RADIO
After a small 3-game slate yesterday, we have our biggest slate of the preseason this week today as there are seven NBA games slated to be played tonight. DraftKings has made a major adjustment to pricing, too, making some of the star players closer to their actual regular season salaries and dropping the minimum price to just $3,000, so we could end up with some "stars and scrubs" lineups being optimal.
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 10/7/22. 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.
Boston @ Charlotte
Both teams have two games under their belt this preseason and already met last Sunday when Boston put a beatdown on the Hornets 134-95. We've seen the Boston starters play some decent minutes thus far, including into the third quarter last time out against Toronto so this could be a great team to target tonight, especially against a very poor Charlotte defense. All five starters play between 24-29 minutes against Toronto with four more reserves all seeing 20+ minutes, too, so let's not forget about their main bench guys.
Charlotte dropped their second game to Indy and their first unit struggled on offense again. But the trio of LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, and Kelly Oubre Jr. all played 25+ minutes and attempted double-digit shot attempts so they should be firmly on our radar, especially with Gordon Hayward doubtful again.
Indiana @ New York Knicks
The Pacers won their first game against Charlotte, but none of the starters had stats that really stand out despite playing 18-22 minutes. Haliburton was a disappointment as a chalky play on Wednesday, but we know he's going to be great. None of their bench guys topped 20 minutes, but Aaron Nesmith, Isaiah Jackson, and Bennedict Mathurin all finished in double-digits.
The Knicks didn't lean too hard on their starters (surprisingly) in their first win, but RJ Barrett still had a great game in only 21 minutes and Jalen Brunson was impressive in his Knicks debut. I would guess we see more minutes for the first unit tonight, but the four reserves who all played 20+ on Tuesday were Isaiah Hartenstein, Immanuel Quickley, Obi Toppin, and Miles McBride (6 steals!). Cam Reddish left that game early and is questionable, Derrick Rose barely played (they're not going to push him), and Jericho Sims is questionable, too.
Denver @ Chicago
The big news for Denver is that Nikola Jokic is questionable for this one and was upgraded from doubtful yesterday. I still have my doubts as to him playing in a meaningless game if he's still hurting at all, so we could possibly look at MPJ, Jamal Murray, and Aaron Gordon if the Joker is out. But I would like some news from their coach about a minute increase since the starters played only 14-15 minutes a piece in their opener.
The Bulls played three of their starters 20+ minutes in their opener (Vucevic, DeRozan, and Dosunmu) while Zach LaVine played only 17 minutes as Chicago was being cautious with him coming off an injury. Jevonte Green had 18 points off the bench, while rookie Dalen Terry posted an impressive 11-7-2 line with 2 steals in only 17 minutes.
Detroit @ New Orleans
Both Detroit and New Orleans have only played once so far this preseason and neither team forced the issue with minutes in the first game. Detroit starters did see 20 minutes, but not much more and Jaden Ivey was the only guy who really made value as he posted 16-4-2 in 22 minutes against the Knicks. The Pelicans held Zion back to only 15 minutes, Valanciunas to 12 minutes, and CJ McCollum to just 14 minutes as they went with mainly young players off the bench. McCollum is out tonight and I think Ingram is likely to sit, too, though he is listed as questionable. There are quite a few rotational guys on their injury report, so we are going to have to monitor that situation closely this evening.
Toronto @ Houston
This will be the third game for the Raptors this preseason, while only the second one for Houston. The Rockets blew the doors off the Spurs in their opening game with their young guns all posting really solid numbers. They won't have Eric Gordon (not a young gun, but a starter) or rookie Jabari Smith II tonight against Toronto.
We saw the Raptors' main guys get their minutes bumped up a bit, but they still were limited to around 22-25 minutes against Boston with FVV getting another early hook after only 18 minutes. Getting some info about how Nick Nurse intends to deploy his core tonight will be crucial as this is an attractive game to target for pace and points.
Miami @ Memphis
We do have some clarity here on the Heat for the most part as they played last night and have already ruled out their big three of Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo, and Kyle Lowry. Tyler Herro didn't play last night so maybe he plays tonight and shoots it a million times or maybe they hold him out and go with all the young bucks, we shall see and we usually have great info about Miami thanks to their beat writer Ira Winderman.
