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The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on January 20, 2020. Jesse Borek provides NBA DFS analysis and sleeper picks for building optimal DFS rosters.
As the United States celebrates Martin Luther King Day, the NBA has rolled out a 14-game slate in total Monday. While playing in the “all day” slate remains an option for the bold, conventionally speaking, we’ll be sticking with the “main” slate, or the one that tips off at 7:30 ET for our selections.
This maneuver narrows down our player selection to just five games and highlights a few key matchups. The injury hammer has already dropped on a few players, paving the way for some obvious upside choices.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 1/20/20. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before line-up lock.
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DraftKings DFS Guards
Damian Lillard - PG, POR v. GS ($8,400)
Lillard enters Monday’s contest against Golden State having dropped 34 points in each of his last two outings on 25 and 23 shot attempts, respectively. Additionally, he will be without running mate C.J. McCollum, who will miss his second straight contest due to an ankle sprain; in short, Lillard is going to shoot Monday, and shoot often. Also worth taking note of is that the four-time All-Star has scorched the Warriors twice this year for 39 (Nov. 4) and 31 (Dec. 18) points, both of which came with McCollum suiting up. Traditionally in DFS, it’s fair to diminish a player’s career scoring average against a team; but at 27.7 points per game against Golden State, Lillard is essentially a flame icon waiting to happen.
Monte Morris - PG, DEN @ MIN ($4,700)
With Jamal Murray on the sidelines, Denver has handed the reins at point guard to Morris, who has yet to deliver a dominant DFS performance like he did on a handful of occasions last season. He showed glimpses in his first start against Golden State before being thoroughly flummoxed by a tenacious Indiana defense Sunday; now, he should benefit from a matchup with Minnesota, who has undergone considerable change in its backcourt. In eight career starts, Morris has reeled off averages of 12.9 points, 5.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds per contest, which would be more than enough to satisfy the vast majority of owners Monday.
DraftKings DFS Forwards
LeBron James - PG/SF, LAL @ BOS ($10,800)
Even with the news that Anthony Davis will be returning to the lineup following a five-game absence, James should still retain a massive workload on both ends of the floor for Los Angeles. Rajon Rondo (finger) remains questionable and figures to face a slight decrease in minutes even if he is cleared, much in the same ilk as Davis. Boston’s best chance at defending James comes in the form of Jaylen Brown, whose status is also up in the air. On a slate where there are very few true dominant stars, James is going to be dangerous to fade, especially when he could also be the fastest route to a blockbuster lineup.
Bojan Bogdanovic - SF/PF, UTA v. IND ($5,900)
Over his last seven contests, Bogdanovic is averaging 25.1 points per game. He is shooting better than 40 percent from long range in that stretch, and while his rebounding and assist numbers have taken a dip, that’s far from a reason to shy away from the veteran when he is in the midst of the best scoring season of his career. Normally, owners could be reticent about a three-point based option against a defense as stingy as Indiana’s, but Bogdanovic already scorched the Pacers for 30 points and 4-for-7 shooting from deep back on Nov. 27. With his price tag somehow having decreased on the heels of a 30-point showing, he features one of the better buy-low plays on the board.
DraftKings DFS Centers
Rudy Gobert - C, UTA v. IND ($8,100)
It’s nothing short of a bold choice by the DK price tag czars to have kept Gobert’s salary stagnant following arguably his best outing of the season his last time out. Across the board, Indiana is a strong defensive unit; except for when it comes to opposing centers this season. At 53 DK points yielded per contest to the other's team centers, they find themselves in the bottom eight of the league. There are a multitude of options at the center spot, and while asking Gobert to mirror the level of production that saw him go for a season high in scoring his last time out might be a stretch, he has reached value in five of his last six contests and boasts a price tag that will allow for other stars to join him in lineups.
