Yesterday’s NBA DFS Core was solid enough, as Payton Pritchard and Derrick White were terrific. Jayden Ivey was not good, but he was cheap enough that you could overcome him and at least cash if you played the right pieces elsewhere.
Tonight we get a five-game main slate with an obvious path to success with Nikola Jokic and Josh Giddey both sidelined. I’ll highlight the key foundational pieces you need in most of your lineups, and also touch on my favorite spends for tonight.
DraftKings NBA Core
- Tre Jones ($4.5k)
- Buzelis ($4.6k)
- Jonas Valanciunas ($5.5k)
- Zion Williamson ($7.1k)
Update 2: Adding Buzelis. Cheap and projects better than Huerter. I am very much OK with up to 3 Bulls. I’d prefer the cheaper guys (Ayo/Kev in that mix), but Vuc is fine. Jalen Smith is also starting and looks great. Matas just has better usage and a higher ceiling, but you can always play both. Ayo and Huerter coming off the bench makes them a little less appealing. Jamal Murray is a borderline core play BUT he is $9.3k. There are a lot of things we can do instead of that – pivot to Deni, KAT, Brunson, pay up for Wemby, SGA – so he is not an absolute must – but he obviously looks great. I’d just start with the core above and if you feel inclined to play Jamal, do it. Just make sure your other 3 pieces are getting you different enough.
Update: I am removing Jamal Murray only due to price and the fact that I am increasingly interested in leveraging his ownership with someone like Wemby. Zion replaces him as he is in a smash spot against the Bulls and this is the perfect matchup for what he does best. I think you can safely just play Murray and just eat all of this chalk, but at some point you’ll need to find a way to get different with purpose.
Most of the Bulls are going to stand out with both Josh Giddey and Coby White out. Vuc looks good, but if we want to just save money with these guys in a smash spot vs. the Pels, we can also go get Ayo Dosunmo, Kevin Huerter, and Jalen Smith (in that order). Tre Jones is the best of the lot, though, so I would start there and get him in most of my lineups.
JV is a smash play with Jokic done for the next month. Toronto isn’t the best possible matchup, but it’s also not the worst. There’s a mild revenge factor as he faces his old Raptors team, but the reality is he’s a great per minute guy, he should start, and he’s not expensive. Jokic leaves behind an absurd amount of usage, so while JV is where we begin our quest, Murray is a tough fade with his 50-point fantasy projection.
I do think you can fade Murray due to likely ownership and price. There are enough inviting plays like KAT, Brunson, and even Deni, while you can go cheaper with guys like KPJ and Scottie. Right now I am finding it hard to not just play Murray. Other Nuggets like THJ and Peyton Watson also look like solid values, although they’re not musts like JV or Murray.
SGA and Wemby are the top studs on this slate. I am fine with getting to either of them, but I don’t exactly view them as musts. I am perfectly content rolling with KAT, Deni, and Murray as my top spends. Denver and Chicago are opening up most of our value, so we are not starving for value, no matter how you want to build.
I am also pretty interesting in Zion on this slate. Queen also looks good, but Zion is way too cheap for the ceiling he provides and the Bulls are one of the best matchups for him. We should want some Pels exposure as comebacks to our CHI players and he’s where I’d start.
FanDuel NBA Core
- Tre Jones ($5.4k)
- Jonas ($5.5k)
- Murray ($9.1k)
- Zion ($7.7k)
Update: I’m simply playing both Zion and Murray on FD. You need to fill an extra slot there, so it just makes sense to go get them both.
Same core for me, as Murray is simply too cheap for the role and ceiling with Jokic out. Jones is PG/SG eligible, so there’s really no reason to fade him on FD. JV is cheap here as well, but he’s Center only, so if you have eyes for Vuc or another center, I can see the fade (I just wouldn’t do it).
Giannis is still limited and SGA/Wemby feel a bit too expensive for this slate. I think you can make a case for any of them due to ownership and ceiling, but especially with the extra slot we need to fill, I feel even less obligated to go out of my way to pay for a top stud on this slate.
If I did pay for a stud on either site right now SGA would probably be the pick.
Leave a Reply