FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Sunday, 1/17/21

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Point Guard

Ben Simmons FD - $8300 DK - $8600
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 42.41 DK - 41.84

Ben Simmons had a rough night on Saturday without Joel Embiid playing 36 minutes and turning the ball over seven times. He put up a complete(ish) line with nine points, 16 rebounds, and nine assists but the turnovers and lack of scoring did kind of kill him on the prices. I’m looking for a bounce-back here against OKC who plays at a league-average pace and defensive efficiency as well. Without the 76ers main driver of offense we are still buying guys on the team at relative value.

De'Aaron Fox FD - $7300 DK - $7900
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 39.91 DK - 40.07

He played on something of a minutes limit on Friday but it's tough to tell if that was an injury thing or just because the Kings got blown out. I do think he’s set to see minutes in the mid 30’s in this matchup which would put him firmly in the cash game territory. On average, Fox is playing less than last season and it’s shown with him scoring and assisting less than 2020. But some of that is wonky with the minutes and I do think some of that is fit to regress as the rest of the season goes on and he plays more. Especially on FanDuel, Fox is still a cash play.

Shooting Guard

Paul George FD - $8700 DK - $9500
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 41.82 DK - 44.34

Paul George has spent the beginning part of this season trying to erase some of the stink on him from the playoffs last season. At least to start, it’s kind of working. He’s scoring 25 points per game (second-highest of his career) while shooting 50% from three on more than eight attempts per game. The 5.2 assists per game are also a career-high. And he’s logging major minutes, more than 37 per game over his last seven. It sure looks like the floor is high enough. I like him better on FanDuel where he’s still coming a bit too cheap for the production.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander FD - $8200 DK - $8300
Opponent - PHI
Proj Pts FD - 42.56 DK - 43.82

When the Thunder can keep the game close, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is basically locked into major minutes, one of the few guys on the team you can say that about. Over his last eight games, he’s averaging more than 33 minutes a game and putting up 22.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. He’s shooting over 40% from three in that stretch as well. He’ll get a defensively-sound Philly team on Sunday, but they will be without Joel Embiid, which does take them down a tick or two.

I think you can still consider Nickeil Alexander-Walker (FD 5100 DK 4900) with the Pelicans’ injuries.

Small Forward

Brandon Ingram FD - $8500 DK - $8800
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 43.68 DK - 44.61

The Pelicans draw the best matchup on Sunday and are coming in with the day’s highest implied total. The Kings aren’t playing all that fast (12th in the league) but has been just atrocious on defense. Their defensive efficiency ranks dead last in the league and it’s really not even all that close. Ingram’s stats are basically in line with what he did last season, putting up 24 points and 6.6 rebounds, but he has ticked the assists up to 5.5 per game. Considering the safety in his minutes and the best matchup on the board, Ingram is a top option on this slate.

Tobias Harris FD - $7500 DK - $7800
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 42.75 DK - 43.16

With Joel Embiid out another game, Harris should see the usage rate spike again. On Saturday against Memphis, Harris took a team-high 17 shots and got to the line seven times. He finished with *only* 21 points but I think that’s the low end of the expectation with this kind of shot volume. The price isn’t correcting for the Sixers to be without their top offensive weapon so rolling Harris out in cash here is totally fine.

Power Forward

Zion Williamson FD - $7700 DK - $8100
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 41.24 DK - 41.01

The case for Zion follows much of the same one as Ingram. The Kings are just that bad on defense this season and we need to target them whenever possible in DFS. Zion is steadily playing in the 34-minute range nightly and over his last five games is putting up 24 points and 8.6 rebounds. He doesn’t pile on the defensive stats you’d like to see from such an athletic guy, but he’s been able to trickle them in from time to time. Stacking Zion and Ingram in cash should give you a high floor in the matchup.

Isaiah Roby FD - $4200 DK - $4200
Opponent - PHI
Proj Pts FD - 25.58 DK - 26.15 In the three games Al Horford has missed this season Roby has been the fill-in starter. And from a fantasy perspective, it’s worked. In those three games, he’s averaging 15 points, seven rebounds, and two assists. The defensive stats are lacking and don’t appear to be part of his repertoire, but the rest of the stat line gets it done at these prices. He was in foul trouble last game which cut his minutes, but in this one, he should hit high-20’s easily.

Center

Dwight Howard FD - $4400 DK - $4800
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 31.43 DK - 32.89

Howard is a cash game lock on this slate and is likely to be the highest owned player on both sites. On Saturday, in the spot start for Embiid, he crushed with eight points, 18 rebounds, and three blocks in 34 minutes. There’s no concern about him losing minutes on the second half of the back-to-back on this slate. This is an easy one. Howard will be the chalk option all around.

Myles Turner FD - $7400 DK - $7000
Opponent - LAC
Proj Pts FD - 41.04 DK - 37.44

Dwight Howard is far and away the best cash option for this slate so I’m hesitant to even make too strong a case for anyone else. But if you are looking to pivot, Turner has been able to put together some good games this season when the minutes are there. He’s double-doubled in three of the last four games with an average of 13.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and a whopping 4.25 blocks and 1.25 steals in that stretch. It’s the defensive stats, especially on FanDuel that give him a higher fantasy floor.