NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Kawhi Leonard Is Back To Fantasy Relevance!

Friday’s NBA action should be chaotic, with games tipping off at five different times. The nine-game featured slate locks at 7 p.m. ET on both 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 for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups, including a resurgent Kawhi Leonard.

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NBA DFS Picks: Friday, Jan. 13

Core Play of the Day — Kawhi Leonard: Los Angeles Clippers-Denver Nuggets

It seems that Kawhi Leonard is going to see 35 to 36 minutes as his baseline playing time, albeit with rest days on back-to-backs. Leonard last played on Tuesday, so he should be good to go tonight. The Clippers have been struggling and have lost six of their last seven games. Tonight the Clippers are favored by a bucket as they play host to the Denver Nuggets.

In the last month, Leonard has played in eight games with more than 30 minutes of run — this excludes an 18.2-minute outing in Denver on Jan. 5. During this stretch, he is averaging 34.6 minutes and 17.1 field goal attempts with a 52.9% conversion rate. This has resulted in 25.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.1 combined blocks and steals. There looks to be a lot of value at point guard and center tonight, so Leonard having eligibility at both forward slots makes him our core building block of the day.

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Houston Rockets-Sacramento Kings

In this same matchup on Wednesday, Houston and Sacramento posted a combined 250 points. The Rockets have lost 13 of their last 14 games, but they have at least been playing teams close most nights.

Kevin Porter Jr. (foot) has been ruled out, which does create a little bit of value for the otherwise healthy squad. Kenyon Martin Jr. started the second half in place of Porter, so there is a decent chance he gets the starting nod tonight.

Jalen Green and Jabari Smith should also see additional offensive and secondary facilitation duties, which give them a fantasy boost as well. While it would be folly to expect another triple-double from Alperen Sengun, it was fun to see him hit that milestone on the nose with a 10-10-10 night. He should be in the mix for a double-double and looks like a strong center option on FanDuel and an above-average point-per-dollar play on DraftKings.

Kevin Huerter (illness) missed the last game and did not practice on Thursday. If he remains out, then Malik Monk, Keegan Murray and Harrison Barnes are neutral tournament plays on the main slate but above-average options on the late slate. If Huerter is available, then these wings would only carry slight interest on the late slate.

Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox are priority options who should be on the shortlist in all formats. Sabonis looks great as a power forward on FanDuel, but do not lose sight of Fox on both of the main DFS sites as more value appears and tempts gamers to look higher on the salary list for the tippy-top options.


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Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Picks Today – Sports Betting Opportunities

Ivica Zubac has seen his minutes fluctuate based on matchups, though typically he plays more when facing fellow “traditional” big men. Tonight he has an 8.5 total for his rebound prop against the Nuggets. This season, Zubac has eight or more rebounds in 28 of 41 (68.3%) of his games while averaging 10.5 rebounds per tilt, along with 13.0 rebounds per 36 minutes.

The NBA Bet Pro projections have Zubac for 10.1 rebounds and a 60% likelihood of surpassing his line of 8.5. We can utilize this wager as part of a parlay to increase the upside potential of the 9% expected return on investment at -115 on BetMGM.

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Phoenix Suns-Minnesota Timberwolves

Phoenix is missing nearly most of their opening night starters as well as a couple of key reserves. Devin Booker, Chris Paul, Cameron Johnson, Cameron Payne and Landry Shamet are all out tonight. Additionally, Deandre Ayton is questionable after missing the last two games with an ankle injury.

Josh Okogie, Duane Washington Jr., Dario Saric, Torrey Craig and Mikal Bridges all are above-average options on DraftKings. FanDuel has been more proactive with salaries, so each of these players is more of a neutral option.

In the event Ayton is out again, then Jock Landale and Bismack Biyombo become two more center options on a long list of choices. It may be best to focus on the Phoenix pivotmen for the evening sub-slate.

Minnesota has listed Anthony Edwards, Kyle Anderson and Taurean Prince as questionable. Rudy Gobert looks like a strong option, as does D’Angelo Russell in most scenarios. We will need additional information to figure out where the other chips are going to fall.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Tonight is an expansive slate, with games starting at five different times and six of the matchups tipping off in the first hour. To get ready for all the moving parts, be sure to tune into the Stokastic Live Deeper Dive and Before Lock shows at 5 p.m. ET on YouTube, courtesy of No House Advantage.

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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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