Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings 2/2/16

If you want to grab a free trial of the winning projections that inform each and every one of these picks, check out our lineup builder and Google Chrome extension that auto-populates your lineups into FanDuel and DraftKings. While the seasons overlap, you'll get access to our tools for the NBA, NFL, and NHL! Get started for free by clicking the button below.

First time with NBA? Be sure to read our free NBA Ebook on building lineups, general strategy and more. We've got you completely covered.

Something new

We're posting updates later in the day as situations develop. Here's the link for today, which includes updates on Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside, and more to look out for!

POINT GUARD

Kyle Lowry - FD 9000 DK 8700
Opponent - PHX
FD Proj. Pts - 41.23 DK Proj. Pts - 43.92
On a relatively tough night for mid-high priced point guards, Lowry is a very nice option. He's got back to back games with 40+ minutes, and is currently playing a max-effort style that has him playing a little bit like Russell Westbrook-lite in terms of fantasy output. The Suns have allowed the 2nd most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards this season on the league's 4th fastest PACE, and Lowry should be a nice high floor option here.

Patrick Beverley - FD 4800 DK 4500
Opponent - MIA
FD Proj. Pts - 22.98 DK Proj. Pts - 25.42
Archie Goodwin - FD 4800 DK 5600
Opponent - TOR
FD Proj. Pts - 22.72 DK Proj. Pts - 23.5
Your resident cheap plays for the night. Beverley has simply been terrific since returning from injury, paying 5x points per dollar in every game except a terrible match-up with the Spurs. He's playing slightly increased minutes from his pre-injury times, and is playing so well that it's hard to picture the Rockets getting away from him. I also list Goodwin here as the high upside guy who I could also see disappearing here. Booker has been bringing the ball up quite a bit, but it's far too early to freak out considering how cheap Goodwin is. Still, the last two performances mean he's anything but a 50/50 play at this point, especially in a tough match-ups with the Raptors.

Ricky Rubio - FD 6700 DK 6500
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 31.07 DK Proj. Pts - 32.06
A hell of an upside play if you're looking for one. Rubio has been losing a few minutes at the point recently, but his pass first attitude should do very well against an inexperienced Lakers team that is pretty terrible at rotating on defense. It also helps that they've allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing point guards this season. This has all the makings of a 15+ assist game where Rubio finds himself surprised to be all alone at the foul line on possession after possession.

SHOOTING GUARD

Devin Booker - FD 5200 DK 5600
Opponent - TOR
FD Proj. Pts - 23.44 DK Proj. Pts - 26.53
The Suns are pretty clearly trying to get Booker reps in every single way possible here, which makes sense, as he's likely the only non-injured sun who will be a part of any future good Suns team. He's generally not losing his minutes (even in blowouts), he's running the point with some regularity, and he's shot 15 or more times in 7 of the last 8 Suns games. Huge floor, and a bigger ceiling if he gets hot from the field. I'll play him everywhere.

Andrew Wiggins - FD 6300 DK 6300
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 30.21 DK Proj. Pts - 31.03
Zach LaVine - FD 4700 DK 5300
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 22.84 DK Proj. Pts - 23.96
The Lakers just really, really stink at defending opposing everybodies, and shooting guards are no exception. They've allowed the 2nd most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards this season, and all of the candidates who could be guarding the 2 here (Jordan Clarkson, Kobe, Lou Williams) are below average defenders at best. Wiggins is your not so exciting 50/50 play - a guy who generally pays 4.5x points per dollar who should do a little omre ina nice match-up, LaVine is the huge upside play. He's running the point in the second unit a lot, and could see more minutes if the game gets out of hand.

Also considered: D-Wade, though I'm a little spooked that he'll draw Beverley here. Still, the Rockets have allowed the 5th most fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards this season, and Wade does like to face off against other big name 2s.

Keep an eye on Langston Galloway - phenomenal play against the fast paced Celtics if Calderon is out again.

We have a new partner - FantasyHub! They're totally different than the status quo in this industry for all the right reasons. They have great products and good bonuses, sure, but they also give away a big portion of their earnings to charity. Check them out below and get a 300% matching bonus on your first deposit!

SMALL FORWARD

Al-Farouq Aminu - FD 5100 DK 4900
Opponent - MIL
FD Proj. Pts - 24.65 DK Proj. Pts - 25.67
Woof. This is a brutal position today. I don't have a lot of nice things to say about Aminu's recent game log, but I do have some excuses! Most of his.. erraticism? That can't be right. Aminu's erratic minutes can be attributed in large part to a crazy stretch of games for the Blazers, where 7 of their last 9 games have been decided by double-digits, and the starters have all had their minutes jerked around. It rates to be a fairly close game against the Bucks, here, and he should play 31+ minutes here. If he does, he should be able to take advantage of a nice match-up - the Bucks have allowed the 6th most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards this season. The more I write the more I like it. I'm in, baby!

