Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and DraftPot - 12/22/15

Editor's Note: We are pumped to bring you Martin Williams, one of our new contributors. He handled most of the picks tonight and we are excited to have him aboard.

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POINT GUARD

Mike Conley - FD 6400 DK 6300
Opponent - PHI FD Proj. Pts - 28.9 DK Proj. Pts - 30.44
Memphis’ Mike Conley should have success against the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers have been dreadful this season, and the stats don’t lie in that regard. Currently, Philly’s performance against point guards is trending downward. Kendall Marshall and TJ McConnell split time at the point guard spot for Philadelphia which doesn't bode well for their dfensive chances. Conley has had a nice stretch of late, scoring 20 points in each of his last 2 games, and averaged 28.9 points in Fanduel and 30.44 in DraftKings. Expect him to continue his good play against the hapless Sixers.

Jameer Nelson - FD 4600 DK 5400
Opponent - LAL FD Proj. Pts - 22.4 DK Proj. Pts - 24.89
Nelson is still filling in for Mudiay and getting all the minutes he'd ever nedd. The Lakers haven’t played well against anyone and that includes point guards. They are currently the worst in the league in giving up fantasy points to point guards. Nelson who had a solid 15 point performance in 37 minutes against New Orleans, could take advantage against the Lakers. Nelson has scored in double figures in each of the last 5 games. Louis Williams will likely see the most action against Nelson.

Goran Dragic - FD 5800 DK 5500
Opponent - DET FD Proj. Pts - 26.16 DK Proj. Pts - 27.56
Dragic could have a tough matchup against Reggie Jackson, who is the 4th ranked point guard in the league efficiency-wise. Dragic is averaging 11.3 points which is slightly lower than his career average of 12.6. The dropoff is really noticeable concerning 3-pointers. The Yugoslav is a career .357 3-point shooter but this year is only shooting .277 from behind the arc. Dragic could have a tough time reaching his Fanduel average of 26.16 points per game.

 

Consider Kyle Lowry. We are recommending a bunch of cheaper plays today. You'll need to spend up somewhere.

SHOOTING GUARD

Will Barton - FD 6400 DK 6600
Opponent - LAL FD Proj. Pts - 28.25 DK Proj. Pts - 29.47
Denver’s Will Barton is coming off a career game in which he scored 32 points, including 7 3-pointers. Currently, Barton averages 15.3 points a game and is 6th in the league among small forwards in efficiency. He would also be sixth among shooting guards in the same category. Barton goes into a favorable matchup against the Lakers. The Lakers are currently the worst in the league in terms of giving up fantasy points to shooting guards. Look for Jordan Clarkson or Kobe Bryant to guard Barton, which in either case would favor the Nuggets’ sixth man.

Wesley Matthews - FD 5200 DK 5400
Opponent - TOR FD Proj. Pts - 25.43 DK Proj. Pts - 28.58
Dallas’ Wesley Matthews has the potential to put up good numbers but has struggled of late. In the last 3 games, Matthews scored 13 points against Phoenix, and then scored a combined 6 points against Indiana and Memphis, while averaging 29 minutes in each contest. Matthews goes against Toronto and the tough sledding could continue. Toronto is among the league’s best against shooting guards and Matthews will likely draw Demar Derozan who is Toronto’s second best player (behind Kyle Lowry).

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SMALL FORWARD

James Johnson - FD 3900 DK 3900
Opponent - DAL FD Proj. Pts - 20.57 DK Proj. Pts - 21.07
Johnson's drawn the start the last two games since the Raptors (a couple games later than everyone else) realized Terrence Ross wasn't cutting it in Carroll's place. Johnson has posted double figures in his last two games, scoring 14 points each against Sacramento and Minnesota. Dallas should provide a stiffer test, as the Mavs are very good at keeping fantasy scores lower for small forwards. Johnson is not an explosive player but still could put up numbers. He will likely be guarded by Chandler Parsons.

