NBA Preview: Will the Brooklyn Nets Additions Actually Add up to More Wins? Leading up to the start of the season, we'll be looking at a bunch of different teams, breaking down their offseasons, and looking ahead how they project relative to their Vegas implied win total. We already covered the New York Knicks and how we liked the over on their wins. Now we take a look at the team across town, the Nets. Now’s your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NFL, NBA and MLB optimizers and our new player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! Brooklyn Nets 2018-2019 Record 42-40 2018-2019 Point Differential -0.1 2018-2019 Pythagorean Record 40-40 Offseason Additions Kevin Durant (recovering from injury) Kyrie Irving DeAndre Jordan Taurean Prince Wilson Chandler Garrett Temple Offseason Losses D’Angelo Russell Ed Davis Demarre Carroll Rondae Hollis-Jefferson Projected Starting Lineup Kyrie Irving, Caris Levert, Joe Harris, Taurean Prince, Jarrett Allen Key Bench Players Spencer Dinwiddie, Rodion Kurucs, DeAndre Jordan, Wilson Chandler (suspended), David Nwaba, Garrett Temple The Nets were the darlings of the offseason (until the Clippers’ thing happened), locking up both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to contracts and ushering in a new era of New York basketball. It was a major coup for a franchise only a few years removed from being seemingly locked into long-term rebuilding hell. Following a first round exit to the Philadelphia 76ers, the future looked bright enough on its own considering they’d taken some young pieces and a reclamation project (or two) turning them into a viable NBA team that even took a game in the series. Then they went ahead and signed two of the best players in the league to fit around a young core of players. Typically, teams tend to improve season-over-season by retaining their best parts and upgrading along the edges or in the spaces they most needed help. The Nets didn’t take that approach this offseason. They went about it by just taking the best available players and calling it a day. Let me be clear, this is almost always going to be the correct approach. In terms of Win Shares, here were the Nets’ four *best* players last season: Jarrett Allen 7.6 Ed Davis 5.7 Joe Harris 5.5 D’Angelo Russell 5.0 Two of those players are gone, replaced with guys at the same position. This isn't the typical linear upgrade apprach and it does leave us in a somewhat weird spot about how to evaluate their prospects for THIS season. Should they be better? It seems so. Will they be significantly better? I’m not so sure. Sure they finished the...

Bonus Podcast Episode - NBA Finals Preview! Plus MLB FanDuel and DraftKings plays 5/29/19 Listen to "Bonus Episode - NBA Finals Preview! Plus MLB FanDuel and DraftKings plays 5/29/19" on Spreaker. It’s a special, double-episode of the podcast with the DFSR crew covering the NBA Finals prior to Thursday night’s Game 1 and also an evening slate of MLB action. They start things off breaking down Warriors-Raptors leading into a much-anticipated Finals with a lot of storylines. The guys look at the matchup, some key questions about the series, the status of Kevin Durant, how the Warriors play with and without him. They also discuss Kawhi Leonard and the defensive assignment, how the Raptors’ bench needs to step up and their physical style of defense. And finally, they look at some betting lines and make predictions for the series. Then it’s on to baseball with a look at Wednesday’s evening slate for FanDuel and DraftKings. They discuss cash game pitcher options like Blake Snell, Walker Buehler and Madison Bumgarner. And there are a whole host of bad arms going (outside of Coors) to consider stacking against. Show notes: 00:28 - 31:16 NBA Finals 31:17 - 50:20 MLB Breakdown Subscribe to the NBA Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to the NBA Podcast on Spotify Subscribe to the NBA Podcast on Stitcher Subscribe to the MLB Podcast on iTunes Subscribe to the NBA Podcast on...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Playoff Picks - Wednesday Preview On Wednesday we have two series looking quite different from each other. In the first game, we have a possible elimination scenario with the Bucks up 3-1 on the Celtics and playing at home. Meanwhile, the Rockets forced the series to 2-2 and now must withstand a game in the Bay Area. Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our MLB Optimizer our player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or MLB? Be sure to read our free NBA and MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Celtics (9) vs. Bucks (-9) Vegas Projected Score: Milwaukee - 118.5 Boston - 109.5 Over/Under: 218 Series: Milwaukee 3-1 After dropping Game 1 to Boston, Milwaukee has stormed back in the series to take the next three, including the last two in Boston. It now shifts back home for the Bucks with a chance to cement this thing and move on the Eastern Conference Finals. Milwaukee took back control of the series doing what they do best: handing the ball the Giannis and daring anyone to stop him. That’s simplifying things, but it’s basically worked. We’ll get into his fantasy stats in a moment, but Milwaukee attacked with him over and over, working to get him into mismatches as much as possible (which is basically every matchup he gets). Those mismatches on switches, or by spreading the rest of the offense with shooters allows Giannis to work his way into the paint. This is just one example (there are many of course). Giannis has Horford on him at the top of the key. They get the switch on to Tatum, spread the floor and that’s the end of things for the Celtics on defense. Giannis is attempting 12.5 shots per game in the paint against the Celtics and shooting 73% from less than 10 feet from the series. While Boston is trying their hardest to keep Horford on Giannis (and vice versa) it’s been a struggle over the short term. One can only imagine things keep going like this. Boston Value Jayson Tatum FD - $7600 DK - $5800Opponent - MILProj Pts FD - 34.93 DK - 34.84 After looking non-existent for the first two games, Tatum asserted himself for Games 3 and 4 with an average of 18 points and 11 rebounds on 14 shots per game. That he’s still struggled from three (1-10 over those two) is indicative of the Celtics’ woes, though...