NBA Daily Fantasy Picks for Wednesday the 17th
Every Wednesday, I’ll be diving into a loaded NBA schedule to find you some legitimate difference-makers for the DraftKings main slate — with the help of our NBA Advanced Metrics, NBA Optimizer, and NBA DraftKings Projections pages.
What you’ll see when you come to this weekly column are our four favorite values of the night. Whether that’s an All-Star that is priced too low and is bound to explode or an absolute bargain that is capable of supporting your high-scoring studs, this is where you’ll want to look before submitting your lineups.
For those that read this story last week, there were quite a few gems in this piece. Kyle Anderson ($4,400), Ricky Rubio ($5,200), Jrue Holiday ($6,500), and Duncan Robinson ($3,700) each scored at least 25 fantasy points, and the four combined to score 127.75 for the night. If you took all four of them, it would have been tough for you not to finish in the money considering how much you would have had left over in salary.
With last Wednesday in the past, don’t miss out on our four targets for the NBA’s 11-game slate on November 17, when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Milwaukee Bucks and the Dallas Mavericks face the Phoenix Suns as part of a doubleheader on national television:
NBA DFS Picks
Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers (vs. Brooklyn Nets) – $6,500
Darius Garland has had a bit of an up-and-down season for the Cavaliers this year, but he’s a tremendous offensive talent and has finished in the ’30s in fantasy points in four of his last seven games. In fact, before scoring 23.25 points against the Boston Celtics on Monday, Garland totaled 76.5 points in the previous two games.
Tonight, Garland gets a crack at a Nets team that got blown out by the Golden State Warriors last night. Steph Curry absolutely shredded this defense and that should give you some hope that Garland can do the same. Garland isn’t nearly as good as Curry is, but he is similarly capable of dicing up defenses as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. He’s also a good shooter and defenses can’t go under screens on him.
With Collin Sexton out again, Garland will be in for another big workload. You should fire him up considering his price here.
Kelly Oubre Jr., Charlotte Hornets (vs. Washington Wizards) – $4,600
You really never know what you’re going to get with Kelly Oubre Jr. Three games ago, the lefty wing had 51.25 fantasy points against the Memphis Grizzlies, but he has had fewer than 20 fantasy points in each of the last two contests. Still, the 25-year-old possesses a decent amount of upside on a nightly basis. And he only put up a low number against the Warriors last game because he was tossed for arguing with the officials very early in the fourth quarter.
Not only do the Hornets have the 10th-best offensive rating in all of basketball, but they also play at the third-fastest pace in the league. Oubre is a streaky shooter but should get loose for some good looks in this game. He also is solid in transition and occasionally contributes defensively for fantasy purposes.
In what should be a somewhat high-scoring game with the Wizards, don’t be surprised if he has at least 25 fantasy points.
Malik Beasley, Minnesota Timberwolves (vs. Sacramento Kings) – $4,100
This season has been a bit of a grind for Malik Beasley, who just hasn’t gotten it going from the outside yet. On the year, Beasley is shooting just 30.5 percent from deep and that’s not something that will stick for the remainder of the season. In his career, Beasley is a 38.4 percent three-point shooter and he’s going to get it going very soon.
Tonight’s meeting with the Kings presents a great opportunity for Beasley to raise those percentages. The Kings are currently just 21st in the league in defensive rating, and they play at a top-10 pace. Sacramento also gives up more made threes per game than all but 12 NBA teams. With Beasley still playing 25.3 minutes per game, he should get some good looks in this game. If he’s burying them, he could get 30 or so minutes.
Beasley just so happens to be coming off one of his best games of the year, as he had 32.5 fantasy points against the Phoenix Suns. On top of that, he’s second on our list of projected fantasy points per $1,000.
Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee Bucks (vs. Los Angeles Lakers) – $7,300
Jrue Holiday’s price continues to rise on DraftKings, and it’s for good reason. Over the last four games, Holiday is averaging 38.25 fantasy points per game. He had 36.75 against the Atlanta Hawks last game, and that performance came after he had 50.5 fantasy points against the Celtics.
Holiday is unbelievable at getting himself to the basket, but he is also capable of knocking down outside shots. That skill set will be particularly impactful in a meeting with a Lakers team that can really struggle with point-of-attack defense. Los Angeles no longer has a guy like Alex Caruso that can get up and put pressure on opposing ball handlers. The Lakers desperately miss that and Holiday should take advantage.
With Khris Middleton set to miss another game as he deals with COVID-19, Holiday will have yet another big workload for Milwaukee. Look for him to thrive in a game that could end up being somewhat high scoring. The Over has hit in three of the Lakers’ last five games, with one of those other two games being a push. So, Los Angeles isn’t exactly playing low-scoring games.
