Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) drives around Utah Jazz guard Raul Neto, left, in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
Coming off a night where some of our users won big GPPs and our system's optimal lineup came damn close, you know we aren't taking late season NBA lightly. The Cole Aldrich's of the world have our undying respect.
Things are really winding down now and here's to hoping we have a somewhat less manic lineup lock going into this short slate. Sure, news might drop on us with a whole team sitting. Or whatever. But there are just less teams playing so less moving parts. Thank goodness for small favors.
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Opponent - MIN
FD Proj. Pts - 38.75 DK Proj. Pts - 41.79
Opponent - POR
FD Proj. Pts - 32.6 DK Proj. Pts - 33.61
They'll be locked horns in a battle of point guards who don't play above average on-ball defense. That's almost a fantasy match made in heaven. Lillard is the safer of the two and they Blazers have been playing him big minutes because they are still jockeying for playoff position. Correct me if I'm wrong (really, please let me know) but they can pass the Grizzlies and get the Clippers in the first round instead of OKC. That's a decent amount of incentive.
Meanwhile Rubio is a guy who can drive you nuts. I don't think he's safe by any means (a theme you'll see from the T-Wolves in this write up). For instance, last game he just decided to shoot 0.0 times from the field. Not an easy thing to do when you're responsible for dribbling the ball up the court. He's more of a tournament play for me tonight because I don't think anyone will roster him. And if he's on the court back to regular minutes there is some upside. Again, so I don't get killed in the comments: NOT SAFE! TOURNAMENT!
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 19.9 DK Proj. Pts - 20.58
Super easy cheap play on the night. The price on Price (I don't get paid the big bucks for nothing) has barely moved since he took over the starting point guard position. In the last two he's averaged an 11/5 along with some steals. The D stats probably aren't sustainable, but the scoring and assists are about good enough on their own.
If you think he sees minutes in the mid 30's then Russell Westbrook would be a great play. But I don't trust it.
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 31.5 DK Proj. Pts - 35.16
From a minutes perspective, Booker is one of the safest guys on this slate and you are going to see a theme with this game. There are just a lot of plays coming out of this matchup. It makes sense in that both of these teams suck. Booker is playing big minutes right now because the Suns' backcourt is so very thin. He's been running minutes close to 40 a night over the short term though I still wouldn't consider him the safest guy ever at these prices. He's so scoring dependent and when the shot isn't falling, he's in trouble. But this is too good of a matchup and he isn't necessarily over-priced.
Opponent - POR
FD Proj. Pts - 25.92 DK Proj. Pts - 27.19
Speaking of scoring dependent two guards, Lavine is in the mix as well today too. I don't love that he saw reduced minutes last game against the Kings. That's a little worrisome considering most of his value is derived from high volume run. Like Booker, he doesn't have a ton to offer outside of putting the ball in the bucket. But he's falling in that mid range today and there is a possibly scenario where you are middling out these lineups.
Consider Klay Thompson if you think the Warriors are full go and the Grizz can hang some.
Opponent - POR
FD Proj. Pts - 31.56 DK Proj. Pts - 32.39
He has the same problem many of his teammates have when it comes to nightly performances. Namely, they are all wildly inconsistent. Sam Mitchell is liberal with the minutes for his starters but that doesn't always translate to high end numbers. A lot of these T-Wolves can disappear for long stretches. Wiggins is one of them though I do like him today if you think he's going to see minutes in the mid-to-upper 30's.
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 24.82 DK Proj. Pts - 26.42
He's been a beast lately thanks in large part to a significant increase in his shot volume and usage. He's been putting up double digit attempts in four of his last five games, conveniently timed with the absence of Brandon Knight. Knight ain't walking back through that door and I think you can keep Tucker penciled in for this kind of use nightly. Oh yeah, and the Pels stink.
Opponent - PHX
FD Proj. Pts - 21.3 DK Proj. Pts - 22.5
James Ennis makes the picks! Again! If you told me this would be the case around October I would have said, "Oh yeah Future Doug, the late season in DFS is a mess where literally anyone can obtain some value." (I'm usually very calm and collected when I talk to my future self) Ennis is starting for the Pels and averaging plenty of minutes to justify b=playing him. He's still basically a punt play and in a great matchup.
Opponent - NOP
FD Proj. Pts - 28.24 DK Proj. Pts - 28.73
Jon Leuer was available last game but it didn't effect Len's minutes too much. He should be in the mid-to-low 30's tonight and I really like the pricing on him at a weak position. He's been all over the place this season with his production and some of that is tied to whether he and Chandler are on the court together. It dips some when they are, but this matchup is just too good on a short slate and I think you need to stack it whenever possible.
