NBA DFS First Look & Optimal Lineup Picks Today

The Slate Starter is a daily first look at the day’s NBA slate 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 Monday’s seven-game NBA slate.

Want to see how your lineup stacked up against yesterday’s winning NBA DFS lineups for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo fantasy basketball? 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

Giannis Antetokounmpo, F/C, Milwaukee Bucks

The Bucks have quietly been struggling of late. They’ve lost four of their past five games, three of which have come at home. That said, it hasn’t been due to Antetokounmpo. He’s played some of his best basketball recently, racking up at least 68.25 DraftKings points in three of his past five outings. He’s increased his production to 1.84 DraftKings points per minute over the past month, which is easily the top mark among Monday’s players.

Giannis and the Bucks are in a potential smash spot vs. the Hornets. They’ve played at the second-fastest pace this season, and they rank just 22nd in defensive efficiency. The Bucks are currently implied for 125.75 points, which is the top mark on the slate. There are limited options to pay up for on Monday, making Giannis an even stronger option than usual. Expect him to lead the way by a sizable margin in our NBA Projections.

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Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder

If you’re not paying up for Giannis, Gilgeous-Alexander is an interesting pivot. He’s coming off a massive 60.5 DraftKings points in his last outing, and he should be asked to carry an expanded workload vs. the Kings. They’re currently without Luguentz Dort and Josh Giddey, who are arguably the team’s top two options behind Gilgeous-Alexander. SGA has unsurprisingly increased his usage rate by +7.1% with both players off the court this season, resulting in an average of 1.51 DraftKings points per minute.

The Thunder are another team with an excellent matchup on Monday. The Kings rank 29th in defensive efficiency, so the Thunder have significantly more offensive upside than usual. They’re currently implied for 109.25 points, which represents a massive increase compared to their season average of 101.7.

It will be interesting to see what Gilgeous-Alexander’s projected ownership looks like. He is more expensive than usual, but he clearly has more upside than usual as well. If his projected ownership is too low, he should own a strong leverage score in the Boom/Bust Probability tool.

Brandon Goodwin, PG, Cleveland Cavaliers

The Cavaliers are going to be without virtually all of their top guards once again on Monday. Darius Garland, Caris LeVert, and Rajon Rondo are all out of the lineup for the second straight game.

That means Goodwin should be looking at another expanded workload. He was slightly disappointing in his last game, finishing with 23.75 DraftKings points, but he played a whopping 37.8 minutes. That bodes well for his success moving forward. Goodwin has averaged 0.90 DraftKings points per minute this season. He should be able to improve on his fantasy total vs. the Timberwolves, who have played at the second-fastest pace in the league over their past 10 games.

Goodwin could also provide some value in the player prop market. Make sure to take advantage of the Awesemo Player Prop tool, which highlights the most exploitable player props each day.

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