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 Amen Thompson, Jae Crowder, Immanuel Quickley, Eugene Omoruyi, and Paul Reed. Notably, coming off of the trade deadline rosters are still shorthanded with guys not yet available leading to condensed chalk. Additionally, Lebron and AD are both questionable in the late game so you may want to leave roster flexibility.
- A popular roster construction tonight will likely include 2 value players complemented by 5 mid-range players and 1 star. Ownership on the high end is concentrated on Giannis, Jayson Tatum, and Alperen Sengun. Based on this, spending up on Jokic or Trae Young seems like a strong option on the high end.
- Players such as Kristaps Porzingis, Jalen Johnson, and Brook Lopez are intriguing GPP plays. Additionally, value plays such as Gary Trent Jr., Cam Payne, and Herbert Jones 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
Immanuel Quickley
Amen Thompson
Jae Crowder
Tobias Harris
Eugene Omoruyi

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.
Cam Whitmore (Value)
Buddy Hield (Midrange)
Jalen Johnson (Midrange)
Trae Young (Stud)
Nikola Jokic (Premium)

NBA DFS Final Thoughts
The popular build tonight is going to be focused on a core of Amen Thompson/Jae Crowder/Tobias Harris and one of Giannis or Tatum. Thankfully, this makes it easy to get different tonight. There leverage spots by playing teammates such as Cam Whitmore, Buddy Hield, or Brook Lopez. Furthermore, you can focus on the lower-owned spend-ups such as Nikola Jokic and Trae Young. The Paydirt models are heavy on ATL/MIL/NOP as spots to target with secondary exposure to HOU/WAS/PHI. Good luck and let’s bake some bread!
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