RADIO
We'll be focusing on the Thursday night Showdown slate on DraftKings, which will feature the Los Angeles Lakers against the upstart and confident Denver Nuggets in game four of the series. Remember, there aren't positions in these contests but rather a "Captain" who scores 1.5x points and five utility slots to pick out. There are a ton of great tournaments on DraftKings tonight so go reserve those entries while you can!
Here are our daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 9/24/20. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. Remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lock.
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DraftKings DFS Captains
LeBron James ($19,200 CPT, $12,800 UTIL)
Featured Promo: Get any DFS Premium Bundle for for 10% off using code BALLER! Win more with expert advice from proven winners and exclusive DFS tools. Get instant access to RotoBaller's Lineup Optimizers, Research Stations, daily picks and VIP chat rooms across 10 sports! Go Premium, Win More!I slightly prefer James at the Captain slot in tonight's matchup, and it's a combination of projected rostership and actual DFS projections. Jokic and Murray are certain to garner inflated rostership tonight after they went for 45.5 and 61.5 DK points, respectively, and the Nuggets won game three. That makes me love LeBron, who had 69 DK points with a 30/10/11 triple-double and four blocks+steals in the game three loss. He holds a team-high 30.3% usage rate in the playoffs and he's sure to be aggressive in this one after the tough loss. LeBron has a very high probability of finishing with the slate's top DFS score and as such, he should be your highest exposed player in the Captain slot.
Nikola Jokic ($18,000 CPT, $12,000 UTIL)
You'll have to eat some chalk here as the Joker will be very popular, but chalk needs to be eaten on Showdown slates. His 29.6% playoff usage rate leads Murray's by 2.5%, and he has spiked for games of 67, 75, and 58 DK points in his last five games. Jokic was a bit more muted in game three with just 45.5 DK points, but if that's the floor we're looking at, we should be all over Jokic in this spot (he had 31.5 DK points in game one but saw just 25 minutes in the blowout). He's going to continue to be the focal point of the offense and having Jamal Murray cooking only serves to increase Jokic's chances of being the optimal Captain play tonight. The pair is one of the best-correlated duos's in the NBA in terms of DFS production.
Anthony Davis ($18,600 CPT, $12,400 UTIL)
AD was a total bust at his salary with just 31.5 DK points in game three. He shot 9-for-17 (0-for-4 from three) and only had two rebounds, one assist, and a steal to go along with three turnovers. We know he's capable of posting big games but he simply hasn't put up a monster effort in quite some time (last 60+ DK point game was on 8/29 against POR). He has a 28.6% usage rate in the playoffs as he and LeBron are the clear driving forces of the team, and he has popped for 51.75 and 56 DK points in this series already. He's a nice guy to plug in with the other three players likely getting more Captain rostership, but just know that the matchup isn't great against the perimeter-heavy Jokic and AD's ceiling has been elusive and tough to pinpoint.
Other Options: Jamal Murray ($15,900 CPT, $10,600 UTIL)
Large-field GPP Play(s): Jerami Grant ($8,400 CPT, $5,600 UTIL)
DraftKings DFS Utility
Paul Millsap ($6,000 UTIL)
Millsap is cheaper than MPJ, but his minutes are more secure as he played 28 and 31 minutes in the last two games of the series. Game one was a blowout in the Lakers favor and Michael Porter Jr. saw 29 minutes (to Millsap's 21) and had a 35.5 DK point game. The Lakers are favored by six in this one, so my inclination is that the game will stay somewhat close and that should result in Millsap seeing his full run of minutes. He's not a ceiling play by any means as he holds a 16.3% usage rate in the playoffs, but he's capable of providing great value if he can get over the 20 DK point plateau.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($4,600 UTIL)
I know, I know...it's gross. However, you won't find a more consistent source of minutes in this price range (outside of the pitiful Gary Harris) and that's what we're looking for on slates like this. KCP has actually been playing fine, shooting 58.3% (53.3% from three) and averaging 22 DK points per game in this series. He'll see right around 30 minutes and although his usage isn't high (14.2% in the playoffs), he'll be counted on heavily for his defense and for knocking down the open looks from deep that an AD/LeBron-led offense affords him. He's a solid, if uninspiring, utility option on tonight's slate.
Torrey Craig ($2,000 UTIL)
In order to fit in one of those top-four players in the Captain slot, along with one or two other studs, we'll need to select a player like Craig. He's a complete flier, there's no doubt about that, but here's what we do know. He has played 23 and 15 minutes the last two games and scored exactly 11 DK points in each. For the season, Craig held a 12.9% usage rate and a 0.69 fpts/min rate. He's obviously not a heavily involved player, but we have to consider him at his price and with a juicy minutes projection. Projecting him for 19 minutes tonight puts him at 13.11 DK points at his per-minute rate, and any variance above that number will help our DFS lineups immensely. Craig is just one of those players you'll need to take shots on in a one-game slate.
Other Options: Jerami Grant ($5,600 UTIL), Michael Porter Jr. ($6,800 UTIL) if you're projecting Denver to be playing catch-up for most of the game, Kyle Kuzma ($5,200 UTIL), Danny Green ($4,800 UTIL)
Large-field GPP Play(s): Alex Caruso ($4,400 UTIL), Gary Harris ($4,200 UTIL)
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Good luck in your DFS contests and make sure to give me a follow on Twitter @kringstad19!
