NBA DFS First Look & Optimal Lineup Picks Today

The Slate Starter is a daily first look at to get your daily fantasy basketball lineup-building process started before lock tonight. Each day, we will go through some of the best NBA DFS picks, top stacks and optimal lineup construction for DraftKings and FanDuel. Be sure to check Awesemo’s NBA Starting Lineups page, as it will be updated throughout the day as the NBA injury reports are released and breaking news surfaces. Let’s dive into some players who stand out as key options on Thursday’s six-game main slate.

Want to see how your lineup stacked up against yesterday’s winning NBA DFS lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo? Check out Awesemo’s Optimal Lineup Review, which uses Fantasy Cruncher Rewind to analyze the winning plays from the night before.

DraftKings & FanDuel NBA DFS Lineup Advice Today

Bam Adebayo, C, Miami Heat

The Heat have the potential to be pretty thin on Thursday. Backup center Omer Yurtseven remains out of the lineup, while Jimmy Butler and Kyle Lowry are both questionable.

Adebayo has been priced up recently, but he still stands out as underpriced at just $8,200 on FanDuel. He’s scored at least 40.4 FanDuel points in three of his past four games, and he’s coming off a monster performance in his last outing. He increased his usage rate to 28.5% with Butler and Lowry sidelined, and he racked up 55.2 FanDuel points.

Adebayo also draws a solid matchup vs. the Spurs. They’ve played at the fifth-fastest pace this season, so this is a significant pace-up spot for the Heat. They also struggle on the defensive end, ranking just 20th in defensive efficiency.

Thursday’s slate has a surprising number of studs, but Adebayo should own one of the better value ratings among the stud tier in our NBA Projections.

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Klay Thompson, SG, Golden State Warriors

Thompson rested in the Spurs last game, but he is not listed on the injury report for Thursday. That means he should be back in the lineup, and it’s possible that he sees a slight uptick in playing time.

Thompson has played between 26 and 27 minutes in each of his past three games, but that hasn’t stopped him from providing fantasy value. He’s scored at least 31.5 DraftKings points in two of those contests, and he’s averaged a strong 1.13 DraftKings points per minute this season.

Thompson has gotten a bit more expensive on Thursday, but that could be mitigated by a few additional minutes. He’s a very intriguing tournament option, especially if he checks in with a minimal ownership projection.

Gary Trent Jr., SG/SF, Toronto Raptors

Head coach Nick Nurse continues to run the Raptors’ starters into the ground, and that includes Trent. He’s logged at least 40.3 minutes in three straight games, and he should continue to carry an insane workload.

Trent is more than capable of taking advantage. He’s averaged 0.88 DraftKings points per minute this season, and he’s increased that figure to 0.94 over the past month. Overall, Trent has scored at least 40.25 DraftKings points in five straight games.

With that in mind, Trent is comically underpriced at just $6,200 on DraftKings. He’s all the way up to $7,100 on FanDuel, so expect him to be one of the highest-owned players on DraftKings.

Trent has also been red-hot as a scorer, logging at least 31 points in five straight games. It will be interesting to see how that impacts his scoring prop. If it becomes too inflated, the under could be an appealing wager. Make sure to take advantage of the Awesemo Player Prop tool, which highlights the most exploitable prop bets each day.

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