Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings Friday 10/31/14

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Point Guard

Donald Sloan - FD 4700 DK 5800
It's hard not to be impressed by Sloan's 16/10/6 on 34 minutes in the season opener, but he won't draw Philly's woeful defense every night. Still, though, on a team with no scoring options left, the guy handling the ball the most is going to do SOMETHING with it. Really, though, it just comes down to the price. Sloan is so affordable and creates so much cap flexibility that it's extremely tough to imagine getting him out of lineups in any format.

Chris Paul - FD 9600 DK 9500
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Fun fact - did you know that the best the Lakers did against a given fantasy position last year was 27th in the NBA? Sadly for them, they are 30th against point guards. One has to think that CP3 and the high-flying clips will be eager to put a stamp on the Staples Center in their first meeting with the cross-town embarrassment, and the only risk you'll find here is total blowout. I just felt a little bit embarrassed trying to picture Jeremy Lin covering Paul as well. I should really just move on.

Darren Collison - FD 5800 DK 6500
Collison has slid nicely into the Isaiah Thomas role, and could have had an absolutely epic performance in his first outing if he didn't run bad from the field. Even still, he posted a night north of 40 fantasy points including an incredible 5 steals. While he won't get 5 steals a night, prorating his career stats to what look like this year's minutes mean he could be a PG in the ~$7k-$7.5k range before very long. That'd be 15 pts, 1.5 steals, .2 blocks, 6.25 assists, and 3.5 boards. Very low floor, and quite the ceiling for one of the Kings few scoring options - especially against a Portland team that allowed the 3rd most fantasy points in the league to opposing PGs last year.

Brandon Knight - FD 7100 DK 7400
Knight is sort of the ultimate boom or bust play. In his first game of the season, it was a pretty serious boom - 49 FanDuel points and a near triple-double. While Knight struggles against elite defenders, he can occasionally put up huge numbers against less than stellar defenses. Have you seen the guys the Sixers are trotting out there this year? Yikes. They're a fast paced squad without any good players. This is good for Knight. And thankfully for we fantasy owners, his team is just bad enough that they're one of the few teams that might not put the Sixers through the ringer this season. His upside exceeds Lillard, but his downside makes him like me a little bit less, especially in cash game formats.

Shooting Guard

Wesley Matthews - FD 5900 DK 6400
The prices on Matthews, quite frankly, are a puzzle. While you're not looking at herculean upside, getting 34 minutes and 12 shots a game on a good team for these prices present just a ton of safety. What I really like about this match-up, however, is the way Sac-town defends the SG position. While they're about neutral in most stats, they allowed 13% more points than league average to opposing SGs last year, and Matthews' whole game is wrapped up in his ability to score. Wes is a true set it and forget it play at SG for cash games.

J.J. Redick - FD 4900 DK 4600
It's a weird night when you have the Sixers and Lakers as 2 of the 6 teams going. I tossed and turned on this recommendation, and I finally landed here: I think Redick is about as safe as it gets for cash games, especially given Crawford's hamstring issues. I think we saw what the Clips would like to do with Redick last year - 28-29 minutes, 11 shots, 5 of which are 3s. All of Redick's already terrific percentages will rise as well. Safe as safe can be, with a real chance for upside if the Lakes manage to keep it close or Crawford's injury is worse than they're letting on.

The rest
It's sort of a wacked out night to pick a shooting guard. Bledsoe doesn't have a great match-up against the Spurs (and has kind of sucked against them for his career), but you have to like what you saw in the opener on limited minutes. The main draw for me will be Danny Green. He got 34 minutes in a competitive game against the Mavs, and while he's very points dependent (all SGs are, I guess), the Spurs aren't afraid to have him let fly if the defense is giving them the long ball.

Small Forward

Nicolas Batum - FD 7300 DK 7300
Batum is the pick of the day for cash games, for me. He's fairly priced at a position with a lot of question marks, and the dude is just incredibly consistent. He'll give you his 15, 5 and 5 on a night in, night out basis, with room for more in the right match-up. Enter Rudy Gay. Rudy Gay is what one might call "the right match-up."

LeBron James - FD 10400 DK 10500
After putting up a stinker in his much-anticipated return to the Cavs, you can read my lips: There is no way LeBron doesn't show up for this game. Especially not with the guy who stole an MVP award from him returning to action. I honestly don't care very much about the Bulls defense, here. They don't have anyone that matches up terribly well with LeBron, especially since he can score fantasy points in so many different ways. He won't be contained here. Mark my words.

