FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Friday, 8/7/20

The last couple of days have really started to resemble the end of season nonsense we see from teams as the playoffs approach. It's led to a lot of punt plays and some weird, deadline decisions.

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Point Guard

De'Aaron Fox FD - $8000 DK - $7600
Opponent - BKN
Proj Pts FD - 45.3 DK - 45.6
The Kings beat the Pelicans on Thursday which keeps them in the hunt for the eighth seed in the West (along with all the other teams in this position). Even on the single game slate, Fox was a clear play yesterday and he didn’t disappoint with 30 points and 10 assists in the win. He’s playing major minutes in close games since entering the bubble, running 35 or more in regulation over the last four games. That’s seen him average 28 points and seven assists and now he’ll face a defensively compromised Nets’ team that just got 149 points hung on them by the Celtics.

Shake Milton FD - $4700 DK - $5800
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 27.13 DK - 27.84
Get ready for a steady flow of Sixers here on this slate. That’s what happens when they lose Ben Simmons who accounts for so many stats over a nearly full minutes load. Simmons dislocated his knee on Wednesday and will miss considerable time going forward. Milton, already starting at the one for Philly, should see increased on ball time and shots as well. He gets usage and assist upticks with Simmons off the court this season. He’s continued to shoot the three ball well since entering the bubble, knocking down 50% of his attempts in the first three games. The price and relative bump in minutes and usage should make him a safer cash play on this slate.

Emmanuel Mudiay FD - $3500 DK - $1400
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 24.94 DK - 25.88
The Jazz have already announced that basically the entire starting lineup will sit on Friday with Donovan Mitchell, Mike Conley, Royce O’Neale and Rudy Gobert already ruled out. That’s leaving up basically everything for the team of essentially unknowns to take over whatever stats are available. Mudiay is one of the few remaining with an actual NBA track record (for better or worse) and I expect him to lead the team in minutes, on ball time and usage rate. Coming at or near the minimums makes him a pretty safe play considering the state of the Jazz.

Shooting Guard

Jrue Holiday FD - $7700 DK - $9300
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 43.92 DK - 44.39
Man are the Pelicans ever frustrating. At times you’d believe they didn’t know they had their playoff season in the balance. They’ve incredibly inconsistent since the restart and have been blown out in two of the first four games. After a nice showing against the Jazz in the first game with 20 points, five rebounds and four assists, things have looked a bit grimmer for Holiday since. He’s struggled with anything but scoring and even that hasn’t been all that robust. But now he’ll get the worst (or second worst depending on the Nets that day) defense in the bubble against the Wizards. The pace should be up there and Pelicans really need this win.

Josh Richardson FD - $4800 DK - $5000
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 30.58 DK - 30.59
Speaking of guys with rougher statistical restarts, Richardson has cratered just about every stat except scoring. He’s had one total rebound in the first three games and six assists. The “good” news is those numbers should be set to increase some with Ben Simmons off the court. On/off court data gives Richardson significant bumps in both areas without Simmons. He’s a candidate to run major minutes considering his versatility on the defensive end and as a secondary ball handler. The price is low enough to consider in cash games though I will say it’s going to be tough picking out the four Sixers (if that’s your bag) to actually start in lineups.

Small Forward

Tobias Harris FD - $6800 DK - $8300
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 38.78 DK - 39.7
If you’re getting tired of Sixers as cash plays then you might not want to check out the rest of the article. Because we aren’t even close to getting starting with these dudes yet. Tobias sees a 2% usage upticks and 4% rebounding bump when Simmons is off the court. He put up 30 points in the bubble opener against the Pacers, but it’s been somewhat downhill ever since with the games getting progressively worse. I do think though, from a fantasy perspective, he’s set for a rebound game in this one and I expect the Sixers want to put their best foot forward assuming they’re still fighting for seeding.

Troy Brown FD - $5800 DK - $5500
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 36.91 DK - 36.73
With Bradley Beal out of the Wizards’ lineup in the bubble, Troy Brown has become something of the focal point for the Wizards’ offense and he’s been a solid fantasy option to boot. He’s averaging 33 minutes a game with Washington working their best to stay competitive and averaging a 16 point, seven rebound, five assist line. It’s enough to get the job done at these prices and small forward on FanDuel isn’t exactly overflowing with options.

Power Forward

Al Horford FD - $4800 DK - $6600
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 32.95 DK - 32.95
Horford is likely to entering the starting lineup for Simmons who’d been effectively been playing the four since the restart in the bubble. The minutes bump for Horford alone should be worth the price of admission at these prices. He’s going to push up and over 30 minutes if the Sixers are still going for this thing and gets a 2% usage and 7% rebound bump with Simmons off the court. The DraftKings price I guess is debatable (not really) but the FanDuel price is a total joke.

Jayson Tatum FD - $7500 DK - $7900
Opponent - TOR
Proj Pts FD - 42.83 DK - 43.33
While not a strict value play, I do think you are going to have plenty of money to spend on this slate considering the state of the Jazz especially. Tatum represents the upper middle tier guy who is basically one of the few spend up options going. I don’t think this is a tremendous spot, but power forward is once again rather thin and he could just be the raw points we are looking for. He was abysmal against the Bucks, going 2-18 which is nothing more than an outlier. The last three games he’s reverted to form and shot the ball well. I think, even against a tough Toronto team, this is a spot to get a high floor, volume scorer.

Center

Joel Embiid FD - $9800 DK - $10500
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 54.56 DK - 56.76
After 34 minutes out of the jump in the first game, it felt like we were going to see max-minutes, in shape Embiid all the way through this thing. That hasn’t been totally the case, but he’s still trucking dudes in the post and wrecking everyone when he’s on the court. Averaging 34 points, 14 rebounds and four assists in the first three games for the Sixers, he’s clearly their engine and without Simmons I expect them to lean on Jojo even more. Of all the Philly guys, he’s the borderline must play on this slate and the clear pay up.

Jonas Valanciunas FD - $7500 DK - $7300
Opponent - OKC
Proj Pts FD - 41.77 DK - 43.58
Game-to-game, the only real concern with Jonas from a fantasy perspective is the minutes. If he’s going to run 30+ on the regular then dude is almost always going to pay value at these prices. That was the case last game with Memphis playing shorthanded without Jaren Jackson Jr. He played 34 minutes and put up a monster 21 point, 14 rebound performance. I suspect with the Grizz playing undersized going forward we can count the Jonas minutes.

The Jazz are playing with the total B-team here which could mean a lot of minutes for Tony Bradley (FD $3600 DK $4200) He’s started for Gobert in the past and been effect fantasy-wise. There are tons of ways to save, and he’s one of them for sure.

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