This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
We have a two-game slate featured on DraftKings for Tuesday. It's opening night of the 2020-21 NBA season.
The bubble experiment was a tremendous success that saw the Los Angles Lakers capture their 17th NBA Championship. After a short off-season were right back on the hardwood with the Brooklyn Nets hosting the Golden State Warriors, followed by a clash at Staples Center, as the Lakers will begin their title defense taking on the Clippers.
The four teams on the slate all have reshaped their rosters whether adding, getting back injured or removing various players, so we may have to take a wait-and-see approach when figuring out how the new additions may fit into their teams respective game plans.
Slate Overview
GSW vs. BKN (-7)
O/U: 230
The Warriors continue to be plagued by injury, they'll be without Klay Thompson yet again, as the star shooting guard underwent season ending surgery for a ruptured achilles and also may be without the services of longtime forward Draymond Green who's dealing with a foot injury. The good news is they should have a full strength Stephen Curry back in action. He's looked very good in limited preseason play and should command heavy usage with the teams reserves fairly thin.
On the opposite side, Kevin Durant will make his regular season debut for the Brooklyn Nets after jetting for the East Coast following an injury sustained in the 2019 playoffs with the Warriors. I'm not much of a narrative believer but I would imagine he's going to be pretty fired up for this one, and should be the main scoring option next to a fully healthy Kyrie Irving.
LAC vs. LAL (-3)
O/U: 223
Fresh off of a championship, the Lakers will look to continue their dominance over the Western Conference. Featuring a few new faces in Dennis Schroder, Montrezl Harrell and Marc Gasol they've added some extra depth to back the dynamic duo of Anthony Davis and LeBron James. The Clippers made some organizational changes as well, Ty Lue will take over as head coach and hope to maximize the efforts of his own elite tandem in Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Both teams should be considered title contenders in the loaded West but for now it's the Lakers who reign supreme in Tinsel Town.
Injuries to Monitor
Draymond Green (foot), GSW - OUT
Green will miss the season opener due to a foot injury. We're likely to see Eric Paschall enter the starting lineup in his place.
Marcus Morris (knee), LAC - OUT
The Clippers will be without Morris due to a lingering knee issue. Nicolas Batum or Luke Kennard could get the start. Check back closer to game time as starting lineups are released.
Elite Players
Anthony Davis, LAL ($10,000)
Despite it only being a two-game slate, there is no shortage of elite options to choose from. Davis checks in as the most expensive available but with his ability to contribute in just about every category he's typically worth the price tag. Looking back over last season, Davis carried one of the highest usage rates in the league at over 30 precent. With the long playoff run and abbreviated off-season we could potentially see Frank Vogel lean more on his star power-forward in hopes to maintain the wear and tear on an aging LeBron James. Either way, Davis is a career double-double machine and will need to continue his stellar play if the Lakers want defend their newly minted title.
Kevin Durant, BKN ($9,800)
The former MVP hasn't played a meaningful game since the 2019 Playoffs but appears to be fully healthy and should be the focal point of the Nets offense starting with Tuesday nights clash against the Warriors. It's long been rumored that he didn't leave Golden State on the best terms so maybe that gives him some extra motivation here but overall he's a high usage player that can score in a multitude of ways while adding the peripherals that make him a high floor, high ceiling option on any given night. With Draymond Green already ruled out the Warriors simply don't have anybody that can match up with Durant, so he should find himself in favorable positions with the elite passing skills of teammate Kyrie Irving at the point.
Mid-Range Targets
Kelly Oubre, GSW ($6,700)
With Klay Thompson lost for the season, Oubre should play vital roll in the Warriors offense going forward. He possesses a similar skill set as Thompson, and on most nights we can expect him to play all the minutes he can handle. His main contributions come by way of scoring the basketball and rebounds but also has the ability to rack up a steal or two. He should be a nice fit for Steve Kerr's uptempo style and most likely will be the second or third scoring threat outside of Stephen Curry and Andrew Wiggins.
Dennis Schroder, LAL ($5,800)
Schoder is joining the reigning NBA champs after stints in Atlanta and Oklahoma City and has a chance to be the starting point guard in LA. As a bench player for the Thunder last season, Schroder averaged over 30 minutes a game and was arguably the best second unit player in the league. He should mesh well with teammate LeBron James as he's able to play off the ball helping setup James to either pass to a favorable mismatch or attack the paint. One other appealing feature to his game is his improvement as a three-point shooter. Schroder knocked down 38 percent of his shots from behind the arc last season. He'll be a welcomed addition to a Lakers team that struggled to find consistent guard play in 2019-20.
Key Values
Eric Paschall, GSW ($3,800)
Draymond Green has already been ruled out, paving the way for Paschall to draw the start against the Nets. In 60 games last season he averaged 27 minutes and 14 points so he's shown to be reliable when given playing. His low price of $3,800 offers some nice salary relief to open things up for some of the higher ceiling options highlighted above to enter your lineup. Getting a potential starter who could play 30 minutes makes him one of the best values on the board, but we'll have to see what Steve Kerr decides to do, from a roster standpoint, closer to tip-off. Even if Paschall comes off the bench, he should be locked into a significant role.
Luke Kennard, LAC ($3,600)
Coming over from the Pistons, Kennard is set to take on a reserve role for the Clippers. Kennard played well as a starter in Detroit, averaging over 32 minutes per game while drilling nearly 40 precent of his three point attempts last season. Marcus Morris has already been ruled out, so Kennard could be in line for some extra run in his first regular season game as a Clipper. And at only $3,600, he won't need to do too much to return value.
