NBA Fantasy Picks Today: DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy Basketball Rankings

The NBA trade deadline is fast approaching! Awesemo’s very own Josh Engleman will be following the NBA Trade Deadline LIVE, breaking down the Ben Simmons and James Harden trade and all of the trades across the league on Thursday. This article is driven by Awesemo’s NBA DFS Rankings. Tonight’s seven-game slate will more than likely have tons of news, so make sure to check the Awesemo NBA Starting Lineups page to see who is in and out tonight.

DraftKings & FanDuel NBA Fantasy Basketball Rankings

*Grades are ordered DraftKings, FanDuel. The initial grade indicates a player’s strength of output, with the value grade indicating their strength as a play in relation to their salary.

PG Kyrie Irving — Grades: A, A | Values: C, A

According to Awesemo’s NBA DFS Rankings, Kyrie Irving is the only player who has an A grade and an A value on either site tonight. The Nets are reeling right now. They have lost nine straight games, and James Harden was just traded to Philadelphia. They will also still be playing without Kevin Durant, who is injured. Without Harden and Durant on the floor this season, Irving has a 32.4% usage rate. He is coming off of his best game of the season, where he had a double-double with 27 points, 11 assists, five rebounds and 59.8 DraftKings points.

Seeing the Nets as 3-point underdogs on the road against the Wizards, who have lost Bradley Beal for the season, goes to show how much this Nets team is struggling. Similar to the Nets, the Wizards have lost eight of their last nine games and rank 22nd in defensive rating. Awesemo projects Irving to be the best value among the pay-up options, especially on FanDuel. This game total is relatively low at 217.5 points, but Irving will be heavily involved in most of the Nets’ offensive production. He had 26 field goal attempts in his last game. Irving will stay aggressive tonight.

PG Kemba Walker — Grades: C, C | Values: A, A

Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Kemba Walker recorded a triple-double on Christmas Day, and now his price has fallen to $4,000 and below on both sites. With that massive price drop, Awesemo projects Walker to be the best value play on both DraftKings and FanDuel. He is projected for 27 minutes, as the Knicks are heavy road underdogs against the Warriors. Derrick Rose is out and R.J. Barrett is doubtful, so the Knicks desperately need Walker to rewind the clock back to a month ago. He has failed to get to 16 DraftKings points in four straight games, shooting 21.1% from the field.

Walker is certainly a price play and not a matchup play, as the Warriors have one of the best defenses in the league. They lead the league in defensive rating and allow only 102.7 points per game. The Knicks are implied to score 104 points tonight, which seems like a stretch. With Rose and Barrett off the floor this season, Walker has a 25.6% usage rate and has seen a massive increase in his DraftKings production. Walker is also popping in Awesemo’s Boom/Bust Tool on DraftKings, where he has the second-highest boom percentage. He certainly is risky, but Walker is so cheap.

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SG Devin Booker — Grades: A, A | Values: B, B

Devin Booker has the best grade and value on Awesemo’s NBA DFS rankings for DraftKings tonight. Booker has been extremely aggressive scoring the ball lately. He has had 32 or more points in four out of his last five games. Booker has climbed to second place in most field goal attempts, with 20.8 per game, and he has had below 23 field goal attempts just once in his last 12 games. It helps that Chris Paul is leading the league in assists and the offense is run through Booker. Paul is averaging a career-low 15 points per game.

This matchup against the Bucks will suit Booker very well. For starters, this game has by far the highest total on the slate (233 points). The Suns have an implied total of 118 points, and Booker will be heavily involved with that number. The Bucks are incredible at defending the paint, but they struggle on the perimeter. Jrue Holiday is a fantastic individual defender, but the Bucks are allowing a league-high 41.3 3-point attempts per game. They are also tied for the league high in allowing 14.1 3-pointers made per game. Booker leads the Suns in both 3-pointers attempted and made. He is a fantastic mid-range option who, according to Awesemo’s ownership projections, will be the highest-owned player on DraftKings.

Booker is atop the Awesemo NBA rankings today at the shooting guard position and is looking like one of the best plays in NBA DFS today. Check out the DraftKings Fantasy Basketball Cheat Sheet and FanDuel Fantasy Basketball Cheat Sheet for more free picks from the NBA Optimizer.

PF Alperen Sengun — Grades: C, C | Values: A, A

The Rockets have held true to their word in wanting to get Alperen Sengun more playing time, even if it means playing him alongside fellow big man Christian Wood. Sengun has started the last two games but has yet to top 30 minutes since coming back from his ankle injury. Awesemo projects Sengun to only play 27.9 minutes tonight, but he is still the second-best value on DraftKings at his cheap price tag. Sengun has been solid in his last four games, averaging 10.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, two blocks and 26.3 DraftKings points per game. He is a great source of value.

The Rockets are 8-point home underdogs against the Raptors, but this game has a total of 224.5 points, which is the third highest on the slate. The Rockets have lost seven of their last eight games as they continue to have the worst record in the Western Conference. Sengun is certainly in their future plans, so his increase in minutes with his price staying quite cheap is a welcome sight. He is also popping in Awesemo’s Boom/Bust Tool as the highest boom percentage on DraftKings and fifth highest on FanDuel. He is another salary saver on this slate tonight.

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