December 16, 2017

Jake Finnen highlights the top FanDuel NBA DFS lineup picks for 12/16/17, as well as a couple of sleepers to keep in mind while building your roster.

With eight games tonight, we have plenty of flexibility with our options. For the big name players that should exceed their projection tonight, Paul George is leading that charge with a $7,600 price tag, EVEN after playing 45 minutes last night. If Paul George plays, he should produce. If he does not play, Alex Abrines, Josh Huestis and Patrick Patterson will be decent value plays against the Knicks.

The competition is pretty scarce as far as who will the top scoring option for each category, so I'll do my usual thing and find those low-prices options that allows you to play everyone that needs to be played...James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Other than that, Jonas Jerebko, Damian Lillard, and Karl-Anthony Towns are in for high-usage games.

In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 12/16/17. The DFS lineup picks will range from some of the elite players to mid-priced options and value plays on FanDuel.

FanDuel DFS Guards

Raymond Felton - PG, @ NYK ($3,800)

If you didn't notice, Russell Westbrook played 52 minutes last night and will most likely see a few less minutes tonight. I'd be surprised if Westbrook takes the whole night off but Felton will definitely see increased opportunities and Felton also a history of stepping up in key situations for his team. Felton is also an ex-Knick in Carmelo Anthony's return to Madison Square Garden. This game has so much emotion involved and Felton thrives in these games. For a low price, Felton has a ton of upside to make him worth gambling on.

Jeff Teague - PG, vs PHO ($6,400)

Sadly, Jeff Teague has been inconsistent this season. Luckily, the entire Timberwolves organization seems to to suffer from the same misfortune. Teague has not been nearly as bad on the court as his stat lines have seemed, but the Suns backcourt will have no chance of stopping Teague. The Timberwolves have shown flashes of promise all season and this is an easy matchup they should be able to reconfigure their bearings against. That starts with the point guard and Teague will get his chances all night.

Dion Waiters - SG, vs LAC ($5,300)

The Clippers backcourt is still struggling to find a defensive identity and this is just not a hard play. There are two shooting guards you should consider tonight. Dion Waiters and James Harden. Harden will be the most productive SG tonight and Waiters has the most upside against the best matchup. Waiters is capable of going off every night, but his streakiness should be noted. Regardless, this is one of those nights where both teams know it will come down to the backcourts.

Also Consider: Ricky Rubio - SG, @ CLE ($4,900)

FanDuel DFS Forwards

Doug McDermott - SF, vs OKC ($3,900)

Doug McDermott has been great as a bench option, but his fantasy profile has only been relevant as off late. Although Michael Beasley tends to overshadow McDermott, but the latter still manages to make the most of his minutes through relentless offense. McDermott is in for a productive night if the Knicks decide to rest Kristaps Porzingis, which hopefully they will not do in Anthony's return, for entertainment's sake. For the player's sake, you can easily capitalize on the spacing of the Porzingis-less, Knicks offense.

P.J. Tucker - SF, vs HOU ($3,800)

The Rockets have been lighting it up lately and especially last night. P.J. Tuckers saw 25 minutes and should see across the board increases as a bench option on the end half of a back-to-back. With Paul and Harden generating offense, Tucker is seeing more open chances and is having one of his more efficient seasons from behind the arc. It's still not ALL that impressive but stat lines follow the law of averages and this game has the potential to be an outlier. He should get extra minutes and should rebound from his previous nights 1-for-4 from three.

Joe Johnson - SF, @ CLE ($3,500)

Joe Johnson only saw 14 minutes in his return to the rotation and grabbed three rebounds, but only three points. Not much was expected in his return and that's why this is a promising sign to build off. Even though it's the second night of a back-to-back, he has the chance to fill a gap left by the potentially injured Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert. Joe Johnson will explode in one of these games and still has upside almost halfway in his seventeenth season, coming off an injury.

FanDuel DFS Centers

Kevin Love - C, vs. UTA ($8,000)

Remember a while back when I said that thing about Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert being hurt. Well on the opposite side of the spectrum, who will be able to guard Kevin Love in the low-post effectively? If Jonas Jerebko or even Joe Johnson is given that task, Kevin Love is going to need to be played. The other options at center as just as enticing options, but Kevin Love will get rebounds and he has the highest scoring capability of the bunch as well. The Jazz might slow things down, but without Gobert and Favors, Love will score regardless of pace.

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