Matt Barnes - FD 4900 DK 4800
As of this writing, Matt Barnes just got done playing the 2nd most minutes of any Clipper in the first quarter of the OKC game. If he is going to be playing full on starter minutes, he becomes an awesome play in a high-emotion tilt with the Lakers. The upside is somewhat limited, but the pace of the game and his role limit the downside as well. If you're sick of reading about Clippers, too bad. It's really hard to imagine the winning lineups tomorrow being something other than Clipper/Buck stacks.

Jabari Parker - FD 6300 DK 5400
The Bucks phenom can't be called a safe play, but if he's going to average 36 minutes a game, this price won't last here for long. Against a Sixers team that plays a fast pace and plays no defense (they were 30th in the NBA last year in terms of fantasy points allowed to opposing small forwards, and it's not like they've improved defensively), a double-double with all the trimmings around it (a block and steal or two) are absolutely in play.

Also considered: Khris Middleton

Power Forward

Taj Gibson - FD 5800 DK 5800
If you followed daily fantasy basketball last year, you'll remember well that Gibson was the resident "dude who will come in and crush if any starter is hurt for the Bulls." Well, that hurt starter is Jimmy Butler, and Gibson predictably came in and absolutely dominated on a per minute basis in the opener against the Knicks, posting 22 and 8 with a steal and a block for good measure in 28 minutes. While the Cavs are a tougher team to rebound against (understatement alert) than the Knicks, I think Gibson could still put up a terrific line, especially if the Cavs are diverting their defensive energies towards Rose.

Luis Scola - FD 4700 DK 4800
With the entire Pacers team hurt, you're going to find some decent values in the leftovers, at least until the prices adjust. Scola's career line is 27 minutes with 13 PPG, 7 RPG, 2 APG, .7 S per game, and .3 B per game. Getting that on FanDuel would net you in the neighborhood of 24-26 points, and that's around what I'm penciling him in for against the Grizzlies, in spite of it not being a particularly great match-up. The Pacers just don't have the bodies for Scola not to get his minutes.

Blake Griffin - FD 9600 DK 10000
Blake always seems to rise to the occasion in these LA on LA battles, and the Lakers somehow managed to make their defense even worse in the offseason. Picturing below-the-rim-and-even-older Carlos Boozer even considering covering Blake is like watching one of those sad youtube videos of a group of lions slaughtering a baby elephant. You wanted stats or something? The Lakers were the worst in the league against PFs last year, Blake is a year older and more mature, and I don't want to list another stat just to round out a list of 3.

Also considered: The aforementioned Carlos Boozer

Center

DeAndre Jordan - FD 6700 DK 7500
I don't get the price correction on DeAndre coming into this season. The dude established himself as an elite fantasy center last year, posting nearly 14 boards, 2.5 blocks, and 10+ points. For the non-math majors among us, that's more than 30 FanDuel points per contest. What's changed about this year that his price should dip from the ~$7,700 range where he wound up last season? Your guess is good as mine. But Jordan is an absolutely elite play in this game. Okay, I'm just excited to see him catch a Jeremy Lin drive in mid air.

Larry Sanders - FD 6800 DK 5700
People are bummed about Sanders for some reason, but not this guy! Especially not against Philadelphia. The Sixers were 2nd only to the lowly Lakers when it came to allowing points to opposing centers last season (allowing 12% more fantasy points than league average), and while they'll be a little stouter without having Hawes "play defense" down there, the pace of the game and the other pieces on the Sixers should allow Sanders to have a nice game. High floor, high ceiling play from where I'm sitting.

A little jumble
Honestly, a ton of people are going to spend up for Boogie tonight, and while I fully get it - his ceiling is unmatched at this position - I'll personally be steering clear. I think you can get the same upside from other positions (point guard and PF, most notably) with a lot more safety, and I'd just as soon invest quite a bit less on guys with less upside but a similar floor.

Thinking about going cheap? Consider Jordan Hill. If the Lakers miraculously stick around until the fourth quarter, Hill should see some nice minutes in an uptempo game. And even if they don't, I don't see how the Lakers can just rest everybody all season. So whatever.

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