Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 12/11/14

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Point Guard

Russell Westbrook - FD 9900 DK 10700 DFSTR 8200
On such a short night it is important to make every single decision correctly. And it will be tough knowing where to allocate your bigger dollars especially without the access to any significant punt plays. With Durant still on restricted minutes Westbrook becomes one of the highest usage guys around. That he can do just about everything on the stat sheet keeps the floor high. This is where I'll be putting my big dollar tonight. He's averaging 25/7/7 over his last three and is facing Kyrie who's not exactly known for defense.

Patrick Beverley - FD 5300 DK 5600 DFSTR 4800
Allows the perfect way to spend less and get more that we need on a short slate. The Rockets are playing super short handed all around. Beverely got the start last night and should see in the mid 30's worth of minutes. He's becomes a bit more of a scorer of late, which is encouraging. He's known primarily as a defender and that's true, but in this matchup against Collison (another good defender) I'll take Patrick at the discount.

Shooting Guard

James Harden - FD 10300 DK 11400 DFSTR 9400
He's the other big money guy I'll get my hands on tonight. That came out weird but you get the point. With Howard out of the lineup he's the primary facilitator of the offense (though having Beverley back takes that pressure off him some). Harden is probably the safest big money play on the board. It didn't look like he was hampered at all last night and should be a full go tonight. The choices at SG are so thin that I don't get the sense you need to fade him tonight.

Consider drawing straws on the other guys.

Small Forward

Rudy Gay - FD 8500 DK 8900 DFSTR 7700
Since Boogie has been out, Gay has taken more than 17 shots per game and played high 30s minutes very routinely. And at this point, Trevor Ariza's defensive reputation is outstripping his production. The Rockets are in the bottom half of the league when it comes to defending SFs this season. On a short slate with relatively few pure punts, Gay is looking like a must.

Trevor Ariza - FD 6100 DK 6500 DFSTR 5600
It's interesting - our projection system actually likes Ariza a little bit better than Gay tonight. Never one for huge defensive efforts, the Kings have allowed the 9th most fantasy points to opposing SFs this season, and that's getting stretched even further with their wings being asked to do more offensively. Ariza is one of the safest bets in the league for minutes - he played an average of 43.5 minutes in his last two games, and has topped 40 minutes in 6 of his last 10 games. What this means is that he's priced appropriately - there isn't a ton of upside here. But there's safety for miles.
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Power Forward

Jason Thompson - FD 5000 DK 4600 DFSTR 4000
Reggie Evans - FD 4800 DK 5000 DFSTR 3000
With Boogie being out for untold games with some "illness," Thompson has filled in quite nicely. While he's always a danger for foul trouble, he's still averaged 34 minutes and routinely paid off on 5x this price. And Reggie Evans? He's basically doing the equivalent on his slightly lower price. I'd say Thomspon is a little safer, but you could make an argument for playing both if you want to spend up elsewhere.

Donatas Motiejunas - FD 5900 DK 5400 DFSTR 4500
If you're asking me, I'm going to go cheap at PF today. With Boogie out, opposing big men have had a much easier time putting together decent fantasy days against the Kings. They've slipped to 22nd in the league against opposing PFs. And while Motiejunas has been up and down this season, the guy has played mid-thirties minutes consistently since November 22nd. On a short slate, that kind of safety is worth taking a shot on.
 

Center

Anderson Varejao - FD 4900 DK 5000 DFSTR 5500
Picture something really big. The Atlantic Ocean, say. Then something a lot bigger. The Earth, for example. Now multiply that by the volume of the sun and divide by .00000000001. That's the distance between Varejao and every other "center" on the board tonight. The other guys on FanDuel don't even really play. Not center - at all. Play Varejao. That's all.

Kendrick Perkins - FD 3700 DK 3000 DFSTR 3200
Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut. Everyone will play Varejao. And if you want to be a sneaky snake? Perk makes for an interesting punt in GPPs. He's solidly paying off 4-6x on this FanDuel price, and with Steven Adams falling out of favor, Perkins' role looks secure. I mean, he's terrible and all. But still. There's really no one else, and you could get serious separation here.

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