Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings - 1/21/17

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Point Guard

Kemba Walker FD - $7900 DK - $8000
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 43.87 DK - 46.62
Kemba Walker gets us started tonight, and while he may not be the splashiest name going this evening, he's an upper-mid tier priced player that offers consistency, which of course provides safety. The minutes seem to be well locked in at the mid to upper 30 range. Over his last 5 outings, he's averaging 21.4 points, and while he tends to disappear on defense, he's good for 3.4 boards and 4.6 dimes per game. Tonight he draws the prime DFS match up of the Brooklyn Nets. I anticipate good things for Walker tonight.

Eric Bledsoe FD - $8300 DK - $8500
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 40.65 DK - 43.55
Eric Bledsoe could be on pace to have a career year if he stays healthy. Over his last 4 games he's averaging 20.25 points, 6.75 rebounds, and 8.25 assists. His salary is nearing it's season high, but he's still paying 5x if he keeps playing at this current clip. The Knicks are a league average match up for opposing point guards and this is one of the highest scoring affairs of the evening and should stay competitive enough to get Bledsoe his full compliment of minutes and opportunities. Run him in cash with confidence.

Raymond Felton FD - $4600 DK - $5700
Opponent - DEN
Proj Pts FD - 28 DK - 29.87
Austin Rivers FD - $5400 DK - $5900
Opponent - DEN
Proj Pts FD - 28.53 DK - 30.41
The price is on the rise for both of these guys, but I think we still have a long way to go before we have to question if it's worth running them out there in our lineups. The Clippers are in a bad spot with Blake and CP3 out for the next few weeks. Look for these two to benefit greatly from that situation and take full advantage. Felton dropped 10 points on Thursday against Minnesota while picking up 4 rebounds and dishing out 8 assists. Rivers dropped 20 in 36 minutes. While either guy can be used in cash depending on your spending needs, I like Felton as having a little more upside in tournaments, while coming in at the bargain price point.

Shooting Guard

Nicolas Batum FD - $7400 DK - $7600
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 37.6 DK - 40.66
Since being sidelined with a knee injury a couple weeks ago Nicolas Batum has been lighting up the court. In his last game on Wednesday, he hosted his former team to a 17/7/7 line good for a fantasy point per minute. Two nights before that in Boston, he made up for his lack of scoring with 10 rebounds and 10 assists. I don't need to tell you how bad Brooklyn is at defense do I? well, just in case you're new to this whole basketball thing, the Nets are giving up 6% more points, 7% more rebounds and a whopping 41% more steals than league average to opposing shooting guards. That's not bad, that's looking at bad in the rearview mirror on the highway to horrible. This one could get out of hand, but if Brooklyn can stay in it, Batum should crush value in all formats.

Will Barton FD - $5700 DK - $6500
Opponent - LAC
Proj Pts FD - 31.04 DK - 33.23
I don't take joy in seeing anyone injured, but I suppose the positive is it's nice to see a player take advantage when given an opportunity due to injury. Will Barton has been eating in his last 2 games since Gary Harris has been out. He's paying more than 6.5x at this salary in those two games, and as long as he's going to continue to see those extra 10-12 minutes and make the most of them, then he makes for a fantastic play across all formats. The clippers are one of the tougher defenses against shooting guards, but for the price I'll take the chance in tournaments.

Devin Booker FD - $6500 DK - $6700
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 32.37 DK - 34.87
Devin Booker has been a scoring machine since the start of the new year. In 8 games, he has scored over 20 points 7 straight times, flirting with 40 twice. The problem with Booker is all he does is score. The peripheral stats aren't always there. Prior to his 7 rebounds and 8 assists against the Cavs Thursday night, he was averaging 1.85/2.2 in that same time frame. That brings us to tonight and the New York Knicks. The Knicks are among the leagues worst defenses against the position and in addition to allowing 5% more scoring, they also give up 16% more rebounds than league average at the two guard. The scoring alone makes him a good cash game play, if he can pull off a double double, then he could be in line for a 7X performance.

