Wednesday, October 19 brings us the second wave of NBA Opening Night two dozen teams taking the court and monster tournament on DraftKings and FanDuel with a 7:00 p.m. ET lock. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. As always, you can head over to the Stokastic NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate.
NBA DFS Picks Today: Wednesday, October 19
Core Play of the Day — Tyrese Haliburton: Indiana Pacers vs. Washington Wizards
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 40.96 | FanDuel: 39.98
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 21.3% | FanDuel: 14.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $7,200 | FanDuel: $8,000
Tonight is a 12-game slate which is going to be one of the largest of the season as the NBA rarely gets into double digit games on the main slate around once a week on average. Though there are a pair of two-game slates in the first three days of this season, most Tuesdays will be four games and during the NFL season, Thursdays have a two-game baseline.
Last year under first time head coach Wes Unseld Jr., Washington did see an improvement on defense while also tempering the breakneck pace which DFS gamers loved so much. Not to fear, they still allowed 112.0 points per game, but that was in the middle of the pack, and significantly down from the 118.5 allowed in 2021, the 119.1 in 2020 and the 116.9 in 2019 which were all last or second to last in those seasons.
After being traded to Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton started 26 games while averaging 17.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 9.6 assists and 2.4 combined blocks and steals over 36.1 minutes per game. Tonight that is a reasonable output considering the matchup, though the minutes expectation is closer to something in the low-30s. There is room for a few extra minutes considering that the Wizards are favored by a bucket and the Pacers will be playing in front of a packed Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Nikola Jokic: Denver Nuggets at Utah Jazz
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 58.96 | FanDuel: 56.61
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 21.2% | FanDuel: 17.2%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,300 | FanDuel: $11,600
By dealing both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, Utah has kicked off a full teardown process. Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson and Rudy Gay are the only returning regulars. The starting lineup will be Conley and four newcomers in Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, Jarred Vanderbilt and Kelly Olynyk. The Jazz are going to be a disaster on defense this season and Denver is favored by 7.5 points heading into Salt Lake City.
This team is not equipped to deal with two-time reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic and while there are plenty of excellent center options tonight, Jokic has the best overall median fantasy point projection, leading everyone else by half a dozen points.
Additional NBA DFS Picks Today – Opportunities
Monte Morris is an interesting option in the NBA player props market and tonight he will be making his debut with the Washington Wizards. Currently he has a 10.5 over/under on his points prop, and the Stokastic NBA player projections have him for 13.1, which gives him a 65% probability of surpassing this over. Deni Avdija and Delon Wright will likely be the backup facilitators, but we know that Bradley Beal and Will Barton can also handle the ball. Still, Morris will need to score in addition to running the offense and the Wizards are looking to him to be a complimentary three-point threat to help open up the paint. It is hard to envision the five-year veteran falling short of double-digit points tonight.
Charlotte Hornets at San Antonio Spurs
LaMelo Ball is dealing with a sprained ankle and could miss the next 10 days. James Bouknight is dealing with off court issues following a DUI arrest, which is his fourth major vehicle violation in the last year and change. Miles Bridges is no longer with the team and dealing with his own pending criminal charges. This is likely far from what head coach Steve Clifford was expecting when he agreed to assume the helm of the organization for a second stint.
Terry Rozier looks like a tremendous point per dollar option across the NBA DFS sites and he should get all the minutes he can handle. Gordon Hayward is a neutral play, but it is hard to see him with more than 30 minutes most nights as he is constantly breaking down as an injury magnet. Kelly Oubre Jr. is a fine tournament option as he does have 40 fantasy point upside if his shot is falling, but he is also one or two silly mistakes away from riding the pine for extended periods of the game. Mason Plumlee, Cody Martin and PJ Washington are going to have value as well, though we need to see what the starting lineup will be closer to lock to help make a more accurate minutes allocation.
San Antonio is yet another team that is also going through a rebuilding process. The Spurs will be replacing Dejounte Murray, Lonnie Walker IV and of course Derrick White who was traded to Boston last season.
Jakob Poeltl is a tremendous option on both DraftKings ($5,800) where we can roster two centers and the double-double bonus is in play. FanDuel ($6,900) is a little tougher where we can roster just one center, but he is an excellent option behind Jokic and Bam Adebayo, particularly with blocks and steals being worth three fantasy points.
Keldon Johnson, Devin Vassell and Tre Jones are all likely to be in the starting lineup tonight and each of them should be able to clear 30 fantasy points in this matchup. It will be interesting to see how the rest of the rotation shakes out, but there is no need to dabble with anyone other than this core four tonight.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Today
Tonight may be a little tricky since there will be many opportunities to make mistakes or be on the wrong side of what appears to be an equal decision. More clarity will be gained regarding rotations and the assimilation players new to their respective teams throughout the next week. This makes for a fun tournament environment but could potentially be frustrating for those making “cash game” lineups, as there are only a handful of obvious plays and a plethora of almost as good as the obvious plays.
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