Justise Winslow - FD 4200 DK 4400
Opponent - HOU
FD Proj. Pts - 20.02 DK Proj. Pts - 21.49
With no Whiteside, Winslow continues to play 33+ minutes per game off the bench. He does tons of little things that make him a super-high floor player on a points per dollar basis. He's averaged 9/7/3 and 22.4 FanDuel fantasy points since inheriting this super-sixth-man role, and I like him for at least that against a Rockets team that's allowed the 4th most fantasy points per game to opposing small forwards this season.

P.J. Tucker - FD 4800 DK 5400
Opponent - TOR
FD Proj. Pts - 22.7 DK Proj. Pts - 24.28
I said woof, didn't I? I can't explain Tucker's complete and total disappearance against the Mavs - the man played 42 minutes and somehow only got 5 shots in the air. That might have made sense when they had Brandon Knight and Eric Bledsoe, but with this current iteration of the Suns, that almost has to be an aberration. He had 4 straight games paying 5x points per dollar or more before his dud in Dallas, and I'm willing to take another shot with him here.

Also considered: Luol Deng. He's been kinda awesome lately, and is probably worth a look if Whiteside is out again.

POWER FORWARD

Julius Randle - FD 6100 DK 6400
Opponent - MIN
FD Proj. Pts - 29.84 DK Proj. Pts - 30.48
With Larry Nance Jr. shut down until after the All-Star break, we're left with big piles of Julius Randle minutes to play with. In the 8 games since Nance first went down, Randle has averaged 13 and 11 on 30 minutes, and 28.5 FanDuel fantasy points. The projection here is just a slight prorating of Randle's totals in an above league average match-up. Very solid play, with a nice combo of high floor and ceiling.

Chris Bosh - FD 7600 DK 7700
Opponent - HOU
FD Proj. Pts - 35.72 DK Proj. Pts - 37.55
The boring guy might get the money tonight, especially in 50/50s. Bosh has one of the lowest standard deviations of fantasy points per game of anyone in the league. In his last 10 games, every single one of them has landed between 26 and 35 fantasy points. It's a phenomenal match-up with the Rockets, whose poo-poo platter of big men have allowed the most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards this season. So Bosh's projection is at the high end of his focused range. Cool? Cool.

Jabari Parker - FD 5200 DK 5300
Opponent - POR
FD Proj. Pts - 24.27 DK Proj. Pts - 25.12
Prediction: this is Jabari Parker's lowest price for the rest of the year. As of this writing, he just played 10 excellent minutes for the Bucks against the Kings, and this coming off a 10 game stretch where he's played an average of 33+ minutes and averaged 4.7 points per dollar on these prices. The Trail Blazers are no Houston, but they've allowed the 10th most fantasy points per game to opposing power forwards this season, and should be a nice opportunity for Parker to continue his ascent.

Amare Stoudemire has put up some great upside even on limited minutes if Whiteside is out again. And he allows you to save up quite a bit to spend elsewhere.

 

CENTER

Gorgui Dieng - FD 5500 DK 5400
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 32.68 DK Proj. Pts - 33.2
Gorgui everywhere? Dieng is playing the 4, and playing it awfully well. He's scored 112 FanDuel fantasy points in his last 3 games, and if you're no math major, those numbers do not compute with these prices. And did I mention this is a phenomenal match-up with the Lakers? It is. Price/opportunity mismatch. Deploy him everywhere, if he's starting.

Karl-Anthony Towns - FD 8600 DK 7800
Opponent - LAL
FD Proj. Pts - 41.72 DK Proj. Pts - 42.47
Kinda weird to play him instead of Dieng, considering he's $3,000 more, but KAT has been wildly consistent, scoring either 46 or 47 fantasy points in each of his last 4 games. Some terrible match-ups there, too, as the Jazz, Cavs, and Thunder are 5th, 4th and 3rd when it comes to stopping opposing centers from accruing fantasy points. The Lakers? They're the worst in the league. Could be a huge one coming here.

Tyson Chandler - FD 4800 DK 4900
Opponent - TOR
FD Proj. Pts - 27.31 DK Proj. Pts - 27.89
My only other strong candidate today, and I'd only play him if I was really trying to go contrarian. I can't totally explain Chandler's renewed interest in beasting the boards, but Valancunias is very susceptible to giving up big games to aggressive rebounders, so here we are. Also working in his favor: no one is going to play this guy over Dieng or Towns today. Lots of risk, of course, but fortune favors the bold! Or something.

So yeah, basketball season! And we've got some goodies you can take with you. At the end of the post, we have our NBA eBook that you really ought to check out before setting even a single daily fantasy NBA lineup. It's free, below.

GRAB A FREE TRIAL OF OUR PROJECTION SYSTEM!

GET OUR FREE EBOOK ON DAILY FANTASY NBA!

And Daily Fantasy NBA Picks for FanDuel and DraftKings every day!