Daily Fantasy Basketball 2014: Best NBA FanDuel, DraftKings Lineup for Dec. 11
There are only two games on the NBA slate Thursday night. This means a number of things, mostly related to #BasketballTwitter's utter confusion at what to do if one of these games winds up being terrible. (It probably involves someone starting an inane argument that lasts the length of an average game...and maybe an adult beverage.)
The other major effect of a two-game night? An awfully difficult time for one-day fantasy players. In most instances, I'd suggest skipping out. Lineups are going to be so similar in most cases that the smallest decisions about minor players will swing thousands of dollars.
When you're spending an hour debating the merits of Jason Terry vs. Anthony Morrow, something has gone horribly, horribly wrong. Most nights these decisions are meaningless. On Thursday, they'll mean everything.
So, yes, the best idea is to wait for Friday night and just enjoy the games like a regular person on Thursday. But we all know that's impossible. I won't be doing that and neither will you, despite our best intentions. With that in mind, let's break down the best possible way to spend your one-day money.
| PG | Russell Westbrook | Cle@OKC | $9,900 |
| PG | Darren Collison | Hou@Sac | $7,700 |
| SG | Dion Waiters | Cle@OKC | $4,400 |
| SG | Anthony Morrow | Cle@OKC | $4,100 |
| SF | Kevin Durant | Cle@OKC | $9,800 |
| SF | Rudy Gay | Hou@Sac | $8,500 |
| PF | Donatas Motiejunas | Hou@Sac | $5,900 |
| PF | Reggie Evans | Hou@Sac | $4,800 |
| C | Anderson Varejao | Cle@OKC | $4,900 |
| PG | Patrick Beverley | Hou@Sac | $5,600 |
| SG | Dion Waiters | Cle@OKC | $3,500 |
| SF | Rudy Gay | Hou@Sac | $8,900 |
| PF | Donatas Motiejunas | Hou@Sac | $5,400 |
| C | Reggie Evans | Hou@Sac | $5,000 |
| G | Russell Westbrook | Cle@OKC | $10,700 |
| F | Carl Landry | Hou@Sac | $4,000 |
| UTIL | Darren Collison | Hou@Sac | $6,800 |
Point Guard
Similarity: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder (FanDuel: $9,900, DraftKings: $10,700)
Westbrook has been destroying fools whenever he's touched the floor this season. The enigmatic point guard has at least 21 points, five rebounds and seven assists in each of his five games since returning from a hand injury. He's been on the type of statistical terror that makes you almost angry he was injured while Kevin Durant was recovering from his foot injury.
The Cleveland Cavaliers' perimeter defense has been abysmal all season. On Thursday, they'll be dealing with the best perimeter twosome on the planet. I'm not going to go out on a limb and guarantee an Oklahoma City win, but it's hard to see a scenario in which Cleveland can adequately defend the suddenly healthy Thunder.
At the very least, Westbrook should continue his fantasy bonanza.
Similarity: Darren Collison, Sacramento Kings (FanDuel: $7,700, DraftKings: $6,800)
Collison is proving me—and everyone else who questioned the Kings signing him over bringing back Isaiah Thomas—wrong this season. He's averaging career highs in points (16.3), assists (6.3) and rebounds (3.7) while shooting a not-so-terrible 44.4 percent from the floor. At the season's quarter point, it's very possible this is the new normal for the 27-year-old guard.
The matchup between Collison and Patrick Beverley should be a lot of fun. Both are lightning quick and will go at one another for 94 feet. Beverley is a good enough defender that he'll give Collison trouble, but he's engendered enough faith that you have to bank on him getting his numbers one way or another.
Difference: Patrick Beverley, Houston Rockets (DraftKings: $5,600)
Beverley's been back from his bothersome hamstring injury for exactly two games, but they've been promising outings. The Rockets pitbull has combined for 31 points and 12 rebounds, shooting a surprising 7-of-15 from beyond the arc.
That's closer to an anomaly than a sign of things to come, but the Rockets need all hands on deck. James Harden is battling a lingering back injury and Dwight Howard is expected to be out until at least this weekend. Harden will likely be in the lineup against Sacramento. His effectiveness, though, may come into question on the second night of a back-to-back.
Beverley has improved as a scorer this season, and his aggressiveness makes him a menace on the offensive boards. Given the depleted roster around him and the dearth of point guards in action Thursday, Beverley is a steal.
Shooting Guard
Similarity: Dion Waiters, Cleveland Cavaliers (FanDuel: $4,400, DraftKings: $3,500)
Don't look now but Waiters may have finally found his role on the new-look Cavs. He has scored 44 points in victories over the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors, doing so with an efficiency that hasn't been present all season. It's also promising to see him being aggressive again; his 31 shots are his most in a two-game span so far.
