I’ve enjoyed myself in NBA DFS lately. The core has largely been kind to us, allowing a lot of cashing and one decent win over the past week. My sincere hope is that has been the same experience for you as we prepare for a festive holiday celebration.
Tuesday’s slate is a bit obscene. These 11-gamers are typically full of insane performances and tournament winners might approach 400 fantasy points. My suggestion is to lean on the core, make a couple of adjustments to get slightly different than the field, and play light.
The slate is massive, so outside of the core you really don’t need to worry too much about ownership. Just play the best plays and make sure your lineup isn’t 100% chalk. I also suggest playing SE on a slate like this.
With that, I’ll hand out my top NBA DFS picks to build around and update closer to lock:
DraftKings NBA DFS Core Plays
- Tyler Kolek ($3.8k)
- Cam Spencer ($6.3k)
- Kyle Filipowski ($6k)
- Diabate ($4.1k)
Update: Philly sitting some guys so McCain is a great value. Adding Diabate, though. Smash spot vs Wiz and he’s too cheap.
KAT doesn’t have the best matchup in the world, but he projects well, Brunson is out, and he gets a big usage bump. Obviously there is “true revenge” on the table as he travels back to Minnesota to face his old Timberwolves team. I think at his price and considering everything he is a great spend on a huge slate, but Kolek is the one that is a definite must. He should start and push for 30+ minutes. Not an ideal spot, but he’s been playing really well and is simply an elite value on this slate.
Memphis guys really stand out in a smash spot against the Jazz. That game as a whole feels quite stackable. JJJ and Santi are definitely in play, but Spencer gets another start with Ja out and Utah is such an inviting spot. I think due to price and slate size you can argue to fade, but the dude is on a heater and projects very well.
On the other side of that game Keyonte George looks fantastic, but I will first lock in Kyle Filipowski since Lauri Markkanen isn’t going to play. Nurkic looks good if he’s in, but he’s also Q, so we could get even more value depending on who starts for the Jazz. For now, Filipowski looks awesome and getting to 3-4 Jazz on this slate might not be crazy.
Luka isn’t playing, so Reaves feels like a lock if he is back. LeBron also looks fantastic either way, but if Reaves joins Luka on the sidelines James is going to be very difficult to get away from. Other Lakers like Ayton, Smart, LaRavia are fine, but not musts on such a big slate.
FanDuel NBA DFS Core Plays
- Kolek ($4.1k)
- Spencer ($6.6k)
- Filipowski ($5.7k)
The core is the same over at FD. The only one to maybe fight against is Spencer due to price, but he still looks fantastic. I’d start with this trio and then look at other values like Mamu, maybe one of the Hornets bigs, Kel’el Ware, and perhaps some Hornets value with Zion out.
That said, this trio is cheap enough on both sites that we get salary opening up in a hurry, plus with Luka out I’m not sure we need to force any of the really pricey studs.
I am totally content with maxing out on the likes of KAT, LeBron, Reaves, Giddey, ANT, etc. Then there’s the next tier of MPJ and JPJ. Getting to Jokic, SGA, or Jalen Johnson is obviously fine if you can afford it, but give the slate size and the pricing, I am personally not going to force it.
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