Daily Fantasy Basketball 2014: Best NBA FanDuel, DraftKings Lineup for Dec. 23
Tuesday is not typically promising for one-day fantasy basketball players. The NBA tends to treat Tuesdays and Thursdays as breaks on the slate, where at most a handful of games are thrown on the schedule—most of the time with at least half the participants on a back-to-back.
Not only does this create bad regular-season basketball at times, it's also a nonstarter for fantasy leagues. Having only a few contests to choose from, and thus only a few players in the pool, creates a non-variant game of chance. Winners in one-day leagues on Tuesdays and Thursdays are often the lucky souls who spent $3,100 on Shawne Williams over Carl Landry.
It's not exactly the best test of skill.
Highlighting the normal sadness of Tuesdays serves to make this Tuesday seem amazing by contrast. With the NBA giving players their typical Christmas Eve reprieve before the Christmas Day bonanza, Tuesday has essentially become a typical Wednesday on this season's NBA calendar.
Eleven games adorn the schedule, which should make for a solid holiday appetizer and create a number of confounding decisions in FanDuel and DraftKings leagues.
Here's a look at players worth scooping up in both formats.
| PG | Russell Westbrook | Por@OKC | $11,900 |
| SG | Jimmy Butler | Chi@Was | $7,700 |
| SF | Shabazz Muhammad | Min@Cle | $5,600 |
| PF | Dirk Nowitzki | Dal@Pho | $6,300 |
| C | Kyle O'Quinn | Bos@Orl | $4,300 |
| G | Kyle Korver | LAC@Atl | $5,200 |
| F | Solomon Hill | NO@Ind | $3,700 |
| UTIL | Reggie Jackson | Por@OKC | $5,300 |
| PG | Russell Westbrook | Por@OKC | $11,200 |
| PG | Reggie Jackson | Por@OKC | $6,000 |
| SG | Jimmy Butler | Chi@Was | $8,900 |
| SG | Kyle Korver | LAC@Atl | $5,400 |
| SF | Shabazz Muhammad | Min@Cle | $6,000 |
| SF | Solomon Hill | NO@Ind | $4,700 |
| PF | Dirk Nowitzki | Dal@Pho | $7,100 |
| PF | Ryan Anderson | NO@Ind | $5,700 |
| C | Timofey Mozgov | Den@BKN | $5,000 |
Point Guard
Similarity: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder
A preface: Assume for this and all purposes that Kevin Durant is out against the Portland Trail Blazers. Scott Brooks said Durant would be a game-time decision, per ESPN's Royce Young, but the Thunder are historically conservative with injuries and Durant is still working his way back from a foot fracture. This is an injury that will be treated with kid gloves, as it should.
And thus, we'll be letting Westbrook be Westbrook all over these folks in Portland. For the most part, Westbrook has been amazing all season—to the point he's even gotten some weird MVP buzz. (Bill Walton in 1977-78 is the only player to miss 10-plus games in a season and still win an MVP since the merger, but we'll save that argument for another time.)
Westbrook is a nightly statistical bonanza who is so unrepentant in his self-believe that he'll have an excellent night by the sheer force of his will. One-day leagues don't give any credence to shot percentage or shot selection. You shouldn't either.
Similarity: Reggie Jackson, Oklahoma City Thunder
In the two games Durant has missed with his ankle injury, Jackson has averaged 33 minutes per night. He'd played 30 minutes just twice since Durant and Westbrook returned to the lineup. Brooks knows he needs all the shot creation he can get with Durant out of the lineup, and he's been increasingly willing to play Jackson and Westbrook together.
As we've seen all season, Jackson is a productive player when he receives extended burn. He is still averaging 16.2 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game despite his recent jettisoning back to the bench. Those numbers go up to 20 points, 6.9 assists and 5.1 rebounds in contests where he plays at least 30 minutes.
If Durant sits, Jackson will get enough playing time to be productive.
Shooting Guard
Similarity: Jimmy Butler, Chicago Bulls
Butler has been perhaps the most productive two-way shooting guard in basketball not named James Harden. Butler is averaging 22.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game, typically adding in a couple steals. Butler's last two games have seen him go over the 50-point mark in DraftKings scoring.