Memphis has a very clean injury report tonight and it's possible we could see a dress-rehearsal type situation as this is their third preseason game and the starters did play 20+ last time out against Orlando. Then again, it's Memphis and they love using deep rotations. In that game against Orlando, six bench players all played 21-22 minutes, too. So while Morant can crush in limited minutes, we may have to be picky with what Grizzlies we use here.
Orlando @ Dallas
The Magic have played two games and just played last night, so while they have mainly young players and not too many old veterans, we could see some of their regulars rested. Wendell Carter Jr. played really well last night and is fairly cheap if we know he's good to go for solid minutes again.
The Mavericks have only one official NBA preseason game under their belts and we should see the debut of Luka Doncic tonight. Coach Jason Kidd went heavy on the bench for minutes in their first game, with Christian Wood (16-13) and Jaden Hardy (21-1-1) leading the way in 25 and 23 minutes, respectively. Stay tuned.
DraftKings DFS Top Plays
Jayson Tatum - SF/PF (9,300) and Jaylen Brown - SG/SF ($8,300)
Barring any kind of news that they'll be limited, it's easy to fit the top two Celtics into builds today with the available value and they have arguably one of the best match-ups on the board against the Hornets. They're taking most of the shots with the first unit and they're both multi-category contributors who can pile up stats in a hurry.
R.J Barrett - SF ($7,800)
Brunson's arrival in New York is likely to hurt Randle more than Barrett as the young star of the Knicks showed a nice all-around game in the opener and has been given solid minutes by Thibs during the preseason before.
Nikola Vucevic - C ($7,700)
Vooch nearly won me a tournament on Tuesday when he went off for 48 DK points. His role and minutes are secure and a match-up with Joker (maybe) isn't anything to be afraid of with how Vooch plays offensively.
Christian Wood - PF/C ($7,400)
Wood got fed a bunch of minutes and shots in the first Dallas game, and reminded us all of his solid fantasy game. It will be fun to see how he meshes with Luka tonight, but he should eat on the interior against Orlando and I like him coming off the bench where he can beat up on second units.
Ja Morant - PG ($9,500)
I will probably have some exposure to Luka, too, in case Luka gets the minutes. But I think Morant is the safer play since we saw him get those minutes last game and we saw how elite he can be in this offense without JJJ as far as his usage and assists. This is Miami without Lowry, Butler, or Bam, too, so it's not like it's as tough of a match-up as usual.
DeMar DeRozan - SF/PF ($8,700)
DDR scored an incredibly efficient 21 points in only 22 minutes the other night, adding three assists and three "stocks." If the Bulls are going to limit LaVine's minutes this preseason, then DeRozan should be posting some solid lines as long as the minutes are there.
Alperen Sengun - C ($5,400)
Sengun is one of the most skilled young big men in the league and a fantasy force. Jabari Smith II is out, so that could mean a few more boards and shots for the Houston big man. He's far too cheap for his point-per-minute upside.
Wendell Carter Jr. - PG/C (5,400)
After a rather lackluster first game, WCJ came out last night and finished with 20-10-3 and 2 blocks in only 22 minutes. Maybe he rests tonight, but the Magic starters weren't pushed too hard so perhaps they planned for them to play decent minutes two nights in a row. I like him here against Dallas's frontcourt and he's far too cheap.
DraftKings DFS Value Plays
My favorite plays on DraftKings for 5k or less. THERE IS SO MUCH VALUE, I COULDN'T EVEN FIT EVERYONE IN HERE (or take the time to talk about all of them invidually).
Tari Eason - SF/PF ($3,000)
Santi Aldama - PF/C ($3,000)
Nikola Jovic - SF/PF ($3,000)
Isaiah Hartenstein - C ($3,900)
Jalen Smith - PF/C ($3,000)
Jaden Ivey - SG ($4,700)
Sam Hauser - SF ($3,000)
Jalen Christopher - SG ($3,000)
Kelly Oubre Jr. - SG/SF ($4,400)
Jalen Hardy - PG ($3,000)
Isaiah Jackson - C ($4,000)
Benedict Mathurin - SG/SF ($3,700)
