In the real NBA, Russell Westbrook $12300 could not have been much better, leading the Thunder to a thrilling home win over Dallas with 31 PTS, 11 AST, 5 REB, 5 STL and a total of 64.8 FP (DraftKings fantasy points.)
Because of that salary, he wasn’t great — merely good — in daily contests. That’s 5.3 FP per $1000 of salary. With similar production for $3600 less, Damian Lillard earned 7.5 times his cost. Anthony Davis $10700 pleased his owners, scoring 31 FP more than anyone else at his position for a 6.5 ROI.
We were all over Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (9.8), Avery Bradley (8.4) and Mason Plumlee (7.7) in the Sunday Spin; made some money despite using Stephen Curry (3.7) instead of Lillard. Tonight’s 7-game slate is a whole new DFS season, featuring some value in the shallow end of the guard pool and a couple of expensive “must-start” bigs.
Plays of the Day
The $250K Sharpshooter is just a $3 buy-in (FREE to new depositors at DK) that pays the top 19,550 finishers from up to 95,833 teams. First place wins $20,000. Enter before the 7:00 ET deadline; you can make unlimited lineup changes until each player’s game begins.
DeMarcus Cousins $10300 is fairly consistent near his 27-11 average and often surpasses 60 FP. There’s a strong second tier of PF and the value guy is Tristan Thompson $5300, now starting for the Cavs.
Andre Drummond $9700 is about 10 FP better than the next-best center, though a well-rested Rudy Gobert $6500 at home vs. tired former teammate Enes Kanter $5300 is tempting. Derrick Favors $7600, Gordon Hayward $6200, Rodney Hood $5000 and Alec Burks $5200 are also playable if you like the Jazz.
Minnesota is determined to earn their first home W of the season; the Sixers have yet to win anywhere in 14 tries. Sam Mitchell has (finally) benched Tayshaun Prince $3000 in favor of Kevin Martin $3900, so the Wolves should score more points and Kev-Mart is excellent value tonight. Round One between young heavyweights Karl-Anthony Towns $7200 and Jahlil Okafor $6700 will be fun to watch. Ricky Rubio $7100 and Andrew Wiggins $6900 might turn things over early to Zach LaVine $4700, Prince and Gorgui Dieng $3600.
As the Bucks try to regroup from a 37-point loss, Andre Drummond $9700 will be motivated against ex-teammate Greg Monroe $7200 and Reggie Jackson $7600 can torch Michael Carter-Williams $5600. It’s also a homecoming for Ersan Ilyasova $4300 after seven years with Milwaukee.
NBA-TV has a great game to watch, especially Kristaps Porzingis $6700 vs. Chris Bosh $7700. Because Dwyane Wade $6800 and Hassan Whiteside $8400 are considerably better than Arron Afflalo $4400 and Robin Lopez $4200, Miami should prevail. However, Carmelo Anthony $8500 could get hot and Jose Calderon $3800, much improved since a horrible start, is still inexpensive.
The Kings aren’t entirely a one-man team. Rajon Rondo $9000 has been great and with Rudy Gay (shoulder) out, Omri Casspi $4700 has stepped up. Darren Collison $4800 is almost at full speed after an injury and will soon be a bargain. Charlotte is 5-1 at home with Al Jefferson $6400, Nicolas Batum $7200, Kemba Walker $6900 and Marvin Williams $5700 starting, sixth man Jeremy Lamb $4500 scoring and rookie Frank Kaminsky $3200 improving.
LeBron James $10100 and Kevin Love $8200 should beat Orlando, while the Spurs will be very tough at home against Phoenix. I’m not deliberately avoiding those games; Kawhi Leonard $8200 becomes affordable if you “downgrade” to Gobert at C.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Reggie Jackson $7600 | Zach LaVine $4700 | Jose Calderon $3800 |
| SG | Eric Bledsoe $8400 | Dwyane Wade $6800 | Kevin Martin $3900 |
| SF | LeBron James $10100 | Kawhi Leonard $8200 | Omri Casspi $4700 |
| PF | DeMarcus Cousins $10300 | Tristan Thompson $5300 | Ersan Ilyasova $4300 |
| C | Andre Drummond $9700 | Rudy Gobert $6500 | Gorgui Dieng $3600 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.