NBA DFS Picks, Projections, Lineups, Injuries & More Today: Monday Playbook

The breakout campaign for Cade Cunningham continued on Sunday as he notched another triple-double in his belt. He's been doing everything for this Pistons team and is leading in USG at 31.7% and FP/min at 1.39. This is an elite spot against the league leaders in pace and a bottom-10 defense. He's not as popular as I thought he'd be.

VanVleet has been incredibly solid lately and has another great spot here. He's put  up 34+ DKP in four straight games including 48+ in two straight. He's always been good peripherally but the scoring has been inconsistent. He's making shots right now and this is a spot in which not a lot of people are getting to him.

With Joel Embiid's injury status changed from Q to D, the 76ers are going to need to rely on Jarred McCain early and often here. Without Embiid and Maxey this year, McCain has a 31.3% USG and averages 1.26 FP/min, which are both team-leading. Loading up on him today.

When Ben Sheppard went out on Sunday, we saw the Pacers elect to go small and use a lot of Tyrese Haliburton and T.J. McConnell together and it worked to perfection. The Pacers are very short-handed today and this is another game in which McConnell should see mid-20's minutes in. Anytime we're talking about that much run, he's in play.

LaVine has a massive ceiling and that's what you're banking on when you roster him. The ceiling. He leads the team in USG while posting 1.07 FP/min. Detroit's been very solid defensively, but they are on a back-to-back.

Mathurin had one bad game and everyone jumped ship for him to log another 20-point double-double the very next time out. That's the type of player he is when he's extended. He's an elite rebounding guard and can score at every level. Great spot.

Ivey's actually getting more ownership than Cade Cunningham today and I get it. He had a big day on Sunday and is a really high-upside guy this year under J.B. Bickerstaff. He did pop on the injury report, so that's worth mentioning, but he's PROB. Solid mid-tier option.

The Suns are battered and beat up with injuries and with Grayson Allen returning on Sunday, he played 24 minutes and put up 26 DKP. We knew Allen would return to form from three eventually..he led the league in shooting a year ago. He's played 24+ minutes in all three of the last games he's played in and there's no reason to think that won't continue here.

Every time we look at Wagner's numbers sans Banchero & Carter Jr., they're getting bigger and better. He now sits at a 32.5% USG and 1.3 FP/min and Orlando's won five straight games playing through Wagner, so why would they stop that approach any time soon?

The Raptors really are appealing today, as they've largely been since Barnes/Quickley went down. Barrett, coming off a massive triple-double, has a 32.5% USG and is averaging 1.3 FP/min. Barrett faces off against Indiana who's a middle-of-the-pack defense and paced team offensively.

The ownership is wildly low, as is the FD price. I'm really intrigued by a low-owned Paul George today and that's where things remain. Without Maxey and Embiid this year, George is right under a 31% USG and is averaging 1.15 FP/min. He's off his minutes restriction too.

With no Miles McBride on Sunday, we saw Hart extended for 46 minutes. He sat for two minutes. If we're back in 40+ minutes a night territory, Hart's on the table.

He's not a high usage player. He's not even great from a FP/min perspective, but when he stays out of foul trouble and stays on the floor, he has a very safe floor. His base has been 20 FP over his last six games and put up 26 DKP last night. He faces a Bucks defense bottom-10 in the league.

Nobody is going to sit here and tell you not to play Antetokounmpo, but he needs 60 FP as a baseline. Will he get you that in this spot? I wouldn't put it past him, but Houston is a solid defensive team. Dame is back too, but the Greek Freak is lower-owned than we usually see, so if you get a nuke from Antetokounmpo at low ownership, you could potentially win a GPP.

Narrative aside, the Raptors are 28th in DRtg and Siakam is really cheap for his upside. His numbers do take a pretty sizable hit when T.J. McConnell is on the floor and that's a slight pause for concern because we should see an extended TJM tonight.

You'd have to go back to October to find a game in which OG Anunoby hasn't scored 30 DKP and his lowest on FD during that span is 29.7, so the floor is super safe. He's not the best FP/min player, but he averages nearly 37 MPG.

We'll see who starts in Embiid's place, but it's looked as if Yabusele has overthrown Embiid as the team's preferred backup center. Yabusele is a .88 FP/min player without Embiid and Maxey and is a better matchup with Bam Adebayo than Andre Drummond is.

Chris Boucher has a very high ceiling and it's possible he's extended a bit here now that the Raptors are without Bruno Fernando who's operating as the backup center. It also wouldn't hurt Boucher if Myles Turner were to be ruled out and Obi Toppin is being used as the small-ball center. Without Barnes and Quickley this year, Boucher has a 24.7% USG and averages 1.15 FP/min.

This is ownership/salary related. Bruno Fernando is out and the public expects Jonathan Mogbo to operate at the four and five. Reasonable expectation, but obviously he hasn't been productive lately. He's at a .84 DKP/min average and .88 FDP/min average. Decent.

It's really surprising to see KAT's price remain where it is. He's been an absolute monster averaging 56 FP/game over his last five. He's notched a 28% USG and avgs. 1.5 DKP/min this year without Miles McBride.

Brook Lopez is no joke defensively. He's great. Elite shot-blocker, too, but Sengun doesn't need 30 points to pay off his salary. He's coming off back-to-back triple-doubles and has 45+ DKP in five straight games. Yet, here we are on DK, barely over 9K.

Miami is getting Jimmy Butler back but they're now down two top rotation pieces in Terry Rozier and Jaime Jaquez Jr. Adebayo has been great and on the flipside, Joel Embiid's been downgraded to doubtful, making life easier for Adebayo.

We've joked about it, but Jakob Jokic has been a real thing the last two games. He's been unstoppable. Without Barnes and Quickley, Poeltl is well over 1.2 FP/min and has been playing high-30s minutes consistently.

FD ONLY - If he plays, he's firmly in play without DeMar DeRozan. Sabonis is a 22% USG player and averages nearly 1.3 FP/min without him and with both DDR and Monk out, the offense would be funneling through Sabonis and Fox. Great upside for both.

FD ONLY - What a heater this man has been on. Fox sees a 7% USG bump without DeMar DeRozan this year and has a 39% USG rate and averages 1.56 FP/min. Elite stuff. We also don't know if Sabonis is going to play, so another top tier scoring night might be in the cards.

FD ONLY - We've seen it from Green this year time and time again. If he scores the ball he has a ceiling because he's so good peripherally. I actually like playing Green when Steph Curry suits up, so I'm hoping that's the case here.

FD ONLY - I really like the price and although it's hard to predict on a game-to-game basis, Onyeka Okongwu has been playing more than Clint Capela over the last three games. He's been on the right side of the split playing 25+ minutes in three straight and has back-to-back double-doubles to boot.

ADDED - We saw the Pacers play Jarace Walker in the Summer League and in the preseason at SF and he's spent a lot of time there during the regular season. He is the likely starter and with all four guys that are out for IND, he's over 1 FP/min on the year.