Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks - Monday, January 1, 2024

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Point Guard/ Shooting Guard

Luka Doncic FD - $12600 DK - $11900
Opponent - UTA
Proj Pts FD - 64.09 DK - 69.06

Luka Doncic is on a completely different level right now and is such a tough fade on a nightly basis, even at these elevated price points. Over the last month, he’s averaged 37.5 points, 11.1 assists, and 8.9 rebounds in just a hair under 40 minutes per game. Almost one else has this kind of floor on a nightly basis, and, at this point, it makes sense to just find the cheap plays and roster Luka in about any situation.

Of course, that’s a bit of an overstatement, but in this matchup against the Jazz, it rings true. Even with Kyrie Irving projected to return tonight, running Luka against a bottom-third defense playing a top-third pace makes a lot of sense.

Tyrese Haliburton FD - $11000 DK - $10300
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 54.69 DK - 59.49

Speaking of being on another level, Tyrese Haliburton has put up some eye-popping lines over the last couple of games. In fact, he’s had two 20-20 games in a row with 22 points and 23 assists against the Knicks and 21 points and 20 assists against the Bulls. Those are video game stats for sure, and things could continue here.

We know the Bucks don’t have great guard defense, and Hailburton carved these guys up for a 27/15/7 line during the In-Season Tournament. There’s a world where you can roster both Luka and Hali in cash, though it’s a bit easier on DraftKings than on FanDuel.

Andrew Nembhard FD - $5300 DK - $5300
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 27.73 DK - 30.09

Nembhard was a chalkier play last time out when the Pacers faced off against the Knicks, and he definitely paid that one off. The combo guard played 36 minutes, took 10 shots, finishing with a 14/5/5/2 line when it was all said and done. They’ll need his defense here against Damian Lillard, so I expect him to get a lot of burn once again. The middle-tier pricing helps round out lineups. I think the minutes floor is reasonably high in the matchup.

Immanuel Quickley FD - $6500 DK - $5000
Opponent - CLE
Proj Pts FD - 25.54 DK - 28.3

This might be a bit of a stretch, but I think we are going to see Immanuel Quickley step right into the Toronto starting lineup and get up a lot of shots, well, quickly. He was having a tough time carving out a ton of minutes with the Knicks, but that shouldn’t be the case after coming over with RJ Barrett in the O.G. Anunoby deal.

IQ scored about 15 points a game in 24 minutes with the Knicks, shooting almost 40% from beyond the arc. On a team that lacks much in the way of on-ball juice, he should be able to carve out usage rather easily here, and the minutes should be there as well.

Small Forward

Tari Eason FD - $6400 DK - $6300
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 36.31 DK - 36.37

Jae'Sean Tate FD - $4100 DK - $4600
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 22.95 DK - 22.9

Jeff Green FD - $3800 DK - $4300
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 19.97 DK - 21.09

These three plays are going to rely, in part, on the status of Jabari Smith Jr. The latter sat out last game with an injury and both of these wings stepped up with a ton of minutes. Tate played 35 minutes, though it was mostly of the cardio variety, scoring just four points and grabbing just five rebounds in all that court time. It’s a big reason the price remains so low.

Meanwhile, Jeff Green played 33 minutes of his own, taking 11 shots and finishing with 10 points and four rebounds. Neither are overly exciting, but both come cheap and that matters a lot when thinking about rostering the Luka Doncic's and Tyrese Haliburton’s of the fantasy world.

And finally, there’s Tari Eason, who is easily the best of the bunch when it comes to fantasy but the least reliable when it comes to minutes. He’s still coming off the bench, and last game maxed out at 27 minutes of run. Now, he did put up 10 points, 11 rebounds, and five steal+blocks in that stretch. So he can pile it on. It’s just risky at his price points, knowing that the time on the court is almost hard-capped.

Power Forward/ Center

Jerami Grant FD - $7500 DK - $7300
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 37.71 DK - 40.64

Jabari Walker FD - $5700 DK - $5000
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 27.26 DK - 28.64

Ibou Badji FD - $3700 DK - $3500
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 36.44 DK - 33.3

DeAndre Ayton is going to sit this game out, and Duop Reath is doubtful. That means the Blazers will, once again, be very short in the front court. There is blowout risk here against the Suns, but Grant has been running major minutes of late, playing 39 and 41 in each of the last two, respectively. He’s averaged 28 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in that stretch. The price is up, but not high enough for his role on this team.

Jabari Walker has played 30 minutes off the bench in each of the last two games as the Blazers figure out their center minutes without Ayton and Reath. Last time out, he put up 25 points and nine rebounds in the win over the Spurs. He can fill up the box score even in limited minutes, and the DraftKings price isn’t all the way there if he’s going to get full burn off the bench.

Finally, Ibou Badji could draw the start at center tonight and would be worth a punt play if that’s the case. It’s speculative for sure, and he’s played a total of 26 minutes this season, putting up just nine points and 11 rebounds in that stretch. But at his price points, that kind of output would be more than enough if he’s running with the starting five.