Yet, somehow, Jimmy Butler is not the highest-rated shooting guard available in DraftKings. He is nestled behind an obviously tired Kobe Bryant, a never-healthy Dwyane Wade and a still-good-but-not-quite-as-good Klay Thompson (who's tied with Bryant for the highest cost in FanDuel).
This, my friends, is confounding. Add Jimmy Butler.
Similarity: Kyle Korver, Atlanta Hawks
Stephen Curry's shot creation makes him a more lethal threat, but Korver has perhaps cemented his claim as the best spot-up three-point shooter in NBA history this season. At age 33, he's knocking down a ridiculous 53.7 percent from distance and is obliterating the league in true shooting percentage. There is probably no player I trust more when he's making a shooting motion.
The Clippers allow opponents to shoot three-pointers at a bottom-10 rate on a per-possession percentage. While they've been surprisingly solid at closing out and making those shots difficult, the Clips' leaky perimeter defense is death against guys like Korver.
Small Forward
Similarity: Shabazz Muhammad, Minnesota Timberwolves
Between Muhammad and Sacramento's Ben McLemore, it's hard to tell which 2013 rookie has had a more vast improvement as a sophomore. McLemore's become a three-point bomber on his way to being an excellent two-way player. Muhammad isn't a good defender, but his increased role in December has been an efficient, points-scoring bonanza.
The former UCLA star is averaging 18.3 points and 4.9 rebounds this month on 51.7 percent shooting and has been even better of late. He comes into Tuesday's game against Cleveland with at least 21 points and four rebounds in his last four games.
The Timberwolves desperately need him to keep chucking while he has the hot hand. Given Cleveland's defensive struggles, Muhammad is a safe bet at a low price.
Similarity: Solomon Hill, Indiana Pacers
Not all of them can be winners. What separates good one-day players from the bad is who can find value near the bottom of the league.
Hill is for some reason still being treated like a bottom-barrel player despite 28 games of semi-consistent performances. He's starting every night in Indiana, putting up a nightly 10.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists. Add a steal or two, and Hill is quietly consistent in his mediocrity.
There might be a low-cost player who puts up better stats Tuesday night, but there are few who are more reliable in his general price range.
Power Forward
Similarity: Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks
Dirk is hanging in the same general price range as David Lee, who has missed basically the entire season and does not start for his team. This feels like a massive price mistake on Dirk or Lee (OK, both), but we're going to do ourselves a favor and stick with the best shooting big man in league history.
Nowitzki isn't the offensive ecosystem in Dallas anymore and he hangs outside too much to be a rebound vacuum. That said, he's pretty darn good at basketball and a solid value given he's still a threat to score 30 on any given night.
FanDuel: Ryan Anderson, New Orleans Pelicans
Subtract three points from Nowitzki's nightly total and you essentially get Anderson. Anderson is available in FanDuel leagues for $5,700, which is $1,400 less than Nowitzki and below the likes of Nerlens Noel, Nikola Mirotic and Thaddeus Young.
He's been inconsistent all season (especially from three-point range), but Anderson is a good bet to get extended playing time with the Pelicans looking to draw Indiana's big men out of the paint. If he has a hot hand early, it wouldn't be a surprise to see him walk out with 20-plus points and a handful of boards.
The only other low-cost option worth considering here is Kenneth Faried, who has been pretty miserable all season. Faried hasn't been producing enough to make the $500 drop-off seem like a good buy.
Center
DraftKings: Kyle O'Quinn, Orlando Magic
This is a matter of team-building preference. If you'd prefer building around an interior presence and skimping somewhere on the perimeter, then Nikola Vucevic is the answer. The Magic should have success inside against Boston's leaky defensive bigs, and Vucci Mane is a double-double machine who is on the All-Underappreciated starting five.
In this scenario though, we're broke. There is no money left for the best center available. So let's instead swing our vision to Vucevic's former backup turned Orlando starting power forward. O'Quinn is averaging 15.7 points, 9.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.5 steals per 36 minutes. He's yet to play 36 minutes in a game, but Jacque Vaughn appears committed to seeing what he has in this big front line.
If O'Quinn even gets 25 minutes, he'll produce enough to be worthwhile filler.
FanDuel: Timofey Mozgov, Denver Nuggets
Because anyone tough enough to take this and return to a game deserves some damn recognition:
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