Welcome to the NBA DFS Triple Threat here at Paydirt! This is going to be a daily article aimed at giving thoughts on three important aspects of the NBA DFS slate. We will talk through the most popular players on the slate, popular roster construction, and potential pivots and leverage spots. This article is best used with the projections models here at Paydirt (Found here), but it will still be valuable even as a one off piece of content. While the focus is on Draftkings, the content is applicable to Fanduel as well. Costs, Projections, and finishing percentiles format will be Draftkings/Fanduel.
Main Points
- The highest-owned players for tonight’s games are projected to be Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, DeMar DeRozan, Malik Monk, and Kelly Olynyk. Notably, Zach Lavine is OUT for the Bulls and LeBron is questionable. Furthermore, the Jazz ownership is due to the matchup with the Wizards.
- A popular roster construction tonight will likely include 3 value players complemented by 4 mid-range players and 1 star. Ownership on the high end is concentrated on Anthony Davis and this will only increase if LeBron gets ruled out. Based on this, spending up on Embiid or Jokic seems like a strong option on the high end.
- Players such as Tyler Herro, Deni Avdija, and Keegan Murray are intriguing GPP plays. Additionally, value plays such as Ayo Donsumu, Trey Lyles, and Caleb Martin look like potential pivot opportunities.
Depending on the size of the slate, there may be multiple situations, value plays, and popular options that you need to consider. Join the Paydirt discord with this link for more updates and game theory on all the slates details: https://discord.gg/mQ6u5dfawF
NBA DFS Cash Game Core:
This core of players will help you build a strong foundation in cash games. While it is best to use all these players, it’s not a requirement
Collin Sexton
Malik Monk
DeMar DeRozan
Lauri Markkanen
Kelly Olynyk

NBA DFS GPP Core:
This core of players will help you build in differentiation in your lineups. These players are meant to be mixed in with some of the stronger chalk options. How many of these players you put in is dependent on the size of the field and personal risk tolerance.
Keyonte George (Value)
Tyler Herro (Midrange)
Jonathan Kuminga (Midrange)
Kyle Kuzma (Stud)
Joel Embiid (Premium)

NBA DFS Final Thoughts
The popular build tonight is going to be focused on Jazz players paired with Bulls and a premium spend-up. Thankfully, it’s fairly easy to get different tonight with so much focus on select spots. While everyone is focusing on the Jazz, the Wizards are getting ignored in that same game environment. Additionally, Embiid and Jokic are both projected to be well under-owned relative to their ceilings. The Paydirt models are heavy on UTA/SAC as spots to target with secondary exposure to CHI and BKN. Good luck and let’s bake some bread!
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