Cue up the NBA on NBC theme song because basketball is officially here. The Fantasy Alarm has you covered for the entire NBA season with articles for season long fantasy leagues and of course, the DFS playbook is back as well, despite there being only three games tonight.
Anthony Davis and Dwight Howard are the top plays (duh!) because they are going to dominate and easily be the number one players at their respective positions. As much as we like James Harden tonight, his price tag is the highest on the board at DraftKings, but he does make a solid play on Fanduel. A lot of question marks surround the Orlando Magic with Victor Oladipo and Channing Frye out. Expect Ben Gordon, not Evan Fournier, to get the majority minutes at shooting guard, and believe Kyle O'Quinn will get more minutes than he normally would with Frye out of the lineup. Also, Kawhi Leonard, Raymond Felton, and Tiago Splitter are not playing tonight either. Here is the DFS playbook as we get the 2014-2015 NBA season started off the right way.
Point Guards
Player | Team | DraftKings | Fanduel | Comments |
Jameer Nelson | Mavericks | 4,600 | 6,000 | Averaged 28 Fantasy points per game last season |
Jeremy Lin | Lakers | 6,400 | 5,500 | Will play heavy minutes and produce a high # of assists. |
Elfrid Payton | Magic | 5,200 | 5,600 | High risk/high reward play great for GPP's |
Tony Parker | Spurs | 6,400 | 7,300 | Solid value on DK |
Shooting Guards
Player | Team | DraftKings | Fanduel | Comments |
Kobe Bryant | Lakers | 7,800 | 9,000 | Must-Play on DK b/c of price tag. Floor of 25/5/5 for Kobe |
Tyreke Evans | Pelicans | 6,600 | 7,400 | Good mid-tier play. |
Manu Ginobili | Spurs | 4,800 | 5,400 | Averaged 31 FP vs the Mavericks last year. |
Ben Gordon | Magic | 3,000 | 3,500 | Great inexpensive punt play |
Small Forwards
Player | Team | DraftKings | Fanduel | Comments |
Chandler Parsons | Mavericks | 7,300 | 6,800 | Not paying for a SF tonight, but he's the best option at SF. |
Tobias Harris | Magic | 5,800 | 6,400 | Great value on DK as he will get close to 30 FP |
Wesley Johnson | Lakers | 4,000 | 4,600 | Cheap price for a starting SF that produces steals/blocks. |
Al-Farouq Aminu | Mavericks | 3,000 | 4,400 | AFA grabs rebounds/hits 3-pointers. |
Power Forwards
Player | Team | DraftKings | Fanduel | Comments |
Anthony Davis | Pelicans | 9,500 | 10,100 | The run for #1 begins tonight for A.D.,play of the night |
Terrence Jones | Rockets | 6,300 | 5,700 | Averaged 33 FP vs L.A. last season. |
Tim Duncan | Spurs | 7,600 | 7,900 | Only play him if you decide to fade Anthony Davis |
Ryan Anderson | Pelicans | 5,800 | 6,500 | Averaged three 3-pointers PG & almost 32 FP last season. |
Centers
Player | Team | DraftKings | Fanduel | Comments |
Dwight Howard | Rockets | 8,800 | 9,500 | Will destroy the Lakers soft front court |
Omer Asik | Pelicans | 5,800 | 4,900 | Solid value on FD for a player that will grab 10+ rebounds. |
Kyle O'Quinn | Magic | 3,700 | 4,600 | Will play 20-25 minutes and produce Rebs/Blocks |