Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks - Wednesday, January 31, 2024

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Point Guard/ Shooting Guard

Jaden Hardy FD - $5100 DK - $4400
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 32.03 DK - 35.71

Tim Hardaway Jr. FD - $6400 DK - $6000
Opponent - MIN
Proj Pts FD - 36.15 DK - 40.54

The Dallas Mavericks are effectively punting this game against the Timberwolves, sitting Luka Doncic and Derrick Lively among others, turning the game over to the bench unit. We haven’t seen this a ton in the NBA this season, but it definitely still happens from time to time. And when it does we can basically stack the cheap guys who are bound to see a ton of the usage.

That’s going to start with Jaden Hardy, who is projected to take over the starting point guard duties and could chuck from the rafters in this one. He’s coming off a 20-point, seven-assist game last time out and that was in *just* 27 minutes. With Luka and Kyrie out, he has the second-highest usage on the team at 27%. I suspect he’s the most popular cash play on this slate.

Then there is Tim Hardaway Jr., who should be in the starting lineup at the two-guard in this one. THJ spikes the biggest usage gain with Luka and Kyrie off the court, putting up a whopping 37.6% rate in 195 minutes. The question here isn’t whether Hardaway will take a lot of shots in his minutes, but rather if he’ll play enough minutes.

There’s real blowout risk here, and he would be one of the first guys cut, seeing as how he’s a big part of their regular rotation. If he’s in the starting lineup, then it’s worth the risk for sure. But this is something to monitor to see if Jason Kidd mentions limited run for anyone.

James Harden FD - $8400 DK - $8500
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 47.67 DK - 51.27

While some of the Dallas Mavericks could make for popular plays on this slate, there are some other high-powered teams in very spots for Wednesday’s NBA action. One of them is the Clippers who face off against the dreadful Washington Wizards who play the fastest pace in the league coupled with the worst defensive efficiency. T

here’s some blowout risk here with the Clippers sitting at -12 road favorites, but James Harden should have a higher floor. He’s averaging a double-double over the last month with 16 points and 10 rebounds per game while playing minutes in the (very) high 30s as long as games stay close.

Small Forward

DeMar DeRozan FD - $8100 DK - $7900
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 44.22 DK - 45.76

DeMar DeRozan was a popular cash game play on FanDuel for Tuesday’s action, for good reason considering the situation with the Bulls right now. They are without Zach Lavine and Patrick Williams, effectively locking DDR into major minutes as long as the Bulls are in things going into the fourth quarter.

He’s played 40+ minutes in regulation over the last four games, averaging about 25 points and six assists in that stretch. The matchup against the lowly Hornets is a good one and DeRozan’s price really isn’t reflective of how much he’s on the court these days.

Kawhi Leonard FD - $9200 DK - $8200
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 50.56 DK - 52.26

Again, when you play the team running the fastest pace and the fourth-worst defense, it’s going to make sense to roster at least a few dudes in this situation. And that’s what we have with the Clippers, who, thankfully, concentrate much of their fantasy production on three guys: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden.

The Clips have been involved in some blowouts lately, driving down Leonard’s minutes in the short term and keeping the price in check. It could be the case again here, seeing as how the Wizards stink, but on DraftKings especially, he’s coming so cheap that he could get there even in a limited run.

He left the game early last time out, but if he’s starting again then Jonathan Isaac (FD 4000 DK 3800) makes for a great play on both sites.

Power Forward/ Center

Miles Bridges FD - $8500 DK - $8200
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 44.51 DK - 48.09

The Charlotte Hornets are down LaMelo Ball because of injury, and they’ve traded away Terry Rozier. That’s a massive amount of fantasy production lost, and we’ve seen it reconcentrated among the guys unlucky enough to still be on this terrible team. Miles Bridges is playing many minutes these days and putting up a million shots in the process.

He’s taken 19+ shots in five of the last six games, playing 39 or minutes in five of six as well. This is about as high a floor as you’ll see in the NBA on a nightly basis and the price doesn’t completely reflect it either. I think we are still getting him at a relatively good deal in this one.

Nick Richards FD - $6500 DK - $5700
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 37.53 DK - 38.81

It can sometimes be tough to trust center minutes, especially for a guy like Nick Richards who the Hornets have been careful with since Mark Williams went down. But that hasn’t been the case over the last couple of games with the young center playing 37 and 36 minutes in regulation. Some of that comes from PJ Washington joining the starting lineup considering he’d been the backup five.

Now, Richards only took two shots in 36 minutes last game, a borderline disturbing number. But I think he still registers as a value here considering they’ll likely match his minutes with Nikola Vucevic.

Nikola Vucevic FD - $7900 DK - $7500
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 40.92 DK - 43.91

He’s been one of the more underrated fantasy guys around this season, averaging 17 points and 10.5 rebounds on almost 34 points a game. Vuce was one of the more popular FanDuel plays on Tuesday and could be the cast again here on the back-to-back. The Hornets aren’t likely to provide a lot of resistance and the DraftKings price is way too cheap.