Kmarko's NBA DraftKings Picks - January 29
Welcome back to the daily DraftKings picks where we try to get super rich playing daily fantasy basketball. As usual I’ll do a brief recap of my lineups from the week before then throw out some picks that I’m brainstorming for this weekend, and hopefully get some good feedback/tips/picks from you guys either in the comment section or on Twitter @kmarkobarstool.
Not a bad night, broke 300.
Blog picks were solid – 119 combined from Boogie, Jrue and Derrick Williams. Williams was a surprise bust but the other guys hit value – moved off of him in my optimal lineup for Gallo to be contrarian and it turned out being a good move. Ryan Anderson had 30 real life points at halftime and ended up dropping a cool 55 fantasy night – just goes to show that even the super popular chalk play is worth going with a lot of the time.
Big slate tonight, let’s break it down, 3 plays, 3 price tiers.
SG James Harden $10K
I’m going to be hitting this OKC/Houston game hard – Westbrook, Durant and Harden are the 3 best plays of the night and they’re all sharing the same floor in a fast paced matchup. You can’t beat the floor on Westbrook, Durant has been en fuego, but if I gotta pick one, I’ll take Harden for the upside + the narrative. The analytics might not support it, but the sports fan in me LOVES revenge games. Also, he’s cheaper than those other two. I get the feeling we see either a 40 (real) point game from Harden tonight or a triple double.
SG Dwyane Wade $6.7K
We got a first timer here! Welcome Dwyane Wade to your first time featured on the blog. Wade’s a guy I try to avoid in DFS like the plague – he’s old, always getting weird minutes, always getting weird injuries. I pick my spots with him veryyyy carefully and I think tonight is the night to pounce. He’s coming off 2 monster games, looks healthy and is firmly in control of that offense. Could be a nice off the board pick – or could blow up in our face, who knows, we’ll see.
VALUE PLAY SF Wesley Johnson $3.9K
Right behind that OKC/Hou game in terms of good targets, we have the Clippers/Lakers in the late night slot. Wesley Johnson has been getting steady minutes, especially now that Josh Smith is gone, and if he gets his shots up he should put up 25-30 points easy. Obviously not the safest play, but that’s why he’s priced at almost the minimum. You’re not taking that much of a risk, and have a legit shot at 8-9X value while saving tons of cash to pay up for the Hardens and Westbrooks of the world.
Other guys to consider:
PG: I would love to pair up Westbrook and Harden in some lineups, hope I can find enough value plays for that. Chris Paul is in play again, and to go a little cheaper, Elfrid Payton could be worth a dart throw. For super value picks I think Beverley could pay off, and Jerian Grant if Calderon is out again.
SG: If you don’t want to pay up for Harden, the Goodwin/Booker combo is still going full speed ahead. Rodney Hood has been on fire, and Oladipo is affordable with some nice upside. If Calderon is out Langston Galloway gets a ton of minutes.
SF: I love Durant, but also love Gordon Hayward for way cheaper. Lot of good SF picks tonight – Trevor Ariza might be the best with price considered, or PJ Tucker has been very good lately. Chandler Parsons is on fire.
PF: Absolute garbage once again. Good luck with this one. I honestly can’t even give a recommendation. Kevin Love? Julius Randle? Do you really trust Josh Smith?
C: Center is loaded again. The charts love Dwight Howard…I don’t really trust him and like Vucevic and DeAndre Jordan a little better. Spencer Hawes and Alex Len are some risky value plays.
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That’s it for me, good luck tonight. Tweet me @kmarkobarstool with your picks or to talk shit, whatever. Also if you’re depositing to play make sure to use my referral and we’ll both get hooked up with some stuff.