The risk here is inherent. This is Dion Waiters we're talking about, a streaky shooter who may have merely had a hot hand on consecutive nights. There was no real sign a breakout was coming until he started shooting fireballs off his right hand in Brooklyn.
At such a cheap price though, Waiters offers high upside and allows you to fill other holes with stars.
Difference: Anthony Morrow, Oklahoma City Thunder (FanDuel: $4,100)
The shooting guard spot is an empty cupboard filled with dust mites and a withering squirrel that looks vaguely like Jason Terry. Other than Harden, there's not much in the way of consistent production. The price on Harden proves as much. When you can get Kevin Durant in a daily league for $500 less than a banged-up Harden on the second night of a back-to-back, something is amiss.
Oh. Right. Morrow. He might knock down some threes and stuff. That's about all I have.
Small Forward
Similarity: Rudy Gay, Sacramento Kings (FanDuel: $8,500, DraftKings: $8,900)
With DeMarcus Cousins still out, the Kings offense remains Gay's playground. The Kings almost need him to give into his worst impulses to stay competitive. Outside of Collison and Gay, they have next to no capable shot-creators. And Gay, for all the warts still prevalent in his game, is a skilled isolation player who draws consistent weak-side help.
It's no coincidence that Gay is averaging nearly 5.5 assists per game since Cousins has been out. He's playing well enough to coax extra defensive attention and has been more willing to pass out of tough shots than at any point in his career.
At this point, you're basically getting a LeBron Lite stat line for a significantly downgraded price. Gay's a better value than LeBron or Kevin Durant, and it shouldn't surprise anyone if he has the best one-day outing of the trio.
Difference: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder (FanDuel: $9,800)
The Thunder have been bringing Durant along slowly, playing him no more than 30 minutes in each of his first four starts. With a nationally televised game against LeBron and the Cavaliers, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Scott Brooks take the training wheels off.
Not that it'd really matter. Durant has somehow been even better than expected, averaging 27.1 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.9 assists normalized to 36 minutes. Those numbers aren't on par with his MVP run from a year ago, but they're better than any other season of his career. And Durant isn't anywhere close to his peak powers yet!
We could be on the precipice of a real breakout Thursday.
Power Forward
Similarity: Donatas Motiejunas, Houston Rockets (FanDuel: $5,900, DraftKings: $5,400)
Injuries have forced the Rockets to scramble on a nightly basis, offering extended minutes to players expected to be stapled to the bench. It's remarkable that they've somehow managed to stay 16-5, even if we acknowledge they've received some schedule luck.
One of the biggest reasons for that steadiness is Motiejunas, who may have stolen Terrence Jones' starting spot. The Lithuanian has enjoyed an offensive breakout over the past couple weeks, averaging 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds per game since Nov. 22. Defensively, he's still figuring himself out, but Motiejunas has managed to add a block here and there and is a fine passer for a big.
There's not a one-day team that should be submitted without Motiejunas.
Similarity*: Reggie Evans, Sacramento Kings (FanDuel: $4,800, DraftKings: $5,000)
DeMarcus Cousins' ongoing battle with illness has opened up a massively expanded role for Evans. Almost entirely excised from the rotation prior to Cousins going down, Evans has moved into the starting lineup and consistently done Reggie Evans things. He grabs rebounds, bullies people around and uses every ounce of his 245-pound frame on every possession.
Nothing Evans does as a basketball player is aesthetically pleasing, but he's been getting results. Over the last six games, he is averaging 7.3 points and 10.8 rebounds per game while occasionally adding a steal or assist to the proceedings.
In FanDuel scoring, that translates to nearly 22 points per game. You can't ask for much more on a night like this.
(*DraftKings lists Evans as a center. The same reasoning applies, though it applies more so to him as a center.)
Difference: Carl Landry, Sacramento Kings (DraftKings: $4,000)
Mostly the same logic as Evans, only with much less conviction. Landry hasn't been very impressive with Cousins out, and he probably won't be Thursday. With only $4,100 remaining on this spot, he was the player with the greatest potential to have a non-terrible game.
There also aren't many power forwards worth skimping at other positions to avoid the Landry pitfall. Slim pickins, ya'll.
Center
Difference: Anderson Varejao, Cleveland Cavaliers (FanDuel: $4,900)
FanDuel lists Landry as a power forward. Varejao is the only healthy, semi-competent center available on these four teams. That's it. Not much to talk about here.
Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.