Opponent - BOS
FD Proj. Pts - 41.4 DK Proj. Pts - 43.17
You are going to need to get money in somewhere on this slate and I don't see the Durants and Westbrooks of this Saturday as close to safe if they get buzzed in minutes. I see Millsap as a decent floor guy and this game is actually important for both teams as they're fighting it out for a playoff spot. It also helps that power forward is always a tough position to fill, so taking some safety here is a fine play and I like that he's seen increased minutes of late.
Opponent - OKC
FD Proj. Pts - 25.86 DK Proj. Pts - 26.28
Who the hell knows if Boogie is going to play, but if the big man sits again then WCS is a great cheap play. I really don't mind him even if Cousins is a go.
Opponent - OKC
FD Proj. Pts - 51.71 DK Proj. Pts - 52.29
Look, if he's a full go tonight then I think Boogie is the top money option on the slate. I don't OKC's going to run their starters much and he could really go off if Karl takes off the restraints. But there's just a good a chance that he doesn't play at all. Man, the Kings. Eesh. This is the piece of news to keep an eye on during the day. I'll hand it to the Kings, they've at least been forthcoming (lately) with their news and we've known early. Let's hope that's the case again tonight.
Opponent - PHX
FD Proj. Pts - 26.21 DK Proj. Pts - 26.65
You trust the minutes? Me neither. But he started and got a lot of run last night on his way to a beast mode performance. That isn't the say we get the same thing again. New Orleans has been all over the place with their rotations and minutes. You can't trust them even a little. But he's worth a strong consideration at these prices if he's listed as a starter again.
Consider Al Horford
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View Comments
Dear doug, What do you think of this lineup for a 10x Booster on DK, Lots of stacking. Price, Booker, Tucker, Milsap, Hereford, Lillard, Harkless, Wiggins. Earlier this year I was cashing in on tourneys all the time (Never big money but placing none the less) However as of late I seem to constantly be coming up short, let me know what you think please and thanks! Been coming to you for advice since the season started.
If anyone used the optimal lineup last night it completely killed it!!! If Randolph would have scored 18 more points the win would have had a comma in it. 223rd out of 86k!! 24$ win on a 2$ entry in a huge tourney...Aldrich was the dark horse of the night! DFSR customer for life here. You guys that don't have the premium plan are missing out without the optimizer for basketball and baseball, have won plenty of slates using it while in a time crunch.
Got one even easier... If we would have played nerlens Noel instead of Randolph we would've tied for 1st! I also placed 223rd using the optimizer! Great night guys!!
So crazy how small of a difference between $24 and $10k
Lol.. Al Hereford. Hereford is a type of cow, nm. I hate Gordon Hayward but he saved my butt last night and most people didn't pick him. 2.5% owned on DK. Wasn't in the optimizer but picked him last second after Lowry sat out with half my team locked in. It was still a recommendation from u guys and I thank u again. You guys rule!
Ha. Sorry about that. Auto-corrected it. I've been using Chrome but Safari must not recognize all of our NBA bros.
Btw, if you're not gonna pay for the service.. Then don't ask for "free" advice.
Nah, anyone ask anything. We try our best to answer everything. Can't always do it. But this is mine and James and Blake's full time job. We want to get to as much as we can.
I mean I would love to but I'm 19 years old jumping between my parents houses trying to figure out what the fuck to do with my life I find temporary solace in playing DFB so I mean I'm sure once my life settles a bit I will more than willingly pay the 15$ a month but until then I'm just freeloading (what's new) so dear Joseph please fuck right off. Thanks bud.
ON FIRE !!!!
Great night. Markieff had me worried for awhile but then busted it out of the box.
Just won 25k hotshot! $3 into 2k using build my own lineup with suggestions from the articles posted on here and comments (sorry guys, I used Reggie Jackson in GPP despite article recommending for cash lol)
BOOOM! Screenshot to doug@dailyfantasysportsrankings.com if you want. Super solid. Love the big scores.
Sorry Joseph, but people that come here want to do well. We all want people to win money; that's the whole point of this site, that's the whole point of the picks (which happen to be free advice by the way) the editors/owners write up.
The disrespect isn't ok.
We love the community that's building here. It was totally unexpected. We've been writing for going on three years now and rarely had folks commenting. Now, 200+ comments a day. Crazy. We are looking into adding a chat feature that will streamline some of this discussion.
Set my lineups with optimizer in the movie line getting popcorn, took 10 mins, $20-->$186...thanks again!
You guys do a great job. I happened across this site last year by accident while looking for a place that had football picks, and they were so good I've been here ever since.
So yea, just keep up the good work fellas.