DFSGhost 
On the third day of the new NBA season, we are back for another edition of the roundtable to break down tonight’s slate on both DraftKings and FanDuel. For those that weren’t with us on Opening Night, Adam and I will be teaming up to attack slates with three or fewer games by answering your burning questions rather than simply breaking down individual players — small slates are all about strategy, and that is what we are here to present to you.
One thing I want to clarify based on the questions I have received over the years is that I will never list a player under the $5,000 FD price tag when breaking down larger slates simply because I use the projection model to identify all targets in these price ranges and below. While there are often plenty of options that I like in this range, you all have access to the very model I use to make my own selections, so when asking “Should I use player X or player Y?”, make sure to check the model because that is how I make all of my own decisions and I truly ride or die by it on a daily basis.
Before running to the DraftKings, FanDuel, or Yahoo lobby to construct your NBA DFS lineup after reading this article, please make sure to utilize the abundance of tools we have at Win Daily:
Question 1: “Which approach are you taking when building a single lineup? Stars & Scrubs, Balanced, Game stack, etc.?”
Ghost: SImilarly to Opening Night, I’ll be going with a Stars and Scrubs build for tonight’s NBA slate. With so much star power at the top of the pricing grid in Doncic, Antetokounmpo, Curry, and George, the ceilings to get us to the top of the leaderboards are endless. Pair that with the fact that role players in LA, Milwaukee, and Golden State remain underpriced, there is no other lineup construction I’ll consider.
Adam: Another small slate, another round of Bucks chalky cheap guys? While Jrue Holiday is expected to play, the trio of Donte DiVincenzo, Bobby Portis, and Rodney Hood are all still missing. While the prices have come up slightly, that still means elevated roles for Pat Connaughton, Grayson Allen, and Jordan Nwora. Golden State also has some value to look at so I’ll almost sure be able to jam in two studs and possibly three.
Question 2: “Which stud is a lock for you on this slate?”
Ghost: Steph Curry. This has nothing to do with his Opening Night performance, rather, we always — and I mean always — play primary ball handlers versus the Clippers. Dropping 21/10/10 on a mere 5-for-21 shooting just 48 hours ago, Curry bounces back in the efficiency department here and carries Golden State to a 2-0 record to begin the NBA season.
Adam: It almost has to be Giannis. Not only did he look unstoppable on opening night with 32/14/7 to go with two blocks and a steal, but Miami got smaller over the offseason. Bam Adebayo is still there but after him, it gets a little thin. The next big men up are (and I’m stretching the term big man here) are P.J. Tucker and Dewayne Dedmon. Good luck with all that.
Question 3: “Which stud are you most likely to fade in a single-entry contest or be underweight on in 150-max?”
Ghost: I’ll side with Jimmy Butler here. Normally, a upper mid-range price for Jimmy Buckets is something that always entices me, but with the addition of Kyle Lowry, in addition to the shooting of Duncan Robinson and Tyler Herro’s combo guard playstyle off the bench, he simply does not warrant consideration in my builds with Trae Young sitting there at $9,100 on DraftKings, in addition to other studs mentioned above.
Adam: Jimmy Butler. With the addition of Kyle Lowry, that could take some of the offensive load away from Butler but even if he still has a usage rate of 26.6% and a FPPM of 1.33, he’s going to be hard-pressed to match the upside of the other studs more expensive on this slate. I’d rather use two cheap Bucks with Giannis and pair him with one of Steph, Luka, or Paul George.
Question 4: “If you had to pick one star and one value play to be in the winning lineup, who would they be and why?”
Ghost: Steph Curry and The Model. You know the drill – check our NBA projections to get access to the keys of the slate.
Adam: Giannis and Grayson Allen. We’ve already talked about the Greek Freak but Allen showed plenty in his first game as a Buck. He played 28 minutes, which is most important but he also took 10 shots from beyond the arc. Miami allowed the highest frequency of attempted three’s last year at over 45%. While Allen almost surely won’t have six assists most nights, he won’t go 3-10 from three point land either.
Question 5: “Give us a hot take for the Opening Day slate.”
Ghost: Despite Paul George’s 30-point double-double, Curry and the Warriors come back to their home court to open their season 2-0 with both victories coming against LA’s teams.
Adam: On a slate that features some of the biggest names in the league, Trae Young crashes the first game MVP front-runner Luka Doncic. Young drops 30 points and at least 10 assists to start the year with a win against the player he was traded for in their draft and reminds the world this league is chock full of incredible young players.
Thank you to Adam for publishing our first two articles of the season! For the first time this NBA season, it’s my pleasure to say: let’s ride.
You can find us on Twitter @DFS_Ghost and @Bucn4life
