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The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on January 11, 2018. Tom Bellucco's NBA DFS analysis and sleepers for building optimal DFS rosters.
While we do have four games on Thursday, one of them is being played in London and will happen in the early afternoon. Therefore, we get three injury-riddled games to analyze. Oh joy. Oh yeah, and none of these games have totals or spreads as of 10:00 pm EST on Wednesday night.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 1/11/18. With only three games to analyze, I will go game-by-game instead of position-by-position. If you do plan to play this slate, tread lightly.
Hit me up on Twitter @BellRoto with any questions or comments.
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Cleveland Cavaliers @ Toronto Raptors
On the Cleveland side, Isaiah Thomas is still on a minutes limit, so he's still not in play at this $6,000 price tag. The only other players I ever consider for the Cavs are LeBron James and Kevin Love. James has had some great games against Toronto in the past, but without Kyle Lowry and Serge Ibaka he may not be needed in this one. His 11.3k price tag is steep on a small slate, and while we love raw points, my first instinct is to fade him and hope to make up ground with mid-range plays. As for Love, I can't trust him in cash games and his lack of minutes upside keeps him off my tournament radar too. It's strange, but I don't have much love for Cleveland these days.
As I mentioned above, the Raptors will be missing Lowry and Ibaka in this one. While the game could very well get out of hand, DeMar DeRozan will be the entire Toronto offense. He took 29 shots on Tuesday, and that seems reasonable again tonight. The floor is there and the upside is huge if this game were to stay close. Delon Wright is a great play again as well. He'll get his 30 minutes again, and a fantasy point per minute will be more than enough on a short slate. Other than those two guards, the only other players I have interest in are Jonas Valanciunas, Jakob Poetl, and Pascal Siakam. All are worth GPP consideration, but good luck figuring out how many minutes (and how much production) they'll end up with. JoVal is my favorite of the three.
Los Angeles Clippers @ Sacramento Kings
We don't know for sure, but I'm assuming Austin Rivers, Blake Griffin, and Milos Teodosic will be out again for this contest. Teodosic seems to be the closest to playing, and if he returned it would likely lessen my interest in all Clipper guards. Under my assumption, Lou Williams and Juwan Evans should continue to be great plays. Williams is expensive, but he's the entirety of Doc Rivers' offense. As for Evans, he's still underpriced for his nearly 1.0 fantasy point per minute production. DeAndre Jordan is in another great matchup, and should rack up 15+ rebounds. The issue is you need scoring at this price point too. Will he get it? Your guess is as good as mine. The bench players (Tyrone Wallace and C.J. Williams) are GPP dart throws at best.
Sacramento is a nightly mess with their large rotations, player absences for personal reasons, and unpredictable usage. The only player I will consider barring injuries is Bogdan Bogdanovic (yes, that's a real name). He's getting backup point guard minutes and could hit 6x on this price tag if he continues to shoot well. Everyone else seems overpriced, but check back for an update if we get any sort of clarity on George Hill and company.
San Antonio Spurs @ Los Angeles Lakers
With Kawhi Leonard out and Tony Parker doubtful, the Spurs become pretty easy to break down. For one, you play LaMarcus Aldridge. His usage is through the roof without Leonard, and this is a great matchup against a putrid LA front court. The only other two plays that pop as of Wednesday night are Pau Gasol (REVENGE GAME!) and Davis Bertans. The only problem is we never know how many minutes Gasol will get, and Bertans is now priced in the four thousand range. Of the two, I prefer Gasol. If you wanna really have fun here, you can chase Manu Ginobli's back-to-back 20-point games. Just know that I won't be there with you.
The Lakers are back to playing everyone, and it sucks. We saw a few players get 30 minutes or more last game, so those are the three I will be targeting until further notice. Lonzo Ball seems like the safest bet for production. His upside is massive thanks to his mult-faceted game, so I like him at 7.2k. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope doesn't have the Ball-type upside, but he can get you what you need at 5.2k in his 30+ minutes. Julius Randle is the final Laker I have interest in, and while everything seems fine and dandy with him these days, Luke Walton could pull the rug out at any moment. That being said, I do like this matchup for Randle, and I can't tell you not to play him even at an elevated price tag.
Favorite Plays
Is it just me, or does this slate smell like month-old milk? Once we get some solidifed lines from Vegas on Thursday, I'll update this article with a handful of players that continue to stand out as good plays on Thursday. As I hinted at above, if you choose to play Thursday, limit your bankroll, and take a few shots at a GPP.