Matt Barnes - FD 4900 DK 5500
Opponent - PHI FD Proj. Pts - 23.21 DK Proj. Pts - 25.2
Barnes continues to start for the Grizz as they go small in an effort to bring Z-Bo off the bench and mismatch their rotations. Barnes has only averaged 8.9 points per contest but could see greener pastures against the Sixers who can’t seem to stop anyone. No team is worse than the Sixers at defending small forwards when using fantasy points as a metric. The Sixers’ Robert Covington could give Barnes problems with his length. Covington is 6’9” while Barnes is 6’6”.

Danilo Gallinari - FD 6700 DK 6700
Opponent - LAL FD Proj. Pts - 31.51 DK Proj. Pts - 34.17
Danilo will face the  Lakers which could be a high scoring game for the Italian sniper. Gallinari is 7th in efficiency among small forwards and is averaging a little over 17 points a game. One interesting note about Gallinari is that if his shot isn’t falling, he is being aggressive and getting to the free throw line. He scored 11 of his 18 points from the stripe in his last game. Gallinari’s 18 points came in just 23 minutes, before he was injured with an ankle sprain. The Lakers are the 3rd worst team in the league in defending fantasy points among small forwards. Gallinari will likely see Kobe Bryant most of the night, if he plays.

POWER FORWARD

Once again we enter the great power forward dregs. It's been a very tough position this season with little value to be had in any consistent fashion. Tonight is no different. The pick'ens are thin. (Is that how you spell pick'ens?)

Luis Scola - FD 4300 DK 4900
Opponent - DAL FD Proj. Pts - 17.91 DK Proj. Pts - 18.19
You trust the minutes? Me neither. But like I said in the sentence literally just before this, you are left with very few options at power forward tonight. The good news on Scola is you won't spend a lot to find out about the run. And he's a per minute beast, so really anything you can get out of him will be gravy. Not a bad opponent up against Dallas, but I'm just concerned with him getting flaked on his run. Minutes in the mid-to-upper twenties and I really think you are home free on these prices.

Kenneth Faried - FD 6500 DK 6100
Opponent - LAL FD Proj. Pts - 25.86 DK Proj. Pts - 26.3
For reasons I can't totally figure, our system doesn't love Faried at these prices even when you give him minutes in the high twenties. But it stands to reason he's a popular play tonight against a Laker team allowing worse than league average production against opposing power forwards this season. The problem with Faried and the Nuggets in general is who gets the minutes. He could just as easily see 15 as 32. It's crazy and maddening. But on a short slate you can take the risk.

Dirk Nowitzki - FD 7000 DK 6400
Opponent - TOR FD Proj. Pts - 30.19 DK Proj. Pts - 32.14
He's a great price on DraftKings and is probably the PF play over there. Dirk doesn't have a ton of upside because the Mavs manage his minutes something fierce. He won't bust it through the box in a non-conference game like this one. But he seems safe.

 

CENTER

Bismack Biyombo - FD 4600 DK 5200
Opponent - DAL FD Proj. Pts - 25.52 DK Proj. Pts - 26.06
Rarely does a guy come along who has absolutely no role on the offensive end and is yet still very much a play in DFS. My boy Bismack fits the bill. He's crazy athletic, looks perfectly at home on the court and exists as the fifth option on offense with the first unit. And calling him the fifth option is really doing him a solid because he's probably more like the 10th option as you should count all the other guys twice before ever getting to him. But he's rebounding like a madman and playing crazy minutes. This short slate doesn't have me wanting to get big money on center. Bismack has the run with Jonas out and his price is only creeping up.

Marc Gasol - FD 7900 DK 7500
Opponent - PHI FD Proj. Pts - 36.45 DK Proj. Pts - 36.86
He should dominate Philly and Jahlil tonight. The only issue is whether he sees anything close to the right amount of minutes. There's always a good chance Philly gets run out of the gym and that's the end of the Grizz starter's minutes. Gasol has big offensive upside, but it isn't consistent. The thought of that plus his minutes going awry is troubling.

And for what it's worth, I don't totally mind a somewhat blow-out proof Jahlil Okafor

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