 9 points and if nobody is out for rest, then Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and D’Angelo Russell are the players to target.
De’Aaron Fox returned after missing nearly three weeks with an ankle injury, logging 34 minutes. It will be interesting to see if he plays on a back-to-back in yet another lost season for Sacramento. Richaun Holmes was out for personal reasons, and Marvin Bagley III missed yet another game with his own ankle injury last night. Both are on the trading block, so it would not be a surprise for them to sit out tonight as well. Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton were dealt for Domantas Sabonis, and everyone needs to pass their physicals in order for Sabonis to debut tonight. If Sabonis is not available, then Damian Jones and Chimezie Metu are late-slate punt options as long as Holmes and Bagley sit. Davion Mitchell and Harrison Barnes are the safest options, and they are in play regardless of any pending news.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Wednesday, Feb. 9 Slate
Tonight has a split slate with three games tipping off in the first hour and then three West Coast games beginning at 10 p.m. ET. 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.
