NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Devin Booker Trick or Treat?! (Oct. 31)

Thursday brings a condensed four-game featured slate, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on FanDuel and DraftKings. Let’s get into the top NBA DFS picks and building blocks: Phoenix presents several desirable DFS options at a variety of price points, including Devin Booker, Collin Gillespie, Royce O’Neal and Grayson Allen. Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic hold the highest fantasy projections in the player pool, though there are ample pivots with better fantasy point-per-dollar ratios.

These picks are based on the latest available data. For real-time lineup updates, check out our NBA DFS Starting Lineups Page.

NBA DFS Picks Today – Building Blocks: Friday, October 31

NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

Devin Booker was solid through the first five games of the season, carrying the team with Kevin Durant now in Houston and Jalen Green (hamstring) sidelined. He is averaging a career-high 29.2 points, buoyed by a lofty 10 free-throw attempts per game and a 54.1% EFG that is well above his 52.2% career rate. Though the ball is in his hands more, there is still room for upside tonight, considering his 19.4 field goal attempts per game are in line with his 19.7 per game during the preceding four seasons. Booker put up 31 or more points in four of the five games thus far, and he should be in line for that once again tonight.

Now for the big question: What the heck got into Collin Gillespie?! Keep in mind that Gillespie was a freshman on the 2017-18 Villanova team that won the National Championship, along with Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, Donte DiVincenzo and Eric Paschall as upper classmen. Fellow freshmen Omari Spellman and Jermain Samuels also got chances in the Association.

Gillespie was undrafted, signing a two-way contract with Denver in 2022 then getting a similar deal from Phoenix during the summer of 2024. He played 28-plus minutes off the bench in three of the last four games, also producing 30 or more fantasy points in each game. His five steals in the last two tilts are not sustainable, but with his current salary not reflecting his increasing role, he is one of the best fantasy point-per-dollar options across the DFS sites tonight.

Mark Williams is unlikely to play back-to-back games, though the oft-injured big man did make his first appearance with the first five on Wednesday. In his last two games, he averaged 29.5 minutes with a stellar 69.2% success rate on 13 field goal attempts per appearance. He should again be in the mix for a 20-10 game, and he is an intriguing differentiation play on the featured slate, currently being projected for single-digit popularity percentages.

Grayson Allen also stepped up as a secondary scorer, averaging 16.8 points per game. He too has readily attainable upside, with his 37.8% conversion rate from beyond the arc his lowest of the last six seasons and well under his 41.3% career rate.

Royce O’Neale is the other player who sees increased opportunities, and while his offense is likely to subside once Green is available, he hoisted 9.2 3-point attempts per game and started the last two. Overall, he is taking 10.8 field goal attempts per game, so enjoy his oversized 3-and-D role for the time being.

Some of the Phoenix plays are likely to slip back to the pack as more injury news and updates are released throughout the day. Be sure to tune into Stokastic NBA Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube for expert analysis, key insights and winning strategies to dominate your NBA DFS picks today!

From the Utah side, Keyonte George is in play for the main slate, with Walker Kessler and Lauri Markkanen looking solid on the three-game late slate.

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Minott came off the bench in the first game of the season, was a DNP-CD in the second, then got run as a reserve in the third game. He started the last two games, though he could easily lose that spot to Sam Hauser. It was 19-year-old Hugo Gonzalez who started the third game of the season, but he was a DNP-CD the next night and only played four minutes on Wednesday.

Coach Joe Mazzulla is likely to try a variety of lineups this season, though it at least looks like Minott should hold onto a key reserve role at worst, having surpassed Gonzalez and veteran Chris Boucher. Expectations are that Minott will see around 28 minutes as a starter, which will slip towards 24 if he is off the bench. He remains in play for DFS purposes as long as he has a sub-$5,000 salary. Once he crests over that mark, the DFS world will move on to someone else.

Need help getting started with Stokastic’s NBA DFS Sims? Check out all of these FREE resources before making NBA DFS picks today!

• How to Use NBA DFS Sims: Expert Strategy Guide, Tips & Advice
• How Stokastic Sims Are Better Than and an NBA DFS Optimizer
• NBA DFS Sims: Single-Lineup Simulator Is a Lineup-Building Godsend
• NBA DFS Contrarian Strategy: How to Use Stokastic Ownership Projections
• NBA DFS Late Swap Strategy with Stokastic’s NBA DFS Sims
• NBA DFS Leverage & Game Theory: Large Field GPP Strategy

Doncic was stellar in the first two games, topping 70 fantasy points in each as LeBron James misses at least the first month of the season. Austin Reaves was phenomenal in the three games without Doncic, though his lofty salary pretty much takes him out of contention if Luka does indeed return.

Denver is hoping to take it easy with Jokic when possible, as the three-time NBA MVP played just 32 and 27.5 minutes in lopsided victories against Phoenix (22 points) and New Orleans (34 points). The Joker tallied a triple-double in each of the first four games this year and currently leads the league with 11.5 assists.

Stokastic NBA DFS Projections have Jokic for 33.8 minutes, 27.9 points, 12.7 rebounds, 9.2 assists, and 2.4 combined blocks and steals. The Nuggets are 4.5-point road favorites in Portland, and the Trail Blazers are feisty this season with a 3-2 record, having lost close games to Minnesota (118-114) and in Los Angeles (114-107) to the Clippers.

Today’s Top Sports Betting Picks

If you’re serious about winning in NBA DFS, you know the edge comes from having the right tools. The same principle applies to sports betting, and that’s where Portfolio EV shines.

Take a bet like Dyson Daniels to fall below 6.5 rebounds tonight. On the surface, it’s a simple play. But behind the scenes, it’s a +EV bet, meaning it’s mathematically profitable based on the best odds available. Portfolio EV finds these +EV bets and allows you to bet them at high volume with just a couple clicks, maximizing your bankroll’s long-term profitability.

Digging into the details on Portfolio EV, Daniels is currently listed at -110 for under 6.5 rebounds on Hard Rock, which stands out dramatically when compared to the rest of the field. We can see that BetRivers, SugarHouse and other operators are down at -142 to -145, which turns an expected 6.0% ROI into a dreadful NEGATIVE 6.1%, when compared to the “true odds” of -125. Be a savvy shopper!

Daniels has a per-36-minute rebounding rate of 5.9 in his time with Atlanta, though that includes playing alongside a weaker rebounder in Trae Young, who is out with a knee injury. Jalen Johnson is likely to make his season debut tonight, plus Kristaps Porzingis and Onyeka Okongwu are stellar on the glass. The math is in favor of attacking the line at Hard Rock, even with Daniels projected for 33.6 minutes and 6.44 rebounds. This is a great example of the “top-down betting” strategy Portfolio EV recommends.

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