RADIO
Only some modest profits last night, as I made some educated guesses that didn't pan out. The Blazers did play Damian Lillard and their starters quite a bit even on a back-to-back, while the Pelicans had a quick hook on Zion and CJ McCollum. We had the Knicks guys pegged correctly, but Utah was a bit of a mess in the late game. I was trying to tweet out lineups as they were announced and I managed to avoid any DNPs, but overall it was just a messy slate - and we are going to have that sometimes.
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 10/5/22. You can always find me in the RotoBaller Discord or @ThunderDanDFS on Twitter.
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Preseason NBA Overview
The first thing you need to know is that building lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings in the preseason is going to be very different than during the regular season. FanDuel has decided to keep their prices low (everyone is priced at 6,000 or less) and therefore you can build a lineup with any nine players you want as long as you roster two PG, SG, SF, PF, and one C. We can leverage that on FanDuel by rostering some lesser-known players, since we should expect the well-known players to be more highly-targeted, especially amongst more casual players and fans.
All prices listed in the article are DraftKings prices since the FD prices simply don't matter and you can play anyone you want.
DraftKings has priced guys as they would on a normal slate for the most part, but we do get discounts on superstars if we want to cram some into lineups. I like to use a balance of younger players with some veterans that we can project for solid minutes and, honestly every slate is different to some degree.
With only a few days of practice before the first preseason games, I would expect we don't see any big minutes for starters in the first few games with most teams easing their guys into action, and we should see plenty of well-known guys and veterans sit out altogether.
NBA DFS Games
Here are some game-by-game notes and what I've been able to gather about each team so far.
Indiana @ Charlotte
This game is definitely one of my favorites to target. Charlotte has a game under their belt already in the preseason, but Indiana has yet to take the court. We have dueling superstar point guards in this one as LaMelo Ball takes on Tyrese Haliburton and yeah, I want some of that. The Hornets played four of their starters 20+ minutes on Sunday, so we could see them up that a bit here, especially since they've had a few days off in between games. I don't have a read on what Indiana is doing just yet, but it will be hard to pass up Haliburton and maybe some Myles Turner based on how big men smashed the Hornets last season.
Cleveland @ Philadelphia
The Cavs make their first preseason appearance, while the Sixers play their second game. Evan Mobley is out for Cleveland, but I am not sure that moves the needle for me on Jarrett Allen or Kevin Love, especially against Joel Embiid and company. Cleveland has some real depth now that Donovan Mitchell is in town as they can bring Ricky Rubio and possibly Caris LeVert off the bench with Love and guys like Cedi Osman or Lamar Stevens. Maybe they want to see how Mitchell meshes with his new teammates, but I am probably avoiding the Cavs here for the most part unless we hear a report on their minutes.
The Sixers held Embiid and Harden out of Monday's game, so I would expect both to play here. But again - how many minutes? In their first preseason action, it wouldn't make much sense to run their superstars out there for more than 18-20 minutes, though that is probably enough time for either of them to hit value. I'm also kind of avoiding the Philly side here unless they rule out some other players for rest.
Toronto @ Boston
Both teams play their second preseason game in this one and while I'd usually be all about firing up some Raptors, Nick Nurse went all conservative on us in the first game, limiting his main guys to minutes in the teens and playing every guy they have on the roster against Utah. I'll be searching for soundbites from Nurse about how he intends to deploy his guys in this one, but there's no word so far.
Boston thrashed the Hornets on Sunday behind 24 points from Jaylen Brown and 16 from Tatum. Both guys played 20+ minutes in that one along with Marcus Smart and Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon came off the bench but led the team in minutes which was interesting and it could be that they want to see him get some time to play with both the starters and the bench guys as he's going to function as a sixth man this season.
