Thursday has a festive nine-game featured slate, with the main contests locking at 7:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks. Trae Young gets the nod as the key building block today and Minnesota looks to be the early source of value. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS picks and core plays.
NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Thursday, November 30
Core Play of the Day — Trae Young: Atlanta Hawks at San Antonio Spurs
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 50.73 | FanDuel: 47.57
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 20.1% | FanDuel: 21.9%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,700 | FanDuel: $9,600
While Trae Young is pretty much a tournament play in most matchups, for his ability to reach 60 fantasy points when he is on target. However, the scoring dependence and general lack of steals and rebounds tends to hurt his fantasy floor. During 13 November games, San Antonio is allowing 120.2 points per 100 possessions, which is the fourth worst defensive efficiency during this timeframe. Of course Atlanta is just two spots behind on this list, so this game could stay closer, for longer than the 7.5 point advantage bestowed on the visiting Hawks.
The fifth-year guard has seen his marksmanship drop to a career low 39.3%, but his 10.4 assists are a career best. Dejounte Murray is a neutral option across the DFS sites in this “Remember Me?!” game, while Clint Capela and Onyeka Okongwu are part of the massive center pool tonight.
Miles Bridges: Charlotte Hornets at Brooklyn Nets
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 40.87 | FanDuel: 39.84
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings: 5.9% | FanDuel: 13.1%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $8,000 | FanDuel: $7,800
LaMelo Ball suffered an ankle injury that is going to keep him in street clothes until mid-January, that means Miles Bridges and Terry Rozier are going to be the main driving forces behind the Charlotte offense, with help from Gordon Hayward while he is still able-bodied and Mark Williams needs to pick up additional scoring duties as well.
This is all about opportunities and the salary algorithms have come in a little light for the Hornets is a fantasy friendly matchup against the Nets in Brooklyn. Bridges should be in line for something north of 40 fantasy points, with Rozier not too far behind. There are several point guard options that are more appealing tonight, though fortunately for now he has shooting guard eligibility on most sites.
Williams is also worthy of our attention in the sports wagering market, and while his double-double odds of +145 have a slightly negative -5% ROI, he has cleared this nominal milestone in four of his last five games.
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Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Utah Jazz
This is a back-to-back for the Jazz, who fell to the Memphis Grizzlies, 105-91 last night in Utah. Lauri Markkanen is likely to remain out through the weekend with a hamstring issue, which has already cost him three games. On the Minnesota side, Jaden McDaniels (ankle) and Jordan McLaughlin (knee) are out once again and Anthony Edwards will be joining them after suffering a hip injury that knocked him out of Tuesday’s game.
The Timberwolves are currently holding five of the top eight spots on the popularity list for both DraftKings and FanDuel. Mike Conley will be the primary facilitator, with Nickeil Alexander-Walker running the second unit and likely making a fifth consecutive start. Conley is a terrific option on both DraftKings and FanDuel, while Alexander-Walker is really only interesting on the blue site. In his four starts, the former Virginia Tech star has muddled his way to 6.3 points, 2.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.3 combined blocks and steals for just under 11 fantasy points in 27.8 minutes per appearance. To be fair, he would be right around 20 fantasy points per game, if we excluded his single-digit dud against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday. Caveat Emptor.
Kyle Anderson is the do-everything glue guy, who is likely to be a tertiary facilitator tonight, while filling in wherever else the team needs him. Though he has topped 25 fantasy points only twice in his last dozen games, he contributes enough across the board that he could produce close to a fantasy point per minute for the short-handed squad and he has a decent chance to reach 30 fantasy points in this matchup.
Rudy Gobert dropped a 50-burger on Oklahoma City 48 hours ago and anything less than 40 fantasy points from him tonight should be considered a disappointment. Karl-Anthony Towns of course is going to become the focal point of the offense and while he has dropped a couple of deuces in the last two games, he had produced 40-plus fantasy points in seven of the preceding eight games, with three over 50 fantasy points.
Naz Reid has power forward eligibility, which has him in play across the industry for tournaments and Troy Brown Jr. can be considered as a last man in or for those looking to gain extra synergy via a game-stack. Jordan Clarkson has returned, which means Markkannen is the only missing core player. Even with various injuries to different contributors,
Walker Kessler has returned from a seven game absence resulting from an elbow injury and while he has yet to rejoin the starting lineup, his minutes have increased for three consecutive games, along with his fantasy production. Minnesota has the best defensive efficiency for both the regular season and November, though they have allowed five more points per 100 possessions over the last seven games, resulting in 113.4 points per 100 possessions. It is tough to recommend anyone other than Kessler on the featured slate.
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Additional NBA Building Blocks Pick — Sports Betting Opportunities
Evan Mobley once again is someone to target in the sports wagering market. When he was recommended on Tuesday for his double-double prop, he actually hit the milestone in the first half. Books are catching up an the best number for that wager again is -139, which is a neutral bet per the “True Odds” (how OddsShopper measures the potential expected ROI of a given wager) .
NBA Bet Pro currently has the former USC Trojan projected for 34.1 minutes, 15.30 points, 10.96 and 2.95 assists. Why add in the assists? Well, currently his over 29.5 points + rebounds + assists (PRA) prop, is available for -104, which is a slightly better payout than his double-double wager and while the 29.2 projected PRA from BetPro is in line, we want to remember there is a difference between a median projection and a range of actual outcomes.
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Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
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