NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Tyrese Maxey Tournament Target?! (Nov. 4)

Tuesday keeps the week moving along with the NBA fun tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s get into the top NBA DFS picks and building blocks: Tyrese Maxey looks like a terrific contrarian option, while rookie Jeremiah Fears provides salary relief. DraftKings is building their contests around the four early games, and FanDuel is rolling out a six-game featured slate, leading to different player recommendations and strategies.

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: Tuesday, November 4

NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

Both the DraftKings and FanDuel slates will be discussed in depth tonight, so sure to tune into Stokastic NBA Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock at 5:30 p.m. ET on YouTube for expert analysis, key insights and winning strategies to dominate your NBA DFS picks today!

Rookie Jeremiah Fears moved into the starting lineup for the third game of the season, and it looks like he will be with the first five going forward. Fears celebrated his 19th birthday a couple weeks ago, and with only one college campaign at the University of Oklahoma under his belt, there will be a steep learning curve. The youngster cleared 25 fantasy points in each of his last three games, all of which were on the road, including games in Oklahoma City, Denver and Los Angeles against the Clippers. It should be much easier going against Charlotte, so he projects again to push towards 30 fantasy points.

Zion Williamson is dealing with a strained left hamstring, which he may have tweaked during Sunday’s game. He did miss the third game of the season due to a foot issue, though he has otherwise been stellar, averaging 31.4 minutes, 22.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.2 stocks (combined steals and blocks). He also is leading the league with 11.4 free-throw attempts per game, and if he is available tonight, he is a top tournament play on DraftKings and a secondary play on FanDuel.

LaMelo Ball missed the last game with an ankle impingement, and he is questionable for tonight. Similar to Zion, if he plays, he is a good DraftKings option, though he is a tertiary target on FanDuel.

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Maxey is averaging a ridiculous 42.5 minutes per game, with teammates Kelly Oubre Jr. (38.0) and rookie VJ Edgecombe (39.0) rounding out the top 3 in the league. This is clearly unsustainable, though for now it is making Maxey look like an MVP candidate, averaging 56.6 FanDuel and 58.7 DraftKings fantasy points.

The 25-year-old leads the league with 4.3 made 3-pointers and 22.7 field goal attempts per game. He also ranks second in points (34.2) and fifth in assists (9.0). Chicago plays at a top-10 pace and has middling defense, making Maxey a sharp play. Oubre and Edgecombe’s salaries are trending up, though they can be employed as additional synergistic options from this matchup.

For Chicago, Coby White is out for another week, but Ayo Dosunmu (quad) may return to action tonight after a one-game absence. Josh Giddey is putting up fine fantasy figures with 22.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 8.7 assists, all personal highs. He is trending to be more popular than Maxey on both DraftKings ($9,100, 28.3%) and FanDuel (28.6%), which is something to consider for leverage purposes.

Tre Jones is starting in place of Coby White, providing stability and more surprisingly adequate defense. It is likely that Jones will move back to a reserve role when White returns, but coach Billy Donovan has to be impressed with the versatility and dependability. Jones is a strong value option on DraftKings ($5,500, 34.4%) as well as FanDuel ($5,500, 40.2%).

Jalen Smith is an extreme discount dandy on DraftKings ($3,200, 42.9%), though he does not need to have FanDuel player portfolio representation ($4,000, 2.9%), where he also costs the lone center slot.

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• 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

This led to 23.3 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 2.1 stocks. When Orlando traded for Desmond Bane, conventional thought was that the team would improve upon its 109.1 defensive efficiency rating, which was second overall last year, with the league average around 113.7. The season is still young, but the Magic are at a 112.7 defensive rating. Expect improvement, but until we see this team evolve into a shutdown unit, we should not be afraid of taking top-tier players against them, particularly on short slates.

Kristaps Porzingis is popping on FanDuel ($6,500, 42.7%), though that popularity should slide down to around 30% as the injury reports begin to trickle out from teams this afternoon. The team is pushing the oft-injured big man, with his 27.5 minutes on Sunday the most action he has seen this season. Still, he is a very efficient player, who also picked up some of the secondary facilitation duties as the team attempts to fill in the void Young left.

Stokastic NBA DFS Projections have Porzingis for 26.0 minutes, 20.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 2.3 stocks. He is still a fantasy force and someone worthy of tournament consideration on the blue site, as well as on DraftKings ($6,800, 19.1%).

Atlanta’s defense does improve by nearly 2.1 points per 100 possessions without Young on the court, but the various parts are still gelling together with newcomer Nickeil Alexander-Walker now in the starting lineup and, of course, “The Great Barrier Thief” Dyson Daniels harassing opposing playmakers. Orlando’s salaries are mostly appropriate, so the two players to target are stalwarts Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner.

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 Ryan Kalkbrenner to score more than 8.5 points 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, Kalkbrenner is currently listed at -108 for over 8.5 points on Hard Rock, which works out to a stellar 9.0% expected ROI when compared to the -147 “true odds.” Several books raised the threshold to 9.5 with -130 odds on the over, mathing out to a NEGATIVE 7.1% expected ROI. DraftKings upped the mark to 10.5 and assigned plus-money odds of +107, though that is still a negative-6.5% ROI when considering the range of outcomes.

The soon-to-be 24-year-old rookie topped 8.5 points in four of his seven starts, and even if Zion plays tonight, the New Orleans frontcourt is not particularly imposing with Deandre Jordan, Kevon Looney, Yves Missi and rookie Derik Queen patrolling the paint.

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