Dallas @ Oklahoma City
Both teams here will be without their star player as Luka Doncic is resting for Dallas and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains out for OKC. We haven't seen Dallas yet this preseason, but I am pretty skittish when it comes to trusting Jason Kidd to play guys' minutes. Dallas didn't play anyone heavy minutes last year in the preseason, so while there is usage to soak up with Luka out, it could just be a messy situation to avoid if they decide to play everyone. We did see Josh Giddey go bananas in their first game, so he's firmly on my radar as well as rookie Jalen Williams, who also led the team with 25 minutes off the bench.
Phoenix @ L.A. Lakers
The Lakers are playing their second game of the preseason while Phoenix is making their debut. The Lakers lost by 30 to Sacramento and are now 0-7 in the preseason going back to last year. They simply looked like they didn't care to be out there and LeBron James finished 0-7 from the floor in only 15 minutes. Anthony Davis was the lone bright spot with 11-11-2 in 15 minutes but we know by now that L.A. isn't going to play their aging star (LeBron) or porcelain doll (AD) any real minutes in the preseason. I'll probably just fade them.
The Suns haven't ruled anyone out yet, but I would not look to roster Chris Paul in this one as it's hard to imagine Phoenix pushing the aging point guard to play any real minutes here. Devin Booker can fill it up in a hurry and is firmly in play as is Cameron Johnson, who I like a lot this year as he takes on Jae Crowder's role (Crowder waiting to be traded and won't play).
DraftKings DFS Top Plays
LaMelo Ball - PG ($7,900)
This price is dumb for a guy who is going to have triple-doubles this season. Ownership on him should be high but I can't fade him in this spot unless we hear about a low minutes cap or something.
Tyrese Haliburton - PG/SG ($7,000)
The same thing goes for Haliburton here, he's badly underpriced and will be a 9.5k-10k player this year in the regular season. He does it all and should be the top play for Indiana, assuming he plays any kind of decent minutes.
Cameron Johnson - SF/PF ($5,200)
Cam is a great glue guy for this Phoenix team and I look for him to take a big step forward this year as he moves into the starting lineup at the four. He's young and talented and I would assume Phoenix wants to get him plenty of reps with the first unit here before the season starts.
Kelly Oubre Jr. - SG/SF ($5,800)
Oubre got up 11 shots as the starting SF on Sunday against Boston, trailing only Ball (19) and Rozier (13) in shot attempts. He finished with 17 points and three steals in 21 minutes. He's very fairly priced for his skill set here if he's going to continue to start and fire up three-pointers.
Myles Turner - C ($6,400)
Turner is being mentioned in trade rumors and perhaps he gets moved this season, but for now, I just want him to play around 20-22 minutes so I can lock him in as my starting center tonight. He's an efficient scorer and elite shot blocker who should have his way with the soft Charlotte interior.
Josh Giddey - PG/SG ($6,700)
Giddey went for 14-12-9 in only 25 minutes against Denver and his price went down this slate - weird. He is going to be very chalky as a result, but you're going to need him if he does anything close to that performance again. Just keep an eye out for updates, you never know with OKC they could rest him and play other young guys.
Jaylen Brown - SG/SF ($7,100)
He's $1100 less than Tatum and coming off that big game against Charlotte on Sunday. Toronto is a tougher matchup, but Brown could easily hit value here again as long as we know his minutes are secure.
Devin Booker - PG/SG (7,800)
As I mentioned earlier, I think it's much more likely we see Booker play bigger minutes than CP3 tonight and he's tortured the Lakers in the past. It's not too hard to fit him into builds at this price either, just keep an eye out for any news about Phoenix guys and their minutes in their first game.
DraftKings DFS Value Plays
My favorite plays on DraftKings for 5k or less. No time for analysis, I might update later!
Jalen McDaniels - SF/PF ($5,000)
Tre Mann - PG/SG ($4,900)
Jalen Williams - SG/SF ($4,900)
Wenyan Gabriel - PF/C ($4,800)
Isaiah Jackson - C ($4,800)
Benedict Mathurin - SG/SF ($5,100)
