Saturday, Jan. 25 has an intriguing four-game main slate for all the big daily fantasy sites. Before you lock in your NBA DFS lineups and NBA DFS picks on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and FantasyDraft, make sure to check out check out Awesemo’s NBA DFS rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS Picks, including Andre Drummond, Thaddeus Young and more.
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NBA DFS Picks: Prime Time Players
Andre Drummond: Detroit Pistons at Brooklyn Nets
DraftKings $9,100, FanDuel $10,300, Yahoo $49 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 36.4%, FanDuel 34.6% Yahoo Fantasy 28.4%
Saturday night has a nice matchup for Andre Drummond who should have fresh legs after missing to games with a lacerated lip suffered against Washington five days ago, This is just the second time these two teams have met this season, but we know that Drummond is a rebounding vortex as he is leading the league with 15.7 per game.
The only play that would be better on tonight’s abbreviated four game slate would be LeBron James, if Anthony Davis (glute) is out which is not likely. Brooklyn is a middle-of-the-pack team from a rebounding perspective this season, however, Drummond has 20+ rebounds in three of his last four matchups against them. Even the addition of  DeAndre Jordan (thumb) would not be a deterrent.
NBA DFS Picks: Good Value
Thaddeus Young: Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
DraftKings $4,400, FanDuel $4,500, Yahoo $14 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 38.3%, FanDuel 25.7% Yahoo Fantasy 37.2%
Lauri Markkanen is going to miss the next month or two with a stress fracture of his pelvis. Wendell Carter Jr. is going to be out for another month with his ankle injury. That leaves a boatload of minutes in the Chicago front court that have to be filled in the meantime. Luke Kornet and Cristiano Felicio are not particularly enticing option, but they are in play as is Chandler Hutchison who is an extreme discount dandy.
The crown jewel of value plays tonight is going to be Thaddeus Young who will be a staple in “cash” games across the DFS sites. The 31-year old veteran is in his thirteenth campaign and when given a healthy dose of minutes can contribute across all statistical categories. He should see 32-34 minutes and will flirt with a double double, even against Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love.
Yahoo Fantasy Discount Dandies
Matisse Thybulle vs. LAL – $10
Josh Okogie vs. OKC – $11
Mike Muscala at MIN – $10
If you haven’t signed up for Yahoo Fantasy DFS, click this link and use the promo code Awesemo when making your first deposit and you will be eligible for $30 of free play, which Yahoo will match through the first $30 of your deposit (this bonus will be received in Yahoo Sports Rewards Points, aka YSRP, which can be used to enter any paid contest immediately).
NBA DFS Picks: Risky Value
Coby White: Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers
DraftKings $4,200, FanDuel $3,900, Yahoo $11 Ownership Rating (preliminary run): DraftKings 24.5%, FanDuel 12.3% Yahoo Fantasy 18.4%
Even for his cheap price tag I am hesitating going to Coby White on our four game slate tonight. While he does have a 25% usage rate this season, he disappears all too often in favorable situations. On the season he is averaging a respectable 0.8 fantasy points per minute, though he has topped 20 fantasy points just three times in his last 13 games.
This season, most of his fantasy production comes from his scoring. If his shot is falling he could be just fine, but if he continues to see single digit field goal attempts, he will be far from necessary in tournament winning lineups tonight. Buyer Beware.
NBA DFS Picks: SuperDraft
Al Horford: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Los Angeles Lakers – 1.55x multiplier
Thaddeus Young: Chicago Bulls at Cleveland Cavaliers – 1.75x multiplier
Chris Paul: Oklahoma City Thunder at Minnesota Timberwolves – 1.4x multiplier
Our standout SuperDraft recommendations for today are Al Horford who sees his rates climb across the board without Joel Embiid on the court. It is not an easy matchup against the Lakers, but he should see as many minutes as he can handle tonight. Thaddeus Young was discussed at length in his own section so there is nothing to add here. Chris Paul gets a great matchup against Minnesota who eschews defense. Even though this is a back-to-back, he only played 28.2 minutes last night and 29.2 on Wednesday. SuperDraft scoring gives 3.0 points for steals and Paul is averaging 1.6 per game which is a top ten figure. Enjoy!
If you haven’t signed up for SuperDraft DFS, click this link and use the promo code Awesemo when making your first deposit of at least $100 and you will be eligible for $20 of free play. The bonus will be provided in SuperDraft Cash which can be used to enter any contest immediately.
FantasyCruncher Tip of the Day
Use promo code PRIMETIME to receive 50% off any one-week premium subscription (including FantasyCruncher options).
With the incredibly user-friendly FantasyCruncher, we can take our lineup construction to the next level.
Today, we will look at how to use the random feature and how it impacts projections. By going into Advanced Options > General Settings, we can set a global Randomness that will be applied to all players. In this case we will use 15%. This means that for each individual lineup that is produced by FantasyCruncher, each player will have their baseline projection randomized within a +/- 15% range.
So if our player had a projection of 20 points, FantasyCruncher would assign a range projection of 17-23 points. Again, this will occur with each different lineup that is created and with each player.
For those of you with FC Pro, you have a second option. The Normal Dist Randomness calculation will actually follow a standard deviation bell curve approach. This keeps the variations in a more realistic set of parameters. This can also be set by each play via the data upload process.
Final Thoughts
Even with there being just eight teams in the player pool, we continue to have a tremendous amount of injury news.
Be sure to tune in to see what Fast Eddie Fear has to say on Live Before Lock on YouTube, Twitch and Periscope beginning at 6 p.m. EST tonight for all of the up-to-date information.
As always, you can reach out to me in Awesemo.com Premium Slack or on Twitter @EMacDFS if you have any NBA DFS questions about DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo or FantasyDraft.
Good Luck NBA DFS Gamers! ~ EMac
If you haven’t signed up for SuperDraft DFS, click this link and use the promo code Awesemo when making your first deposit of at least $100 and you will be eligible for $20 of free play. It will be provided in SuperDraft Cash which can be used to enter any paid contest immediately.
