Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 1/12/15

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Point Guard

Derrick Rose - FD 6500 DK 6400 DFSTR 6100
Kirk Hinrich - FD 3700 DK 3700 DFSTR 3700
Aaron Brooks - FD 4100 DK 3800 DFSTR 4100
Here's the deal. I'm obviously not picking them all together. That would be lunacy I tells ya! But what I am doing is targeting whoever is playing the big minutes for the Bulls at the point tonight. If Rose is cleared to play (I really don't think he will be) then I'd be more than willing to get some shares of him at his price. If he sits, then Hinrich and Brooks will see bumps in minutes and the Magic are just a brutal defensive team. Opposing point guards have burned them all season. Monitor this situation closely and if you think Hinrich sees the kind of minutes he did the other night then he becomes a fantastic play at the near minimums.

Jrue Holiday - FD 8000 DK 7700 DFSTR 7000
He plays big minutes and the price has come up a bit in the short term thanks to some solid games he's put together. But even with the inflated salaries you can throw him in there against the Celtics who play at a fast pace and allow tons of points to opposing point guards. Some of those season averages come with Rondo of course, but their style dictates the other team garnering more possessions. Holiday seems to have a higher floor in this one.

Consider Elfrid Payton but the minutes can be scary.

Shooting Guard

James Harden - FD 10700 DK 10500 DFSTR 9200
The way the money is looking like it will shake out today, I think it's completely in play to have both Harden and Anthony Davis in your lineups without too much in the way of sacrifice elsewhere. Harden's overall scoring is down a little bit lately but that could be viewed as a combo deal of either blowouts/ poor shooting nights. He is still more than capable of putting up huge points and will have that opportunity against a Nets team allowing worse than league average scoring to opposing shooting guards. I love the idea tonight of playing both Harden and Brow in cash games with other pieces of value filling in the cracks.

Victor Oladipo - FD 6600 DK 6300 DFSTR 6000
He's able weather some bad scoring nights because he pitches in with other contributions across the stat line. The steals help a bunch, but he's no slouch (for a two) when it comes to rebounds and assists. Jimmy Butler is a tough matchup (I assume that's who will guard Dipo) but the price is fine enough and if Tobias Harris is out again Oladipo could be called on to contribute more scoring.

Strongly consider Tyreke Evans

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Small Forward

James Johnson - FD 4900 DK 4600 DFSTR
As long as he's still the starter then this is a great play. That being said, if Derozan is back monitor what the Raptors do with their starting lineup as Johnson could head right back to the bench. But it does appear he enjoyed the starter's position because against the Celtics on Saturday he went 15/10/4/2 on his way to crushing the price. Not much has corrected and he's a fantastic, near must-play as long as he's in the starting five against the Pistons.

Trevor Ariza - FD 5600 DK 5600 DFSTR 5700
His minutes were a bit down over the last two games because the Rockets blew out the Jazz and the Knicks. When the games are close Ariza is a near lock for 35 minutes or more. He's still seeing double digit shot attempts when the run is there. I think Brooklyn should be able to hang with the Rockets for most of this and Ariza is in a good spot. His price helps you get some bigger money in some other areas and his steals keep the floor high. And then there's always the threat he heats up from beyond the arc and really crushes.

Consider Bojan Bogdanovic if he's going to start again.

Power Forward

Anthony Davis - FD 10900 DK 11000 DFSTR 8800
Perfect storm happening here. His price has come down in some spots over the last couple of games presumably because of lower ownerships on certain sites. That's great news considering it coincides with a matchup against the Celtics who get rolled by opposing power forwards. On the season they are allowing 11% more scoring and 12% more rebounding than league average to the position. Brow should be able to do some work here and should be in all of your cash game lineups considering the savings you can get elsewhere. On Draftster he's a must start considering their pricing doesn't allow a player to get past 10K. Everywhere else, he should be a high percentage play and with good reason.

Jared Sullinger - FD 6400 DK 6600 DFSTR 6100
On the other side of the ball is Sullinger who will be matched up with Davis here. The minutes are a little of a concern for Sullinger as was playing in the mid thirties only to see it decrease a bit over the last few games. But at the same time, New Orleans and company don't exactly shut down the opposing four and this game could be up and down the court. I mostly in on Sullinger for the price. In the mid tier he is about the best value you can get at the position.

Ryan Anderson - FD 5600 DK 5400 DFSTR 4400
More of a GPP play because the minutes fluctuate but it stands to reason that in an uptempo game he could see his fair share of three point looks. The price allows easy access to Davis and possibly Harden as well which really starts making some tournament lineups round into shape.

Consider Pau Gasol if you think the Bulls would be content just force-feeding him the rock like they did the other night with Rose out.

Center

Brook Lopez - FD 6400 DK 7100 DFSTR 5100
Mason Plumlee - FD 6800 DK 6900 DFSTR 5600
Interesting situation going on in Brooklyn. I think the price point is great for both of these guys. And they have been playing side-by-side for the Nets over the last couple of days. Plumlee saw a minutes reduction in the game against the Sixers but I think that was more circumstance than an actual sign of things to come. He's just been too good to relegate completely back to a bench role minutes Lopez on the other hand is sitting at a lower tag because of the time he spent on the bench after returning from injury. The Rockets are above average defending the lower blocks but again, this is a price thing. I'm comfortable playing either in lineups and because their prices are similar you can easily stagger the exposure.

Kelly Olynyk - FD 5200 DK 4700 DFSTR 5000
Tyler Zeller - FD 4800 DK 4000 DFSTR
These guys are much like the two above in that they are interchangeable, except are more built for GPPs. It's impossible to know who is going to do it on any particular night but both are capable of throwing up monster lines. Wouldn't consider them anything close to safe.

Consider Jonas Valanciunas

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