NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today: Nikola Jokic or Joel Embiid as Top Center? (December 22)

There is an abundance of value on tonight’s six-game NBA slate, so we should have no difficulty finding the salary to roster our favorite stars. In this article, we will take a look at a few of those stars that look like priority NBA daily fantasy picks tonight — stars like MVP favorites Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid.

NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today

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NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today No. 1 – Joel Embiid

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,200/ FanDuel: $12,900
  • Stokastic’s Point Projections: DraftKings: 65.7/ FanDuel: 64.9
  • Stokastic’s Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 36.2%/ FanDuel: 12.7%

Embiid is a clear priority on DraftKings, where he is $1,700 less expensive than on FanDuel. He is a strong play on FanDuel as well, but it is more difficult to fit him into lineups since he is the most expensive player on the slate, and we also only have one center spot. Embiid has been the best per-minute fantasy producer in the NBA this season, averaging 1.90 DraftKings points per minute in 34.1 minutes per game. He has a mediocre matchup tonight, as the Raptors rank in the bottom 10 in pace and middle of the pack in adjusted defensive rating, but he still stands out as a top option.

NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today No. 2 – Nikola Jokic

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,000/ FanDuel: 12,200
  • Stokastic’s Point Projections: DraftKings: 63.5/ FanDuel: 60.8
  • Stokastic’s Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 32.4%/ FanDuel: 12.8%

Jokic sits slightly behind Embiid for the highest projection on the slate, but he is also slightly less expensive. Jokic has averaged 1.73 DraftKings points per minute in the 15 games that he has played with Jamal Murray active this season. Like Embiid, he has a mediocre matchup, as the Nets rank in the middle of the league in pace and adjusted defensive rating.

NBA Daily Fantasy Picks Today No. 3 – Kevin Durant

  • DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,000/ FanDuel: $10,200
  • Stokastic’s Point Projections: DraftKings: 51.5/ FanDuel: 52.0
  • Stokastic’s Ownership Projections: DraftKings: 25.4%/ FanDuel: 29.8%

Of the nine highest-projected players on DraftKings, Durant is the only one with forward eligibility. On FanDuel, he is the only one of the top 6 projected players with forward eligibility. As a result, he has a bit less opportunity cost than the expensive centers and guards and it becomes easier to fit him into lineups. In 12 games alongside Devin Booker without Bradley Beal this season, Durant has produced 1.36 DraftKings points per minute in 36.7 minutes per game. He has a 31.9% usage rate, 9.1% rebounding rate and 27.1% assist rate in those games. While he doesn’t offer the elite per-minute production of Jokic or Embiid, he is less expensive in actual cost and opportunity cost. The matchup against the Kings is also favorable, as they have played at the league’s ninth-fastest pace and rank in the bottom 10 in adjusted defensive rating.

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There are eight games tonight and we are still waiting on important injury news. Be sure to check out Stokastic’s Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows.

Author
Adam "ShipMyMoney" Scherer has been playing and analyzing DFS full-time since quitting law school in 2016. He has qualified for the 2016 FanDuel MLB Playboy Championship, the 2016 DraftKings Fantasy Baseball World Championship (3x) and the 2019 DraftKings Fantasy Basketball World Championship. You can find him on Twitter at @ShipMyMoneyDFS or by emailing [email protected].

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