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After easing us in with an exciting two-game slate Tuesday night, the NBA cuts the ribbon on the new season in earnest with a mammoth 12-game slate Wednesday night.
It's always an interesting night for roster construction in DFS when there are 24 teams in action -- while there's certainly no shortage of ways to differentiate for tournaments, the number of options at our disposal can also certainly be a bit on the overwhelming side. As such, it can even be helpful to play multiple split slates offered on DraftKings and FanDuel on nights like this, in addition to taking a shot at the super-sized main slate.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings and FanDuel on 10/19/22. Remember to monitor the NBA injury report as the slate can completely change before lineup lock, which is at 7:00 pm ET tonight. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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NBA DFS Guards: DraftKings, FanDuel
Trae Young - PG, ATL vs. HOU ($9,500 DK; $9,100 FD)
You'll naturally have no shortage of guards to pay up for Wednesday night, but Young is one that offers you a nice discount of some of the highest-salaried options while still giving you just as much upside, especially in his matchup. The star point guard should benefit from a bit less defensive attention this season with Dejounte Murray now playing alongside him in the backcourt, and he'll be facing a Rockets team he shot 57.1 percent, including 56.3 percent from three-point range, against in two games last season.
Houston finished the season allowing an NBA-high 28.3 percent offensive efficiency rating to point guards, and they'll be once again attempting to defend Young with the likes of Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green, which did not prove effective last season.
Donovan Mitchell - PG/SG, CLE at TOR ($8,500 DK; $7,900 FD)
Mitchell will undoubtedly be raring to go in his new Cleveland digs, and much like Young, he'll have the benefit of a new dynamic backcourt mate that should help afford him some open looks and clearer paths to the basket. Mitchell will be sharing the floor with the electric Darius Garland, but the former should still enjoy solid usage and is coming off an encouraging three-game preseason sample where he averaged 17.0 points per game and shot 47.4 percent from three-point range.
The Raps gave up a 20-point, three-rebound, four-steal effort across 29 minutes to Mitchell in their one encounter with him last season, and they ranked in the bottom-10 of the league in offensive efficiency surrendered to shooting guards (22.5 percent). The Raptors also allowed 37.0 percent three-point shooting at home last season and postseason, brightening Mitchell's outlook further.
C.J. McCollum - PG/SG, NOP at BKN ($6,900 DK; $7,300 FD)
McCollum will be overshadowed a bit in this game by the return of teammate Zion Williamson after his season-long absence due to a foot injury, as well as with the trio of stars on the other side of the floor. However, McCollum makes for a very intriguing play at his extremely reasonable salary, especially considering how well he fit in once he was traded to New Orleans last season.
Slotting in at point guard, McCollum averaged 24.3 points (on 49.3 percent shooting, including 39.4 percent from three-point range), 5.8 assists, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.3 steals across 26 games. He'll have another major scoring asset to help facilitate for in Williamson, and McCollum should also continue to see plenty of opportunity in his own right after averaging a career-high 19.2 shot attempts per game during his 26-game Pelicans tenure.
ALSO CONSIDER: Kyrie Irving - PG, BKN vs. NOP ($9,700 DK; $8,900 FD)
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NBA DFS Forwards: DraftKings, FanDuel
Karl-Anthony Towns - PF/C, MIN vs. OKC ($9,800 DK, $9,300 FD)
Towns is now a full-time power forward after Rudy Gobert's arrival this offseason, and the move could very well help the big man enjoy even more offensive success with fewer defensive duties to be concerned with. Towns is coming off a season where he shot a stellar 52.9 percent, including 41.0 percent from three-point range.
He draws a premium matchup to start the season, as the Thunder allowed the third-highest offensive efficiency to frontcourt players (86.5 percent) a year ago. Towns delivered at least a 5x return on Wednesday's DK salary on 32 occasions and in 34 instances with respect to his FD salary last season, making him a highly appealing option if you're investing heavily at forward Wednesday.
