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The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on October 11, 2022. Thunder Dan Palyo provides preseason NBA DFS analysis and sleeper picks for building optimal DFS rosters.
These slates are never all that easy to solve and we can see them get turned on their head rather quickly. Yesterday, after I finished writing in the morning we saw Joel Embiid ruled out, and then Miami decide to rest all of their core players, too. Just make sure if you haven't already you are following me on Twitter and the beat writer list in the next paragraph, please! Only a few more slates to go, and we've made it this far so there's no time for turning back or giving up!
Preseason rotations are never easy to figure out and there's a lot of guessing that goes on for these slates. If you can't stomach the variance, then just sit back and let the rest of us sweat these slates out. I do my best to find some of the best plays, but even I have fairly limited information to work with here. If you're interested in following NBA beat writers on Twitter and trying to keep up with the latest info about which players are in or out and if coaches mention any plans for minutes, then you can follow this list (I am constantly updating it each season).
I highly encourage you to follow me on Twitter and check out the list of beat writers that I follow to keep informed on the latest up-to-date information about each team and their plans for minutes and rotations. In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 10/11/22. You can always find me in the RotoBaller Discord or @ThunderDanDFS on Twitter.
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NBA DFS Games
Here are some game-by-game notes and what I've been able to gather about each team so far.
Memphis @ Orlando
A pretty clean injury report for both teams here, and both squads are playing their fourth game of the preseason, too, with one more game later in the week. This could be a "dress rehearsal" for both squads but I don't have any confirmation of that from coaches yet, just speculating.
Oklahoma City @ Detroit
Some OKC regulars were rested in their exhibition against a Euroleague team on Saturday, so we could see their starters here tonight in their next-to-last preseason game. It's hard to trust the minutes on these guys, but Josh Giddey always brings some upside with his stat-stuffing game.
The Pistons ramped their guys up in minutes last time out with Saddiq Bey and Jaden Ivey both going over 30 minutes as they cut their rotation way down. They have this game and one more, so they could do it again, but I'd still feel better about it with some news from their coach. Follow Rod Beard on Twitter, he's great with updates.
Milwaukee @ Chicago
I'm very skeptical about the Bucks guys tonight as their coach already went on record saying he'd like to manage minutes with Milwaukee having a back-to-back set today and tomorrow and just getting back into the country from their game overseas. Stay tuned.
The Bulls are playing their final game of the preseason and we saw their core four starters all play 24+ minutes against Toronto. They'll have an entire week off after tonight, so my guess is we see them a bunch tonight, but they could also sit some guys and it wouldn't surprise me either. I wish I had more info here, but my gut says we get DeRozan and company for close to 30 minutes.
San Antonio @ Utah
The Spurs have not played anyone heavy minutes and have been resting a starter or two just about every game. I don't trust them at all, and I have no interest in any of their players.
The Jazz have been experimenting with different lineups and also playing a bunch of guys off the bench, so it's hard to get excited about any of their guys here either without a direct quote from their coach about playing time. This game could be a total stay-away.
Portland @ Golden State
This is the preseason finale for the Blazers and my guess is they want another look at their new starting lineup here for an extended run, especially against the defending champs. All five starters played 22-27 minutes against Sacramento and I think we see something similar here if not a few more minutes.
The Warriors do have one more game after this, but we could also see them approach it like a dress rehearsal, too. Their starters played minutes in the low to mid 20s last time out as Jordan Poole and Steph Curry both had solid games in Klay Thompson's absence. I am guessing Klay sits out again and we know Draymond Green is also away from the team currently, so we could get Jonathan Kuminga and Poole back in the starting lineup.
DraftKings DFS Top Plays
Ja Morant, PG ($9,500) - It makes sense to grab one of the highest usage players in your builds and Ja could easily push for the top raw points play on the slate given his production already this preseason and his history of smashing without JJJ in the lineup.
DeMar DeRozan, PF ($9,000) - DDR is averaging 21-4-5 in 24 minutes per game so far this preseason. It's pretty clear that the offense runs through him again this year and that he's the guy who is going to be taking the most shots and facilitating, too.
Stephen Curry, PG ($9,300) - I think paying up for two 9k players is probably a good idea, and then filling out your roster with value and mid-tier plays. Give me Steph here against Dame and the Blazers, he should be solid if he gets full run, and consider pivoting to Jordan Poole if Klay Thompson is out again.
Santi Aldama, PF/C ($5,100) - If you haven't seen him play yet, watch him! His game is smooth and he's basically locked up the starting PF spot with JJJ out to start the year. He has range from outside and is solid in the pick-and-roll with Morant.
Nikola Vucevic, C ($8,600) - If you want to pay up at center, it should be for Vuc. He's averaging 14-9-3 with a steal and block per game while playing 24.5 minutes per game. Fitting him and DDR into the same build will be tough, but I am going to try to get at least one of them into builds.
DraftKings DFS Value Plays
My favorite plays on DraftKings for 5k or less. DK really tightened up pricing so there are fewer guys here than usual.
Andrew Wiggins, SF ($5,000)
Jarred Vanderbilt, PF($4,800)
Kelly Olynyk, C ($4,700)
Jalen Williams, SG/SF ($4,600)
Paolo Banchero, PF ($4,500)
Walker Kessler, C ($4,400)
Jaden Ivey, SG ($4,400)
Jonathan Kuminga, SF/PF ($4,200)
