Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 12/17/14

Welcome to our daily fantasy basketball column - where we provide the best daily plays on a points per dollar basis.

Ready to make the leap and get access to the exclusive projection system that produces these picks? Sign up now and get a free 3 day trial to our lineup construction tool for FanDuel and DraftKings. And now - for the next month - you can get access to our Football projection tools AND our baskeball projection tools for the same price! Sick deal.

Point Guard

C.J. Watson - FD 4300 DK 5000 DFSTR 3000
Much like the other night, you are still getting solid value out of cheap point guard plays. Watson is seeing the majority of the minutes out of the one now that the Donald Sloan experiment is thankfully over. He saw a little less run last game mostly because the Pacers were just crushing the Lakers and Watson didn't see the fourth. The blowout could be in order again tonight, though it'd be going the other way. This one is all about the price on Watson. If you think he creeps towards thirty minute then it's close to a must start in some spots.

Cory Joseph - FD 4600 DK 4800 DFSTR 3000
More of a cash game play. And he won't be a heavy start, but I'm still very much buying the minutes on the guy especially with the Spurs playing shorthanded again against the Grizzlies. He doesn't light it up, but he's solid and you are getting good minutes out of really the only point guard on the team right now. The Grizzlies are good defensively obviously, but I think you can make the case here.

Patrick Beverley - FD 5600 DK 5500 DFSTR 5000
Another cheaper option who could work well in cash games. He gets all the minutes he can handle for the Rockets and has added a bunch of scoring in the short term. I realize Dwight being back on the court cuts into some of that. But this should be a fast-paced matchup with the Nuggets.

Strongly consider Isaiah Thomas if Goran Dragic sits out again. And Kemba Walker is a fine play if you want to spend a little more at the position.

Shooting Guard

Wesley Matthews - FD 6000 DK 5600 DFSTR 4800
Need to catch this guy on the right night, but he has upside at these prices. Milwaukee has just gotten run by shooting guards this season. They allow 10% more scoring than league average and much, much worse than that when it comes to rebounding and assists. He's coming off some lower scoring games but remember his last three were against the Bulls, Pacers and Spurs. The first two are slower than molasses. I think he breaks back out tonight and you are getting him at a slight discount because of the recent performance.

James Harden - FD 10600 DK 11400 DFSTR 9400
For sure Dwight being back effects Harden's usage a little. But I'm still hrowing him out there tonight even at these higher prices. Denver is well below average against shooting guards and Harden is the best one by a mile. He is doing everything this season and keeps his floor so, so high every night because he fills up the sheet. He's the highest raw point guy on the docket today and even heading into the thin air of Denver I'm not overly concerned with it. The Rockets are coming off a few days rest and should be good to go here.

Victor Oladipo - FD 6400 DK 6600 DFSTR 6000
Remember, though he's listed as a shooting guard for the Magic, he's actually running the point for the team. The Celtics allow worse than league average scoring to the opposing point guard as well as below average assists. That's because they play at a fast pace and the other team is afforded some extra volume.

Small Forward

Some really excellent value here tonight
Trevor Ariza - FD 6200 DK 6500 DFSTR 5700
He plays minutes for miles and actually his usage doesn't change at all with or without Dwight (ticks up a tad actually). The price is fantastic considering the amount of run he gets every single night and the Nuggets allow worse than league average rebounding and assists to the opposing three. I'm still waiting for a breakout Ariza three point game. But even without it he makes a solid cash game play because of the midrange salaries. This should be a high-scoring game. Play him.

Nicolas Batum - FD 6400 DK 6500 DFSTR 5900
Shooting still hasn't completely come around for the guy and the price is reflective of his slight dip in scoring. Milwaukee is a great squad for opposing small forwards to turn that around though because the Bucks allow 14% more scoring than league average to the three. Batum also does little bits of everything on the court and plays his minutes. Looking through his game log you might be turned off to the recent performance, but these things ebb and flow and despite an early season injury I'm not seeing much difference in his game.

Khris Middleton - FD 4900 DK 4900 DFSTR 3500
Stands to see the most minutes uptick with Parker out. He got the majority of the run last game when Jabari went down and if I had to guess, that'd be the case again tonight. Check this leading into lineup lock, but if he's looking at more than thirty minutes then you are getting great value. Granted the Bucks play a ton of guys in weird rotations so playing them is always a little iffy.

Strongly consider Tobias Harris against the Celtics. Told you this position was full of value tonight.
Great freerolls for miles over at Scorestreak, by the way. Get involved today by clicking the banner below!

Power Forward

This position is the anti-small forward. It's kind of a mess.
Channing Frye - FD 4400 DK 5000 DFSTR 5100
Let me tell you why I'm leading off with Frye. He is far from the top play in a raw points perspective. That much is obvious. But from a cash game perspective you are getting a guy who gets his minutes and if the slate shakes out without a plethora of solid and safe punt plays, this is a direction you can go to save some cash at a decent expectation relative to cost. He probably won't win you any big tournaments, but Boston plays fast and loose and doesn't defend opposing power forwards at all.

Dirk Nowitzki - FD 7300 DK 6100 DFSTR 7200
I don't suspect he sits on the second leg of the back-to-back especially because he wasn't forced into big minutes last night against the lowly Knicks. And if he plays you are getting a guy facing the Pistons who have no real interest in even pretending to defend the opposing power forwards. Detroit just gets slammed in every category and are one of the worst teams in the league against the position. Dirk is a safer play who's given many of the scoring duties up to Ellis, Parson and company. But the price is reflective of his newer role and this is my cash game play in the mid tier.

Honestly after these guys I'm not feeling a great deal of confidence in getting money in good.You can consider guys like David West or Markieff Morris but I don't feel fantastic about either.

Center

Mason Plumlee - FD 4900 DK 5600 DFSTR 3600
A great sign for Plumlee was that last night even with both Garnett and Teletovic back, he saw thirty minutes of run. If he is going to get that kind of work then his price is still too low. He had a solid game last night and only turnovers held him back from being a fantastic start at close to the minimums. Not the best matchup in the world, but the price is all we care about here.

Chris Kaman - FD 4600 DK 4000 DFSTR 4800
With Robin Lopez out for a while there's a good chance Kaman sees a moderate bump in minutes. I've seen some speculation that he doesn't start and sticks with the second unit, but it stands to reason that he at least sees a bump in his time on the court as he's the only other true center they have on the squad. I think other Blazers will see minutes increases as well and we will have a better sense of their rotations after this game. But I think you can grab Kaman early now in the hope he gets extra run.

Al Jefferson - FD 8300 DK 8300 DFSTR 7900
Phoenix gets absolutely crushed by opposing centers, allowing 19% more scoring than league average and 21% more rebounding. If there was a game for Al Jeff to pour it on, this is the one. Granted, Charlotte is kind of a mess, so it doesn't feel completely safe. But Jefferson's price has dropped and I think you can definitely take a flyer on him

Enes Kanter - FD 5800 DK 6600 DFSTR 5800
Rudy Gobert - FD 4400 DK 5000 DFSTR 3300
These guys are if and only if Favors is out again.

Be sure to try out a free 3-day trial to the projection system that helps produce these picks for both the NBA and NFL! And check out our free NBA ebook below.