Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks for Draft Street and FanDuel 12/30/13

 

Let’s not even waste time with idle chitchat. Yada, yada, yada, your hair looks great. Weather sucks. Kids are doing fine. Let’s get to the good stuff. Today’s games. There are a bunch of slow, boring, defensive minded teams playing today, so we’re going to need to find the best matchups to create optimal lineups. Take a look.

 

Guards

 

Monta Ellis DS $14,891 FD $7,600 - Ellis is the kind of guy I pick and choose my spots with. Tonight is one of those spots. He is my number one guard play today on both sites. This game should be up and down the court with Minny second in PACE and Dallas eleventh. Ellis should thrive in this style. Barring something unforeseen (fire in the stadium, professional sports cancelled because of alien invasion) Ellis will be all over my lineups.

 Jrue Holiday DS $14,634 FD $8,000 - Portland backcourt: great on offense. Portland backcourt: bad on defense. It’s about as simple as you can get. Holiday has been great this year and his price has dipped a bit after a poor outing against Houston. I would love to get both of these guys in my lineups and save some bucks somewhere else, but if I can’t I guess I’ll think about...

Ricky Rubio DS $13,289 FD $6,800 or Kevin Martin DS $10,200 FD $6,200  - To be honest, I don’t necessarily feel amazing making these recommendations. Both have somewhat fatal flaws. Rubio can’t shoot. Good news is, he seems to know this, so he doesn’t shoot. He’s attempted fourteen total shots his last three games! Are you kidding me with that number? Which makes all of his value is wrapped up in the other categories. Martin has the opposite issue. He doesn’t really do anything but score. I’d probably make the rest of my lineup and see what sort of money I had left. If either of these guys work, put them in. Their matchup is nice, but there’s a bunch of risk.

 

Forwards

 

Josh Smith DS $13,353 FD $7,900 - If you’re like me, you’ve strategically missed every big Josh Smith game, and had a few of his stinkers along the way. He was benched last game for, well, it’s not totally clear why, except that he and Mo Cheeks are beefing. I think that scares some folks away from Smith tonight and makes him a nice contrarian play with a gret matchup against the Wizards. Check his status close to game time. If he’s in the lineup, he should be in yours too.

Shawn Marion DS $10,995 FD $5,200 - The Matrix is fairly maddening in daily fantasy formats. He goes in fits and spurts. I don’t love him in double up formats because of this, but man, for GPPs he can really pay the day. Like Ellis, Marion could excel in a game that’s pushing it up and down the court. I like the idea of pairing Marion and Ellis in GPPs.

Corey Brewer DS $6,487 $4,200 - Brewer is essentially a punt, but from a dude who’s a consistent starter for a squad. Not exactly sure if that fits the definition, but whatever. As long as he is playing 30+ minutes for Minny, he gets the nod for me. At this price, especially on DraftStreet, Brewer is a bargain who can do just enough in the stat sheet to pay off.

 

Centers

 

Marcin Gortat DS $13,059 FD $6,800 - Gortat is really the only across the board value I see today. From a dollars perspective I hate the position. This isn’t to say I don’t think the Drummonds and Jeffersons of the world won’t score points. I just don’t you can justify paying for them. Gortat isn’t flashy, but in the right matchup he can excel. It’s becoming readily apparent that Andre Drummond can’t defend the position very well. Look for Gortat to take advantage.

 

Site Specific Plays

 

DraftStreet

 

Lamarcus Aldridge DS $17,949 - Love, love, love this price. Expect to see him as a huge start tonight. Do not fade him in double ups. Need to have him in there.

 

FanDuel

 

James Johnson $3,500 - Even with Prince back, this guy is still producing. At rock bottom prices, he’s getting more than enough minutes to be in lineups.

Miles Plumlee $5,000 - As a PF on FD Plumlee is a complete bargain. He tends to be hit or miss, but like the other night, when he’s going he’s a beast. This is fantastic price.

Josh McRoberts $4,900 - McBob is the kind of guy I keep in the back of my head when trying to get the money right. He has a nice matchup against the Jazz.

Dirk Nowitzki $7,600 - He’s consistently underpriced on this site. Against the Wolves and Kevin Love he should have no problem paying off.