Spanning the entire 12-game Friday slate, the richest NBA tournaments at DraftKings close at 7:00 Eastern. If (like me) you enjoy smaller player pools, there’s also Turbo (8:00; 3 games), Late (9:00; 2 games) and Later (10:00; 2 games) contests.
As usual, games in the West could be very high-scoring. I like the Blazers in Phoenix, especially C.J. McCollum $6400 and Meyers Leonard $4500 at those prices. Don’t expect a defensive struggle in Sacramento, where the Lakers will try to slow down DeMarcus Cousins $10200.
Golden State at Houston is the marquee matchup, with James Harden $10300 and Stephen Curry $9900 more than capable of exceeding their costs. Less important in real life but a potential DFS bonanza is Minnesota at Denver, featuring several bargains.
My favorite early game is Utah at Philadelphia. The battle in the paint between Rudy Gobert $7200 and rookie Jahlil Okafor $6000 will be fun to watch, as will Derrick Favors $7200 vs. Nerlens Noel $6900. The visitors should dominate on the wings. In his Five Things To Watch, our Amar Smith nailed it:
The best-kept secret on the Jazz is fifth-year combo guard Alec Burks — a player to key an eye on when playing in daily fantasy sports leagues. (Be sure to keep up with the daily posts from our fantasy expert, Kent Williams.) The whipping boy of former coach Ty Corbin, Burks played sporadically in his first two seasons.
Burks is well worth his $4800 salary after an 18-point, 6-rebound opener in 26 minutes as the sixth man. Starter Rodney Hood $3900 went 0-7 from deep and still rewarded his owners — 12 PTS, 4 REB, 6 AST.
Plays of the Day
The $300K Sharpshooter is a $3 buy-in (FREE to new depositors at DraftKings) that pays the top 24,920 finishers from up to 115,000 teams. First place wins $20,000. Enter before it fills; make unlimited lineup changes until 7:00 Eastern. Even after contests close, you can make substitutions until each player’s game begins.
There’s a lot of talent at every position tonight. Curry, Russell Westbrook $10100, John Wall $9100 and Damian Lillard $9100 absolutely deserve those salaries. Ricky Rubio $7000 was fantastic (28 & 14) on Wednesday and faces a rookie tonight. McCollum is actually a 2-guard but PG is the only place he’s eligible. The cheapest guy I’m considering is Isaiah Canaan $4800, because he’s getting 38 minutes.
Harden towers above the SG crop but we can’t afford an all-star at every position. Jimmy Butler $7600 is a pretty fair compromise, with Kobe Bryant $6800 or Bradley Beal $6100 worth a long look. In the other G position, Burks gets the nod over Canaan.
Kevin Durant $9400 and Kawhi Leonard $7700 are both excellent plays at SF. Danilo Gallinari $6300 is the #1 option in a fast-paced attack. Teammates Gordon Hayward $6900 and Hood both qualify at the same position; the one who costs $3000 less works for me.
At PF, nobody is more expensive than Greg Monroe $7700 and nobody had a better first game: 22 PTS, 14 REB, 4 AST, 2 BLK, 2 STL. Kevin Love $7300 is being featured more this season; he’s an automatic double-double. This is absolutely a hunch — if Brad Stevens lets Amir Johnson $4700 play big minutes against his former team, he can shoot over Luis Scola $3500 or post up Patrick Patterson $3900 all night.
Cousins is in his own tier at C, Andre Drummond $8100 has started strong and Jonas Valanciunas $6200 will have a career year if he’s allowed to finish more games. In the sample lineup, I’m paying up for Boogie and using Leonard in the Util spot. Karl-Anthony Towns $5900 and Joffrey Lauvergne $4200 could both have big numbers in Denver.
Start with up to 50 Beginner contests if you haven’t played daily NBA at DraftKings before. See you on the leaderboard.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Russell Westbrook $10100 | C.J. McCollum $6400 | Isaiah Canaan $4800 |
| SG | James Harden $10300 | Jimmy Butler $7600 | Alec Burks $4800 |
| SF | Kevin Durant $9400 | Kawhi Leonard $7700 | Rodney Hood $3900 |
| PF | Greg Monroe $7700 | Kevin Love $7300 | Amir Johnson $4700 |
| C | DeMarcus Cousins $10200 | Jonas Valanciunas $6200 | Meyers Leonard $4500 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.