Small Forward

Carmelo Anthony FD - $7900 DK - $7900
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 37.49 DK - 39.66
The Knicks lost to the Wizards on Thursday night, but that wasn't because Melo wasn't trying. He put up a fantastic performance both for the game and for fantasy owners. The 25 points he posted in the second set a Knicks franchise record, and helped him on his way to a 50 fantasy point performance good for 6X value. Look for Anthony to ride his hot hand into tonight's game against the Suns with their top 3 pace factor and bottom 5 defense at the three. With Noah being listed as a game time decision and Zingers minutes possibly being watched, Melo may have to step up and lead the Knicks again.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist FD - $5100 DK - $5100
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 27.98 DK - 29.21
I promise, I'm not going to spend the whole write up picking on the Nets, but just for good measure let's talk a bit about Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. MKG is not going to do a whole lot for you from an offensive standpoint, if he gets you 15 points you found him on a good night. The thing is, his defensive game is where you'll find your value and the Nets give up 9% more rebounds, 7% more steals and 9% more blocks to the position. They're also allowing 11% more points, so MKG's ninth double double of the season could be in play. MKG is the walking definition of high risk/high reward, so I'll limit myself to tournaments on this one.

Joe Ingles FD - $3700 DK - $4400
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 19.36 DK - 21.03
Ingles drew the start on Monday against the Suns and ended the night paying 6.45X value. At this price, as long as he is drawing the start he remains a must play. While his expected value may take a slight hit agaisnt the Jazz abd their sluggish pace, Ingles only needs about 18 points to hit value. If he's seeing minutes in the mid thirties, even the Jazz can't slow down progress like that. For the price you can't go wrong with Ingles in all formats.

Power Forward

Paul Millsap FD - $8200 DK - $7700
Opponent - PHI
Proj Pts FD - 38.57 DK - 40.78
Paul Millsap has put up some less than desirable performances in his last couple of games, but that's really not his fault. He's seen his minutes clipped in the high twenties due to the Hawks blowing out the Pistons and most recently, the Bulls last night. Atlanta took a 30 point lead in to the fourth and Millsaps production suffered as a result. Tonight the Sixers come to town, and while Vegas has this game at a 9.5 spread, Philly has been playing some solid ball in the past couple of weeks, and I have a feeling they keep it close long enough for Millsap to get his full run of minutes. Even in games without Embiid, which this game will be, the Sixers young squad has strung together several wins and keep themselves competitive in losses. No Embiid also means Phillys defense, which is among the top 10 against opposing fours, takes a slight hit. Millsap doesn't provide a ton of upside, but I like him in all formats, as he should have little trouble paying value in cash games, and recency bias will keep a lot of people off him if you're looking for a high scoring separation player.

Derrick Favors FD - $4700 DK - $5100
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 28.59 DK - 29.92
Most days power forward just isn't pretty, and today is no different. I think that's why the system is pushing Derrick Favors as a cheap way out of the position. Favors was good for a mind numbing 5 points and 4 rebounds last night against the Mavericks, and has been the model of inconsistency in recent weeks and just when you think he's turning things around last night happens. Prior to that he put together four straight 20-25 fantasy point performances. When we take a closer look at the match ups, we see tonights opponent, the Indiana Pacers allow 4% more scoring than Dallas, as well as 8% more rebounds and 54% more steals. Like Millsap, the recency bug should hit Favors in ownership percentage, and a lot of people will be off him, but they may wind up regretting that by the end of the night.

Jon Leuer is likely to return against the Wizards, but if he should sit one more, then strongly consider Tobias Harris.

Center

DeMarcus Cousins FD - $10600 DK - $10900
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 52.94 DK - 56.14
The Kings have been struggling recently, and it's not going to get any easier on them after losing Rudy Gay for the season. DeMarcus Cousins should benefit from that however as he sees a 4.6% bump in usage without Gay on the court. Boogie's had an impressive month of January, averaging 25 points, 6.75 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.2 steals over his last 5 games. He took a hit last night against Memphis playing only 28 minutes, but that should mean he's not too tired for a much better match up tonight with the Bulls. For the main slate I love Boogie, and unless some ridiculous value pops up at center I plan to have him everywhere.

Andre Drummond FD - $8000 DK - $7300
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 38.28 DK - 40.03
Marcin Gortat FD - $5700 DK - $5600
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 27.75 DK - 29.08
These two will go head to head in the early or all day slate. There's a lot to like about this match up from both sides. Drummond's been up and down as a scorer this year but he's put up double digit rebounds in 5 straight games. On the other end, Marcin Gortat has grabbed at least 10 boards in 11 of his last 13 games and has 8 double doubles in that period. Both of these teams are similarly ranked defensively, and Washingtons pace of play will provide Detroit with a few extra looks. Vegas doesn't see this one getting out of hand, so if you play the short early slate, or chance the all day, you can get your safety at center here, both are good cash plays and I like Gortat in tournaments as well.

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