Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks - Thursday, October 24, 2024

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Point Guard/ Shooting Guard

Luka Doncic FD - $11900 DK - $11100
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 51.54 DK - 56.35

Kyrie Irving FD - $8100 DK - $7500
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 39.75 DK - 42.51

Luka Doncic didn’t play in the preseason, so I’m a little worried about the workload in this first game of the season. He’s probably a bit too expensive to wonder if the minutes aren’t going to get blown out of the water, but the Mavericks have the second-highest implied total on the slate. That means something against a Spurs team that ran a fast pace and played below-average defense last season. CP3 probably slows things down some this season, but it’s worth noting.

Meanwhile, if you think Doncic is at all limited here, then Kyrie Irving becomes one of the better values on the slate. He’s not all that expensive on either site and would stand to see heavy usage in this offense. I’m inclined to just go with Kyrie in cash games and spend up elsewhere, but the game environment for Luka is worth throwing out there.

Chris Paul FD - $6600 DK - $5900
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 29.33 DK - 32.25M

It’s hard to imagine Chris Paul playing tons and tons of minutes in this first game, but it’s also tough to imagine him air-balling at these prices, especially on DraftKings. The Spurs brought him in specifically to help facilitate an offense around Victor Wembanyama, and that’s what we should get. The usage was low in the preseason, to be expected, but the assist levels should climb enough to make him a play here.

Julian Champagnie FD - $3900 DK - $3800
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 19.25 DK - 20.13

Yeah, this is a weird name to put on the list, but when you are rostering guys like Luka Doncic and Victor Wembanyama, you need some cost savings somewhere. With Devin Vassell out to start the season, Julian Champagnie should draw the start at the two guard. There is still rookie Stephon Castle behind him, so the playing time might not be too, too crazy. But he’s about as close to a punt play as you’ll find on this slate.

Derrick White (FD 7000 DK 6600) and Jrue Holiday (FD 6200 DK 6000) are in play, but I’m worried about the Celtics blowing out the Wizards.

Small Forward

Jayson Tatum FD - $10100 DK - $9300
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 50.91 DK - 55.21

The Celtics came out like an absolute juggernaut in the first game of the season against the Knicks, blowing the doors off New York thanks in large part to Jayson Tatum going completely nuclear. He scored 37 points on crazy (and I mean crazy) efficiency, hitting 14-18 from the field and 8-11 from three.

There’s big-time blowout risk in this game, with the Celtics sitting at -13.5 road favorites against the lowly Wizards. Getting clipped on minutes in the fourth is a potential problem, but the matchup against Washington is about as good as it gets.

Julian Strawther FD - $3900 DK - $3200
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 15.51 DK - 15.58

Christian Braun moves into the Nuggets starting lineup in place of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and Julian Strawther should see a significant role off the bench here. The preseason signaled as much, and he put up some crazy scoring numbers. Strawther averaged 21 points a game in nearly 30 minutes over the last four tuneup games. At these prices on a short slate, you can take a flyer with him as a punt play.

Power Forward/ Center

Victor Wembanyama FD - $11500 DK - $10700
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 59.74 DK - 61.21

From a fantasy perspective, it’s tough to pick between Nikola Jokic and Victor Wembanyama here. Both have incredibly high floors and incredibly high ceilings. It really doesn’t get much better than these two. You can’t play both, but you’ll probably want to play one or the other. I’ll go with Wembanyama here for a couple of reasons.

For starters, on FanDuel, he is PF-eligible, which helps with lineup builds considerably. That alone has him stand out over there.

On DraftKings, it’s a little closer, though he’s also a little cheaper than Jokic, helping to ease the salary concerns just a tad. That being said, the double-double and triple-double bonus works in favor of Joker. Again, this is very close and a decision we’ll be making right down to the wire.

Jeremy Sochan FD - $5800 DK - $4600
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 27.24 DK - 29.27

The price on DraftKings is way too low, and he’s in play on FanDuel as well. While they started him at point guard last year at the beginning of the season, now he’ll shift back to the four with Chris Paul around. He had a great preseason, averaging 15 points and seven rebounds in mid-20s minutes. That should push up and over 30 with big defensive stat upside as well. I think this is a pretty easy call on DraftKings, especially.

Al Horford FD - $5500 DK - $5200
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 31.03 DK - 32.94

Like with Tatum, there is significant blowout risk with the Celtics, so I’m a little gun-shy about playing them. But we also need to grab some lower-tier value wherever possible in order to fit the true elite-elite guys. Horford starting for the the injured Kristaps Porzingis helps there. He rates to do just enough at these prices to make it worth it.