Isaiah’s Protocol for the MAIN NBA DFS slate on 1/20

Isaiah’s Protocol for the NBA DFS slate is built around DraftKings pricing but is good across the industry with some slight adjustments to salaries on the various sites.

We’re looking at a solid 5 game NBA DFS slate tonight. With a total of 14 NBA games being played today, I’m going to do my best to process them all for you. Please check out my EARLY article if you’re looking to mix and match players for the different lock times on FD. I advise all my readers to join the staff at WinDaily in our Discord chat rooms as we discuss important news as it unfolds during the day.

THE STUDS

Damian Lillard ($8400) C.J. McCollum is out tonight with an ankle injury. Portland is extremely short-handed right now due to injuries and trade. This means a lot of minutes for Damian. He has a 30.3% usage rate and scores 1.27 fantasy points (FP) per minute. The Warriors rank 22^nd in defensive efficiency (DEFF) and 27^th in (DvsA) which is a rank given to the opponent when facing this player’s archetype. Lillard is currently projected for 52 DraftKings fantasy points (DKFPTS) which will exceed 6X value at his current salary.

Devin Booker ($8600) Booker carries a 30.1% usage rate and scores 1.18 FP/min. on the season. I love targeting the Spurs at the 2 spots where they rank 20^th in DEFF and 16^th in DvsA. Booker looks to be a nice piece of this NBA DFS slate.

Demar Derozan ($8200) I’ve been writing Demar up quite a bit lately as he’s been on a tear. DeRozan has been averaging 36 minutes and goes over 44 DKFPTS in 6 straight games. In those games were some solid defenses in the Heat, the Raptors, and the Celtics. The Suns are not good at defending guards ranking 25th in DvsA. I project Derozan to stay consistent and score in the mid ’40s for 5-6X value at this salary.

THE CORE

Dangelo Russell ($7600) Russell looks to be back to form as he’s gone over 40 DKFPTS in 5 of his last 6, and over 50 in 4 of those games. Dangelo carries a 32.7% usage rate and scores 1.25 FP/min. He squares off against a short-handed Blazer squad that ranks 23^rd DEFF and 28^th in DvsA. Projected at 43 DKFPTS, Russell becomes one of my favorite pieces on this NBA DFS slate tonight.

Hassan Whiteside ($7500) I alluded earlier to how this Blazer squad is missing some key parts. Hassan is another key piece that I expect to carry this offense tonight. I was surprised to see him priced this low. This is his cheapest salary since the end of December. Whiteside scores 1.35 FP/min. on the season and will be playing all the minutes, he can handle. The Warriors rank 29^th DvsA. Lock him in.

Jason Tatum ($6900) There is a lot to watch for with this pick. I won’t be playing Tatum if Anthony Davis returns on this NBA DFS slate, but I’m not expecting that to happen. Kemba Walker (knee) and Jalen Brown (thumb) are both carrying questionable tags. If either or both of these guys miss the game Tatum gets a huge boost to his 26.9% usage rate. A match up with Kyle Kuzma would be the icing on the cake. He’s priced way too low in my opinion if all the right pieces fall into place tonight. Marcus Smart ($5800) and Gordon Hayward ($5600) also become intriguing if Boston is short-handed.

THE VALUE

Dario Saric ($4700) I wanted to mention Saric here, but this requires some attention to the lineups. Kelly Oubre has been out with a concussion (but is expected to return tonight) and Dario has filled in quite admirably in his absence. He’s pushing hard to regain his starting job at one of the forward positions. He just put up 35 DKFPTS against Boston on Saturday and dropped 47 on the Spurs the last time he saw them. Keep an eye out and if Dario makes it into the starting lineup on this NBA DFS slate, his salary is way too cheap.

Anfernee Simons ($3900) and Mario Hezonja ($3500) Neither of these guys played very well against Oklahoma on Saturday, but the minutes and opportunity remain for this hurting Blazer squad.

I’m going to leave it here for now as there is a ton of information and news to process on this NBA DFS slate tonight. I highly encourage all readers to join myself, and the rest of the WinDaily team in the Discord chat rooms as we break down and discuss our favorite plays. Thank you for reading my content and feel free to leave a comment, or hit me up on Twitter @IsaiahsProtocol.

GOODLUCK AND HAVE FUN