Adam Strangis NBA DFS Picks and Pivots: Wednesday, August 19
Welcome back NBA DFS fans! I’m Adam Strangis and I’ll be covering NBA DFS Picks and Pivots for Brian Tulloch for the next couple weeks. After months of being on pause, the league is back and so is DraftKings with big prizes pools to take down so let’s get started with our top NBA DFS Picks and Pivots: Wednesday August 19!
For those of you new to Picks and Pivots, the goal of this NBA DFS article each and every day is to provide you a “First Look” overview of the slate where we use DraftKings pricing as a baseline to help us get started. Rather than simply write out the “top plays,” this article will focus on slate strategy and roster construction with a GPP mindset to help you get started on your initial builds. Without further ado, let’s dive into today’s slate!
NBA DFS Picks and Pivots: Slate Breakdown
This slate is absolutely fascinating. We have a repeat set of games from Monday, so performances could skew ownership when maybe it shouldn’t. For instance, Monday I was #TeamJokic over Joel Embiid all day. Joker was only $8,700 while Biid was $10,200. Today they are much more competitively priced and we have Joker at $9,700 and Biid at $9,900. The scored almost the exact same and if Jokic comes in as chalk, I’ll easily go Embiid here.
Repeat Players
There is a core of players that I’m plugging right back into my lineups today because the salary works and the performance was not a fluke to me. The trio of Jamal Murray, Joe Ingles and Marcus Morris will likely find their way right back into my main lineups.
Murray is still at a fantastic price and I believe is still the primary scorer for Denver. Due respect to Jokic, but he can get very passive. Ingles was an awesome low-ownership play and he paid back in spades with almost 40 DK points. He does a little of everything and is a vital cog to that offense without Mike Conley. Lastly, Morris is going to play minutes and with Montrezl Harrell only playing 14, there’s no concerns of them being cut. Also, he was guarding Luka and got under his skin. It’s expected that Morris will continue to be tasked with doing so. Even taking away his four steals, he’s still right at 30 DK.
Building Blocks
Continuing on the thread of Trez being a non-factor, Ivica Zubac is really got it going in the bubble. He’s hit at least 27 DK every single time he’s gotten his normal minutes and has flashed 35+ DK upside. His price barely moved and I do really like him as a cheap Clipper. Instead of going three Clippers, I’m making the effort to play Luka Doncic this time around. I was on the train of he’d not hit value vs Kawhi and Company. All Luka did was respond by scoring 42 points. There is no stopping this man.
Now we come to the Celtics situation. Gordon Hayward is done for at least a month with a sprained ankle. Boston can be tough to peg when everyone is healthy but the picture gets clearer when someone isn’t. Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker are both right around a 1.20 DKPM without Hayward this year. Tatum is a bit of a difficult squeeze with Murray and Luka, so you have to make a choice. It’s easier to fit Brown or Kemba with that duo and may be the way I turn. You could also play Kemba and Tatum together to capture the best duo Boston should offer.
Players I Want Exposure to – Embiid, Jokic, Kawhi, Kristaps Porzingis, Caris LeVert, Serge Ibaka, Josh Richardson, Joe Harris, Alec Burks, OG Anunoby, Seth Curry, Royce O’Neal (especially after burning people as uber chalk, could be interesting)
NBA DFS Picks and Pivots: The Wrap-Up
On the Tuesday night look, my Core Group looks like this – Luka, Zubac, Tatum, and Ingles. It’s going to take a couple players like Burks or Curry to make it work, but we have some “scrubs” as far as pricing that are getting big time minutes and are relatively trustworthy. Luka wasn’t crazy owned but I think that could change today. I want to make sure I get Boston exposure since they are down to three main players. To me, I have Boston’s three and Murray ranked – Tatum, Kemba, Murray, Brown.
Let’s jump into Discord and talk some hoops my friends. Time to make money!
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