DraftKings NBA: Sunday Cheat Sheet

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Published on December 8, 2019

While a lot of DFS players will be focusing on NFL games and weekly football players will mull over their playoff lineups, we still have a lot of NBA action to watch later. Let's take a look at Sunday's six-game slate that begins at 6PM ET.

SLATE OVERVIEW

MIA (-7.5) vs. CHI O/U: 212

LAC (-8.5) @ WAS O/U: 239

PHI (-3) vs. TOR O/U: 210.5

DAL (-8) vs. SAC O/U: 216.5

POR (-4) vs. OKC O/U: 223.5

LAL (-9.5) vs. MIN O/U: 225.5

I think you've got a plethora of options on both sides for the LA/WAS matchup, so you should use this game as a tiebreaker if you're trying to make a tough decision. Although it wasn't intentional, I found myself off the SAC/DAL matchup almost entirely. Since public money likely won't flow there outside of Doncic, it might be a way to find value.

INJURY SITUATIONS TO MONITOR

There are a few ongoing injuries that aren't exactly long-term situations, so I'm going to start by briefly recapping them, clarify their pivots, and then move on to recent issues in more detail.

Thomas Bryant (foot) OUT, PIVOT to Davis Bertans ($6,400), Moritz Wagner ($5,800)

Goran Dragic (groin) OUT, Justise Winslow (back) QUESTIONABLE, PIVOT to Kendrick Nunn ($5,300)

Josh Richardson (hamstring), BOOST to Ben Simmons ($8,300) and starters

Isaiah Thomas (calf), PIVOT to Ish Smith ($5,000)

Bam Adebayo (groin) QUESTIONABLE

If Adebayo is unable to play, Kelly Olynyk ($4,600) would likely draw the start at center. Chris Silva ($3,000) has played sparingly but would come off the bench in this scenario.

Andrew Wiggins (thumb) QUESTIONABLE

Jeff Teague (ankle) QUESTIONABLE

Wiggins could very well take the floor as the injury isn't considered to be serious, but we have very little to go on with Teague and his status. Minnesota will be a team to monitor leading up to tip-off, but I would expect Jarrett Culver ($4,800) to continue his starting gig at point guard, with Josh Okogie ($4,100) also picking up the slack. Jordan Bell ($3,300) also saw a big uptick in playing time in Wiggins's absence, but one should only consider him if Wiggins is a definite scratch.

There are a few other situations littered about, but most of them are either probable to play or are largely irrelevant to my builds.

ELITE PLAYERS

I think you can mix it up with a lot of players in the 8k range and lower on this slate, but we'll start out with a look at the highest-priced targets.

LeBron James, LAL ($10,500) vs. MIN

I slide past Luka Doncic to grab James for $1,200 less, an amount that could be pivotal as we complete our lineup construction. I feel like the salary discrepancy isn't going to merit a reach for Doncic, as James should carve up a Minnesota team that's plagued with problems and are dealing with injuries. Add in the potential absence of Rajon Rondo and you'll see James utilized as the point, making him a legit triple-double threat.

Jimmy Butler, MIA ($8,800) vs. CHI

With the litany of injuries and potential absences in the frontcourt, I think you'll see Butler follow up his 68.25 DKFP score against the Wizards with another superb line on Sunday. He's currently on a three-game run with 55 DKFP or more, and he put up 50 DKFP against Chicago the last time they played.

Pascal Siakam, TOR ($8,200) @ PHI

I'm encouraged by Siakam's previous game against the Sixers, where he demonstrated a 44 DKFP score that is very close to his floor. We need just a little bit more than that if we want to get 5x value from Siakam, but the potential is there as the Sixers come into the tail end of a back-to-back.

EXPECTED CHALK AND OTHER TARGETS

Paul George, LAC ($7,800) @ WAS

This game could be a beatdown in the making, and I think we will see similar scores from both Leonard and George. As the lower-priced guy against a depleted Wizards backcourt, I think George is a perfectly logical add and I'll tag him with a very high exposure percentage.

Tobias Harris, PHI ($7,700) vs. TOR

You need to drill down a bit to justify this add, but I think the sharps will notice the adept load management the Sixers used on this back-to-back. Harris 22.2 minutes of court time represented a season-low for the standout forward.

Danilo Gallinari, OKC ($6,700) @ POR

While Gallinari's number against Portland wasn't great in their first matchup, you have to be a fan of a guy who can regularly churn out 40 DKFP. His nightly numbers regularly hit 5x value or higher. And despite his lukewarm showing against the Blazers, you have to like this price. If Gallinari leaves a bitter taste, I'm also OK with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($6,600) as a decent pivot.

Fred VanVleet, TOR ($6,900) @ PHI

While Lowry's return scared me off VanVleet initially, I got the opportunity to watch a bit of their last game and I've switched my thinking on this situation. I think the Lowry-VanVleet backcourt helps out both guys, and VanVleet can leave the ball-handling duties to Lowry so he can focus on what he does best - score.

Rui Hachimura, WAS ($5,900) vs. LAC

With Thomas Bryant out, we've seen Davis Bertans ($6,400) wake up, but Hachimura has absorbed a lot of output as well, and the rookie put up a whopping 30 points against the Clippers last week. The bottom line is that while the Clippers are offensively sound, they turn over the ball a lot and aren't as effective off the glass as you'd expect. You can tell a story to stay away from every Wizard in this lopsided matchup, but the two teams put up 275 points in their last contest - that's a lot of action for everyone, including Hachimura.

Also consider: Carmelo Anthony, POR ($5,700)

VALUE PLAYS

The low-priced area of this slate is mostly scorched earth, to be honest. While you could build a 150-point core with James, Butler and Siakam and take your chances with dart throws, I'm not sure that's the way to go on Sunday. The injury situations above represent the best value spots, but here are a few alternate low-cost targets.

Marc Gasol, TOR ($4,600) @ PHI

Gasol's price puts the veteran center squarely in 6-7k value territory based on his recent totals. While he doesn't blow up in any particular category, he gets a lot of opportunity as the Raptors' defacto starting center, and will definitely see a boost now that Kyle Lowry has returned.

Duncan Robinson, MIA ($4,400) vs. CHI

Robinson is an intriguing call, and a lot of people might end up flocking to him after he logged a full 42 minutes in his last game. The big question is how he'll take advantage of that extra time. And for me, I'm not completely convinced. Volume doesn't always correlate to production, but he's worth a flyer in hopes of a big ceiling.

Anfernee Simons, POR ($3,600) vs. OKC

Rodney Hood (knee) is likely out for the season, so Portland's never-ending quest to find the perfect wing guy continues. While you could make an argument for Kent Bazemore ($3,800) - and he's obviously a safer play - I think Simons is the more interesting call and still mostly an unknown commodity with regards to his usefulness outside of a backup for Lillard/McCollum.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire.