Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks - Friday, November 17, 2023

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Point Guard/ Shooting Guard

Jalen Brunson FD - $8000 DK - $8300
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 42.08 DK - 45.86

With a packed slate of games, it can sometimes be a bit weird playing players from a team at full strength, but the Knicks are in such a great spot we have to look at them. They play the Wizards who run the fastest pace in the league and play a bottom-five defense. Stacking against them in cash has been a winning formula as long as the games don’t turn into blowouts (tough to do).

If it’s close, Brunson is a candidate to run major minutes, playing 39+ in each of the last two games, taking an average of 20 shots in that span. The price on both sites is totally reasonable and he should be at the core of cash game builds.

De'Aaron Fox FD - $9300 DK - $9000
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 46.17 DK - 48.49M

Along with the Knicks, the other team to think strongly about stacking here is the Kings who get to face off against the Spurs. San Antonio has the second-worst defensive efficiency in the NBA, giving up huge point totals seemingly every single night.

They also get blown out a ton, so there’s risk here with the Sac guys. Fox hasn’t had any minutes restrictions since coming back from injury and has dropped 28 points in each of the last two games. Pray this one stays close and light the Beam with the Kings in cash.

Darius Garland FD - $7400 DK - $7200
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 0 DK - 0

Donovan Mitchell FD - $9900 DK - $9500
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 55.43 DK - 57.69

Caris LeVert FD - $6500 DK - $6900
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 37.7 DK - 39.65

I’m putting all three of these guys together here for a reason. Not because I think you should play all three, but because both Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell are questionable at the time of this writing.

If one were to sit, then the other plus Caris LeVert would be in play as excellent cash game additions. With one guard off the court, the other sees a major uptick in production.

Plus, Caris gets excellent bench run (he didn’t start last game with Garland out) in these scenarios. This is a swing scenario when it comes to keeping an eye on injury news.

Small Forward

Josh Hart FD - $5500 DK - $5900
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 34.6 DK - 37.33

We need to keep an on this situation as well. RJ Barrett has missed time lately and is questionable for this game too. If he were to sit then Josh Hart would be in line for major minutes at the 2-3 for the Knicks. It would be a great spot considering his prices on both sites. Sometimes plays in this middle tier can be a bit tricky because of the opportunity. But that wouldn’t be the case if Hart was starting once again.

Robert Covington FD - $4800 DK - $4500
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 31.6 DK - 29.91M

If looking for a cheaper play on this slate, it was encouraging to see the number of minutes Robert Covington got last game, fulling in as a starter for Kelly Oubre. Plus there was more run with Nic Batum out of the mix for personal reasons.

In 37 minutes against the Celtics, he put up 16 points and six rebounds which gets the job done at his prices. And this game has a big total for a reason. The Hawks play a top-four pace and a bottom-third defense on the season.

Strongly consider Lauri Markkanen (FD 8400 DK 8600) against the Suns.

Power Forward/ Center

Domantas Sabonis FD - $10300 DK - $10000
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 50.64 DK - 54.29

Sabonis is expensive, but as we said with Fox, it’s worth it because of the matchup. San Antonio just allows a million points with their garbage defense and top-3 pace. They are the Wizards are just the two nuts matchups just about every time out. Sabonis is just so freaking consistent, basically averaging the same exact numbers (19.1/ 12.8/ 7.3) that he did last year. We are almost to the decimal points here and his minutes trend on the higher side than others at the position as long as the games stay close.

Julius Randle FD - $8800 DK - $8800
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 47.57 DK - 52.3

Julius Randle had been running horribly from the field to start the year but began to get right last game against the Hawks when he went for 29 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists in 39 minutes. The efficiency was (finally) there as well, going 12-24 from the field and 3-5 from three. This is the best matchup you can get in NBA DFS right now and I love stacking him and Brunson in cash games at their price points.

John Collins FD - $5300 DK - $6200
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 34.05 DK - 35.91

John Collins put up a double-double last game with 14 points and 10 rebounds with yet another start in place of the injured Walker Kessler. His FanDuel price is way too low at this point with the new role and expanded minutes rotations. The Jazz seem happy with the arrangement as well and have been playing him enough at the five that the minutes are safe. The matchup against the Suns won’t play him off the court in any way either.