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Playoff Picks - Round Friday Preview The Sixers dominated the Raptors on Thursday to take a 2-1 series lead. On Friday, we get two more series in which the home team, having already stolen a game, will get a chance to take control of the best of seven. Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our MLB Optimizer our player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or MLB? Be sure to read our free NBA and MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Bucks (1.5) vs. Celtics (-1.5) Vegas Projected Score: Boston - 111 Milwaukee - 109 Over/Under: 220 Series: 1-1 With two games under our belt in this series, we have two 20+ point blowouts. It looks like the Bucks will cruise to a sweep - wait a second, the Celtics and Bucks each have a 20+ point blowout under their belts? Well this is getting complicated, isn't it? On a high level blowouts tell us very little about what each team plans to do, but there actually are a few takeaways we can draw from this one, I think. Boston Value The Horford/Irving show was put on hold for at least game two, but unfortunately this game really didn't teach us too much about how the Celtics will continue to adjust to Milwaukee's speed and length. It didn't teach us nothing, though, so let's have a look. Hey, if Vegas thinks this is going to be a 2 point game they should play a close one at some point, right. Right?! Marcus Morris FD - $5900 DK - $4600Opponent - MILProj Pts FD - 28.03 DK - 29.08 Our very own James Davis famously called that the Celtics would start running Morris for extended minutes, and that certainly still seems to be the plan going forward here. Morris actually led the Celtics in fantasy points in game two, even it was a rather modest 29 fantasy point contribution. Still, that's plenty on his current prices at a truly dismal position, and it stands to reason that the Celtics will continue to rely upon him as a long and athletic body given that that's been their plan in the last three meetings between these teams. Jaylen Brown FD - $5300 DK - $5200Opponent - MILProj Pts FD - 29.47 DK - 29.56 Brown was the one piece that the Celtics simply couldn't get away from in game two, even as Stevens tried to shuffle the other...

FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Playoff Picks - Round Two Wednesday-Thursday Preview Wednesday and Thursday feature one game each in the NBA with Trailblazers and Nuggets playing Wednesday followed by the Sixers and Raptors on Thursday. Let's break down what to expect in each affair. Head on over a for your chance to get DFSR PRO, which will give you access to our NBA FanDuel and DraftKings optimizer, our MLB Optimizer our player lab! Get started for free by clicking the button below. START YOUR FREE TRIAL NOW! First time with NBA or MLB? Be sure to read our free NBA and MLB Ebooks on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered. Trail Blazers (4) vs. Nuggets (-4) Vegas Projected Score: Denver - 111.75 Portland - 107.75 Over/Under: 219.5 Series: Denver 1-0 Denver survived a seven-game series against the Spurs by the skin of their teeth, looking real shaky at times (especially late game against San Antonio in the final game). But they started this second round on a positive note, beating the Blazers by eight thanks to some opportune rotations by Mike Malone and good three-point shooting. This matchup provides Denver with some tactical advantages, mostly around their size with Nikola Jokic and Mason Plumlee. We’ll get into their respective minutes in a moment, but it was clear Denver wanted to exploit some big man advantages against Enes Kanter and company. Meanwhile, Portland played its bench a bit more than expected with guys like Aminu and Harkless getting the short end of the minutes’ stick when it was all said and done. Tactically this series is far from set in stone and we could see some more *odd* rotations before it’s all said and done. Portland Value If Game 1 is any indication, this is going to be a tough team to roster going forward. Only Damian Lillard (FD 10200 DK 9400), C.J. McCollum (FD 7700 DK 6700) and Enes Kanter (FD 7000 DK 6000) played anything like *starter’s* minutes. Of that group, Kanter is still the best value going with Lillard and CJ now priced almost all the way up for their production and usage rate throughout the playoffs. Kanter had a very good Game 1, finishing with 26 points and seven rebounds. His defense wasn’t terrible to the point of having him benched and really, at this point, the Blazers might just be pot-committed with the big man. They have few options off the bench with Meyers Leonard and Zach Collins struggling with Denver’s size. Denver Value Nikola Jokic FD - $11800 DK - $10300Opponent - PORProj Pts FD - 55.39 DK - 57.26 Jokic played a staggering 40 minutes for...