In typical Tuesday night fashion, the NBA offers a small three-game slate beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET on both DraftKings and FanDuel. Using Stokastic’s NBA DFS projections, let’s take a deeper dive into the player pool to discuss the top NBA DFS high-priced studs for today.
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High Priced NBA DFS Plays: Tuesday, October 31
Stud No. 1 — Kevin Durant: San Antonio Spurs-Phoenix Suns
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 49.63 | FanDuel: 48.62
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 40.90% | FanDuel: 47.40%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,500 | FanDuel: $11,000
Durant is the highest-priced player on both DraftKings and FanDuel and an easy starting point among today’s studs. With Devin Booker and Bradley Beal both still out, Durant should continue to see massive usage numbers for a Suns team that has limited options outside of its big three. Averaging 51.4 DraftKings points in two games without Booker and Beal, Durant only played 29 minutes on Saturday against the Jazz, as the Suns rolled 126-104.
He is matched up with San Antonio in a game that should be high-scoring and competitive, so it is hard to get away from Durant tonight, and the field sees it similarly. As of this writing, Durant is projected to be 40.90% owned on DraftKings and 47.40% owned on FanDuel, and given his relatively inexpensive price tag on both sites, it makes all the sense in the world. While he’s projected to be over-owned based on Stokastic’s optimal percentages, he has the highest upside of any player on the slate and is a fade at your own risk for both cash games and GPPs.
Stud No. 2 — Donovan Mitchell: New York Knicks-Cleveland Cavaliers
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 47.58 | FanDuel: 47.25
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 40.40% | FanDuel: 33.20%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,700 | FanDuel: $10,600
Although Durant is the clear top spend-up option, Mitchell looks really good in his own right at $9,700 on DraftKings and $10,600 on FanDuel. After missing Saturday’s game against the Pacers, Mitchell is again listed as questionable tonight, but his presence at today’s shootaround is a positive sign for him returning to action. Assuming he plays, Mitchell will have to carry a Cleveland team that will be without the services of Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen, Ty Jerome and possibly Caris LeVert.
After getting embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs last season by this same Knicks team, the Cavaliers and Mitchell definitely have this game circled, and it wouldn’t be surprising if Mitchell rested last game to make sure he was good to go tonight. While hamstrings can be tricky, he has averaged 39 minutes in the two games he has played this season, and if he is active, there’s no reason to suspect anything but a full workload. Mitchell is projected for similar ownership as Durant on DraftKings and slightly less on FanDuel, and pairing the two together seems like the ideal strategy tonight.
With only six teams playing tonight, news up to lock should be pretty easy to handle. Be sure to check out Stokastic Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows.
