Welcome to the NBA DFS Playbook for Thursday, December 5th, 2024! DraftKings did us all a favor and chopped off the late island game, but FanDuel will offer all eight games for this evening.

There are some studs on the shelf this evening. Kevin Durant, Victor Wembanyama, LaMelo Ball, and Stephen Curry are all out for Thursday. Roles and minutes will change and usage will be on the rise for some.

With plenty of superstar power and intriguing value options across the slate, there’s no shortage of ways to craft competitive DFS lineups. Let’s break down the top plays and strategies to help you dominate this exciting night of NBA action!

 

 

Before actually diving into the meat and potatoes, welcome to the NBA DFS season. If this is your first time reading our column on NBA DFS picks, I just want to welcome you and give you a few tips and tricks on what you should be looking for each night.

  • News outlets: reliable sources that give us injury news & starting lineups
  • Pace of play: who's playing fast vs. who's playing slow. Which teams get a pace-up spot (more possessions) vs. pace-down (fewer possessions)
  • Usage rates: is a percentage of how many plays that player is being used in
  • NBA DFS Projections
  • Lineup Generator
  • NBA Ownership

NBA DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, December 5th

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Pre-Lock Update

This section will be used for anything that changes from the morning until right up to roster lock.  Injury updates, players we’re higher on than we were in the morning and so much more.

There are plenty of important players who are questionable to play on Thursday, including Josh Giddey, Fred VanVleet, and Jakob Poeltl.

One of the biggest notes for today is the price discrepancy between DraftKings and FanDuel regarding some important Spurs.

DraftKings totally dropped the ball in preparing for a Wemby-less slate today, underpricing Zach Collins ($3,500), Charles Bassey ($3,000), Devin Vassell ($5,000), and CP3 ($5,900) for their likely respective roles without the big man. It looks like those four will rightfully carry the most ownership on DK, but Jeremy Sochan, Julian Champagnie, Stephon Castle, Keldon Johnson, and Harrison Barnes will likely all be in my GPP pool. 

Wemby opens up so much usage for others, and the Spurs have a date with the Bulls, who rank first in pace and 26th in DRTG. There will likely be some outlier scores posted by San Antono players, but it's difficult to say who exactly will do the damage in what may be wild game environment.

Surprisingly, FanDuel priced up Collins and Bassey. I still like them for large-field GPPs. Nobody is listed above $6,000 on FanDuel, and it's tough to really exclude anyone if you're running 50-150 teams. Despite a possible slight minutes cap, I think Vassell is about to break out this season, and he's probably my favorite Spur on both sites.

Think about it this way, the Spurs average 110 points per game this season. They're without their best player, and Vegas has given them an implied team total of 119. I'm expecting some fireworks from some of these Spurs at their salaries, which is why I'll probably have a sprinkle of just about the entire Spurs' rotation in my pool.

NBA Injuries, News & Updates Today, 12/5

  • Kevin Durant - OUT
  • Victor Wembanyama - OUT
  • Stephen Curry - OUT
  • LaMelo Ball - OUT
  • Draymond Green - OUT
  • Kyle Kuzma - OUT
  • Coby White - OUT
  • Jusuf Nurkick - OUT
  • Miles Bridges - OUT
  • Naji Marshall - OUT
  • Corey Kispert - OUT
  • Kyshawn Geroge - OUT
  • Tre Mann - OUT
  • Lonzo Ball - OUT
  • Jordan Hawkins - OUT
  • Tre Jones - OUT
  • Daniel Theis - OUT
  • Josh Giddey - Q
  • Fred VanVleet - Q
  • Jakob Poeltl - Q
  • Malcolm Brogdon - Q
  • Andrew Wiggins - Q
  • Tari Eason - Q
  • Ty Jerome - Q
  • Cam Payne - Q
  • Precious Achiuwa - Q
  • Gradey Dick - Q

 

UPDATED - 6:20 p.m. ET

  • Jakob Poeltl - OUT
  • Precious Achiuwa - P
  • Ty Jerome - P

UPDATED - 6:35 p.m. ET

  • Josh Giddey - IN
 

 

NBA DFS Slate & Game Overviews

San Antonio Spurs vs. Chicago Bulls

  • Total: 236.5
  • Spread: SAS -2

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Sacramento Kings

  • Total: 241
  • Spread: MEM -3.5

Washington Wizards vs. Dallas Mavericks

  • Total: 232.5
  • Spread: DAL -14

Cleveland Cavalier vs. Denver Nuggets

  • Total: 234.5
  • Spread: CLE -4.5
 

 

NBA DFS Core Player Pool & Lineup Picks

Here are the core players I’m looking at for my NBA DFS picks tonight. You can see the full analysis of tonight’s NBA DFS projections and player pool below or skip ahead to building the best lineups possible by locking these into the aforementioned lineup generator now.

High

  • Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic, Devin Booker, Nikokla Vucevic, Alperen Sengun (more so on FD)

Mid

  • Malik Monk (better DK price), Chris Paul, Devin Vassell, Royce O'Neale, Jonathan Kuminga (FD)

Value

  • Zach Collins (DK), Charles Bassey (DK), Oso Ighodaro (GPP), Stephon Castle (and any of the other cheap spurs are basically GPP viable), Trayce Jackson-Davis (FD, GPP), Talen Horton-Tucker (GPP, especially if Giddey out), Marvin Bagley

 

 

 

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