Scottie Barnes - SF/PF, TOR vs. CLE ($6,100 DK; $6,600 FD)
Barnes' rookie campaign saw him finish with averages of 15.2 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.1 steals per contest while averaging 33.3 and 33.1 DK and FD points per game, respectively. The talented forward enjoyed his three encounters with Cleveland as well, putting up just under 40 fantasy points per game on either site across a healthy workload of 38.3 minutes per game.
Barnes should be set for a bump in his 18.7 percent usage rate from last season now that he has 78 total regular-season/postseason games under his belt, and his DK salary is one he delivered at least a 5x return on in 47 games last season/postseason, while he accomplished that feat with his slightly higher FD figure in 39 instances.
Franz Wagner - SF, ORL at DET ($6,000 DK; $5,700 FD)
Wagner enjoyed an impressive rookie season that saw him average 15.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.9 assists while shooting 46.8 percent. Despite the arrival of top overall pick Paolo Banchero, Wagner should still be a key member of the Magic's young attack and opens his sophomore campaign with what is a premium matchup on paper. The Pistons allowed the second-highest offensive efficiency to small forwards last season (24.6 percent), including 37.4 percent three-point shooting to the position.
Wagner shot an incandescent 55.8 percent, including 53.3 percent from distance, in four games versus the Pistons last season, and he enjoyed a productive preseason where he sported an encouraging 23.3 percent usage rate. With Detroit's vulnerabilities defensively and Wagner's body of work against them, he makes for a very appealing value play to start the season.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jimmy Butler -SF/PF, MIA vs. CHI ($8,800 DK; $8,400 FD)
NBA DFS Centers: DraftKings, FanDuel
Nikola Jokic - DEN at UTA ($10,300 DK; $11,600 FD)
There's really no need to overthink things whenever Jokic is on the slate, especially in a matchup against the Jazz that got exponentially easier this off-season. Rudy Gobert was part of Utah's fire sale, and his replacement, Kelly Olynyk, is going to be challenged to slow Jokic down, to say the least.
The big man already averaged 63.2 DK points per contest last season in three games against the much more formidable version of the Jazz, and even with Jamal Murray back for Denver, Jokic will still naturally see massive usage and will undoubtedly benefit from Murray's facilitation skills.
Domantas Sabonis - SAC vs. POR ($8,100 DK; $8,600 FD)
The Kings-Trail Blazers game carries a projected total of up to 226.5 points at some sportsbooks, and it's a safe bet Sabonis will be a big contributor to that number. The versatile big man was a success during his brief time in Sacramento last season, putting up 18.9 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists while shooting 55.4 percent over 15 games.
The Trail Blazers were vulnerable to frontcourt players last season while allowing the second-highest offensive efficiency rating (86.8 percent) in that split, and Portland also ranked in the bottom half of the league in points in the paint allowed per game (47.8) while also surrendering the second-highest three-point percentage (37.1 percent). A player as versatile as Sabonis is just the type to take advantage of that pair of weaknesses, as well as the Trail Blazers' No. 20 rank in rebounds per contest surrendered (53.3).
Jusuf Nurkic- POR at SAC ($6,300 DK; $7,100 FD)
Having just talked up Sabonis, Nurkic makes for a very viable mid-salary/value play on the other side of the matchup. Defense is one area that isn't a strong suit of Sabonis, and the former is finally healthy after he played just 91 total games in the last two seasons.
The big man sported an encouraging 28.3 percent usage rate across four games this preseason while averaging 13.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, and the Kings finished last season allowing the second-highest offensive efficiency to centers (35.5 percent) while also surrendering 53.8 rebounds per contest and the third-most points in the paint per game (51.3). Nurkic was also downright dominant in three games against the Kings last season, averaging 20.7 points, 15.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.0 steal across 33 minutes per contest while shooting 61.5 percent.
ALSO CONSIDER: Rudy Gobert, MIN vs. OKC ($8,600 DK; $7,800 FD)
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