You can’t win ’em all. I was sure the Timberwolves would be inspired by last night’s emotional pre-game ceremony honoring the late Flip Saunders. They scored 34 points in the first quarter, then ran out of gas. Even more shocking, the Grizzlies lost by 50 points (a dubious team record even counting the Vancouver years) to a Warriors team that looks better than ever.
In DFS, every day is a brand new season. You shrug off the losses and move forward. Tonight DraftKings offers 2-game Turbo contests at 8:00 Eastern and 2-game Late action at 10:00, but our focus is on the full 7-game slate at 7:00. The best real-life games (say, ATL @ MIA) aren’t always great sources of daily fantasy goodness. While the nightcap (Nuggets at Lakers) means little in the standings, the score could be high.
Presumably Memphis has enough pride to play much better tonight in Sacramento, and with DeMarcus Cousins (Achilles) out, the Kings won’t sustain their 115 points-per-game pace. Mike Conley $6800, Marc Gasol $7800 and Zach Randolph $6800 are playable, with Rudy Gay $7400 likely to get the majority of Boogie’s touches. Rookie Willie Cauley-Stein $4000 and Kosta Koufos $3700 will also see extra minutes.
Plays of the Day
The $300K Sharpshooter is a $3 buy-in (FREE to new depositors at DK) that pays the top 24,920 finishers from up to 115,000 teams. First place wins $20,000. Enter before it fills; even after the 7:00 ET deadline you can make lineup changes until each player’s game begins.
There’s a million-dollar contest tomorrow with first place worth $100,000. For a buy-in of $20 per team, an additional guaranteed $900K will be paid out to 11,899 winners, even if the maximum of 57,250 teams isn’t reached. Reserve your spot now; you can also qualify for the big event tonight in “Last Shot” contests for $5, $3 or even a quarter.
Call me a homer, but I like the Raptors to go 4-0 in Dallas. DeMarre Carroll $5700 was a great acquisition; his superb defense means DeMar DeRozan $7400 doesn’t have to cover bigger wings any more. Fitter than he’s ever been, Kyle Lowry $7900 is a brilliant attacker and Jonas Valanciunas $6200 is too big and too skilled for Zaza Pachulia $5600 to handle. With Deron Williams $5700, Chandler Parsons $6000 and Wesley Matthews $4500 all less than 100% healthy, Toronto should wear them down. Bench players like Patrick Patterson $3700, Terrence Ross $3400 and Cory Joseph $3200 might pay their way too.
Are we worried yet about the winless Pelicans? Anthony Davis $10500 isn’t getting much help, but Jrue Holiday $5000 is improving and Ryan Anderson $5200 offers solid value at that price. Toney Douglas $3300 was a pleasant surprise (17 PTS in 22.5 min.) in his New Orleans debut. While the visiting Magic are also 0-3, they were very competitive against the Wizards, Thunder and Bulls in losing by a total of eight points. Though a double-OT loss to OKC inflated their scoring averages, Victor Oladipo $7500 and Nikola Vucevic $7700 have been sharp.
Denver has real problems up front with Jusuf Nurkic (knee) out, while both Joffrey Lauvergne $4500 (back) and Nikola Jokic $3100 (back) are questionable. Darrell Arthur $3000 might have to defend against Roy Hibbert $5500. Or, the Nugs will go super-small with Kenneth Faried $6300 and Danilo Gallinari $6400 surrounded by guards. Rookie Emanuel Mudiay $5900, no match for Russell Westbrook last game, should improve. Julius Randle $6100 might be the best L.A. player off his first double-double (22 PTS, 15 REB, 4 AST, 4 STL) against Dallas on Sunday.
As usual, I’m not as keen on the early Eastern Conference matchups. Scoring will be lower overall, and with a few exceptions like Andre Drummond $8200 and Jimmy Butler $7700, it’s harder to predict individual explosions.
I’m using three Raptors, the Unibrow, Randle and WCS for sure. Not as certain yet about Holiday. Breaking news can alter player values and these early sample lineups often get adjusted. It’s a tossup between CoJo, Douglas and Dwight Powell $3400 as a cheap Util guy with upside.
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 | Kyle Lowry $7900 | Jrue Holiday $5000 | Toney Douglas $3300 |
| SG | Jimmy Butler $7700 | DeMar DeRozan $7400 | Rodney Stuckey $4000 |
| SF | Rudy Gay $7400 | DeMarre Carroll $5700 | Omri Casspi $3900 |
| PF | Anthony Davis $10500 | Julius Randle $6100 | Dwight Powell $3400 |
| C | Andre Drummond $8200 | Jonas Valanciunas $6200 | Willie Cauley-Stein $4000 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.