Welcome to the 2016-17 NBA season! We kick off the new year with a small, three game slate. If you’re new to DFS On Demand, you’ll notice each of the Pro Tools below which include daily projections for both DraftKing and Fanduel, last season’s game logs, points allowed by position and more! If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a tweet.
2015-16 Game Logs | 2015-16 Player Scoring Calendar | 2015-16 Salary Database | 2015-16 Points Allowed By Position
With only three games on the slate, there are few options across the board. The point guard position is particularly thin, making Steph Curry ($9,600 DK | $9,300 FD) an interesting option. For the first time in awhile, he’s priced under $10,000. With that, there are certainly concerns about Curry tonight. With the addition of Kevin Durant, it’s still yet to be seen how that will impact Curry’s usage rate. Also, the Warriors are facing the stingy Spurs defense. On the good side, Curry was mostly unhampered by the Spurs defense last season. He averaged 49 DraftKings points and 45.7 Fanduel points in his four meetings against San Antonio last season. Here are those logs:
If you’re looking for value, consider Dante Exum ($3,400 DK | $3,500 FD). Remember that Exum missed all of the 2015-16 season with a torn ACL. Exum has been trending upwards this preseason, playing 30+ minutes at times and flashed some upside in a game against the Suns where he led the team with 18 points. Exum is benefiting from a thin Jazz backcourt to start the season with Alec Burks and Rodney Hood both dealing with injuries. Exum is obviously risky and we have very little sample to work with, but on a thin slate he could be appealing as an off-the-grid option.
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Another value option should emerge in the form of Kyle Anderson ($3,500 DK | $3,500 FD) . The Spurs are thin at the shooting guard position with Danny Green and Jonathon Simmons both being hampered by injuries. As seen in the preseason, Kyle Anderson (a usual SF) could shift into the SG position. Anderson was respectable when he saw action last season. He played 25+ minutes on 13 occasions in ’15-16. In those 13 games, he averaged 23.5 DraftKings PPG, which would be worth 6.7x value tonight.
I am not nearly as concerned about Klay Thompson‘s ($6,500 DK | $6,500 FD) production this season as others around the industry. The general consensus is that there aren’t enough shots to go around in Golden State and Thompson will suffer. I don’t necessarily agree with that. Have you ever seen Thompson play? Dude jacks it up every time he touches the ball and is the “King of Catch and Shoot”. This preseason he took 12.4 shots per game, averaging 24.3 minutes. That rate is directly in-line with his usage from last season. Now, I am very concerned with this matchup but Thompson is firmly on my radar as a GPP play.
Rudy Gobert ($7,000 DK | $6,200 FD) is potentially ready for a breakout season. Always an elite defender, Gobert has improved his offensive skills this pre-season. Obviously a small sample size, but in five preseason games, Gobert scored double-digits in four of those contests and his 14.8 PPG was the third best of any center this exhibition season. Maybe most impressive, his free throw rate was 74.5% which would be a massive improvement over his 56.9% rate last year. Gobert can rack up fantasy points in a ton of different ways as an elite rebounder and shot blocker. If he add double-double prowess with real points, his price will rise very quickly.
That’s all folks! Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more player analysis as news and injuries break closer to tip-off! Commentary based on DraftKings strategy and scoring.
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