The NBA is offering up a four-game DFS slate this evening, and this article will analyze Stokastic’s ownership projections to see how to best handle high- and low-owned players in order to gain leverage in tournaments. Let’s get into the top NBA DFS leverage picks for today to help build optimal NBA DFS lineups.
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NBA DFS Leverage Picks & Optimizer Plays | Feb. 5
Despite there only being four games tonight, there are a bunch of really good center options to choose from on both DraftKings and FanDuel. As such, Knicks big man Isaiah Hartenstein is going under-owned on both sites, and he looks like one of the top leverage plays on the slate.
Hartenstein has a surprisingly good spot against a 76ers team that ranks 28th in the NBA against backup big men, and he is in good form as he continues to play more minutes than starter Jericho Sims. At only $4,000 at DraftKings, Hartenstein looks like a free square in all formats, and he’s not getting any love, as he’s projected to be in only 3.70% of lineups on DraftKings tonight.
While Hartenstein is more expensive on FanDuel at $5,000, his power forward eligibility more than makes up for the price discrepancy, and he’s projected for even less ownership there than on DraftKings. As of this writing, Hartenstein is currently projected to be optimal 6.20% of the time on DraftKings and 3.10% of the time on FanDuel, offering strong leverage across both sites.
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Staying in this same game, Philadelphia guard Tyrese Maxey is also getting overlooked tonight. Priced at $5,900 on DraftKings and $6,100 on FanDuel, Maxey is getting forgotten about on both DraftKings and FanDuel. While he isn’t as cheap as Hartenstein, Maxey is right there with the Knicks big man as far as leverage goes across both sites.
Coming off one of his best games of the season, Maxey is projected to be optimal 7.40% of the time on DraftKings and 6.20% of the time on FanDuel. Despite his optimal percentages, NBA DFS players are forgetting about him on both sites, as he is projected to be only 4.30% owned on DraftKings and 5.70% owned on FanDuel. When both Joel Embiid and James Harden are in for the 76ers, Maxey is more of a solid player than a spectacular one, but he offers surprisingly good leverage on both sites, and there’s a lot to like about him in tournaments tonight.
On the flip side, Guillermo Hernangomez rates poorly from a leverage perspective on both DraftKings and FanDuel in Stokastic’s Boom/Bust Tool and might be worth fading. At only $3,000 on DraftKings, Hernangomez is projected to find himself in 75.90% of lineups with an optimal percentage of 63.50%.
With Jonas Valanciunas unlikely to play after hurting his knee yesterday, Hernangomez is clearly a strong play at the minimum on DraftKings, but with other value players like Hartenstein and Precious Achiuwa going under-owned, it might be wise to avoid him in large-field tournaments.
Situations to Monitor
Multiple players have picked up questionable tags for tonight’s action, including Joel Embiid, Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr., Rudy Gobert, Kyle Anderson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
NBA injury news is always unpredictable, and it seems like every night there are unexpected scratches, sometimes at the last minute. That’s especially the case on weekends when beat reporters and staff are less aware of team situations. Tune into the Stokastic Live Before Lock show on YouTube at 4:45 p.m. ET for all of the up-to-date analysis as late NBA news breaks and changes to the best NBA DFS picks and plays.
