Daily Fantasy Basketball 2014: Best NBA FanDuel, DraftKings Lineup for Dec. 31
Daily basketball gamers have all day to submit one last lineup for the year.
Seven games grace the scarce Wednesday schedule, and it doesn't help that many participating clubs revolve around one or two stars with little supporting depth. Since the action commences at 1 p.m. ET, players can hone in on the early bouts or focus on the night's slate.
Either way, it's a bit before the night's typical New Year's Eve debauchery begins, so there's plenty of time to craft Wednesday's perfect lineup.
FanDuel
| PG | Darren Collison | at Boston | 7,400 |
| PG | Patrick Beverley | vs. Charlotte | 5,800 |
| SG | Danny Green | vs. New Orleans | 6,500 |
| SG | Jamal Crawford | vs. New York | 5,500 |
| SF | Rudy Gay | at Boston | 8,800 |
| SF | Trevor Ariza | vs. Charlotte | 5,700 |
| PF | Blake Griffin | vs. New York | 10,400 |
| PF | Luis Scola | vs. Miami | 4,800 |
| C | Steven Adams | vs. Phoenix | 5,100 |
This lineup isn't for a high roller looking to cash in on a major tournament. Instead, it simply loads up on enough mid-level value to roll through a 50/50 contest.
The power forward pickings aren't particularly deep, and the other studs face tougher matchups than Blake Griffin, who gets to host the abysmal New York Knicks. The pathetic five-win club ranks fourth to last in team rebounds and third to last in defensive rating. Jason Smith is currently their starting power forward, but Andrea Bargnani's anticipated return is music to Griffin's ears.
Let's bring Jamal Crawford along for the ride to face his former team. The veteran sixth man has averaged 19.1 points over his past seven games, and the Knicks have nobody to guard him with Iman Shumpert sidelined.
Although Griffin's inclusion unfortunately means no DeMarcus Cousins, two of his teammates will instead enjoy the spotlight against the Boston Celtics, who yield 104.4 points per game. Darren Collison and Rudy Gay are both hot, and they're both logging a copious amount of minutes.
Over the past 10 games, Collison and Gay are playing 36.0 and 36.4 minutes a night, respectively. While Collison has averaged 18.8 points over his past six outings, Gay has morphed into an unsung stud. Long decried as inefficient, the 28-year-old has completely reversed that perception with a 54.8 true shooting percentage and career-high 4.6 assists.
Right now, the cheaper Gay makes a much better play at small forward than the injured Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony.
Have the Oklahoma City Thunder finally figured out that Steven Adams is way better than Kendrick Perkins? It certainly seems like it, as the sophomore is averaging 28.7 minutes over the last six games, producing 10.2 boards per game and 10 blocks in the process.
ESPN.com's Royce Young noted his rising emergence after shredding the San Antonio Spurs for 16 points and 15 boards on Christmas Day.
"Steven Adams' last 10 games per 36 minutes: 12.8 points (63.8% shooting), 13.8 rebounds and a net rating of +21.3 per 100 possessions.
— Royce Young (@royceyoung) December 25, 2014"
Speaking of the Spurs, Danny Green continues to get a larger role with Kawhi Leonard out, as the guard has drained 2.9 three-pointers per game in December. As long as he keeps delivering, keep plugging him in as a cost-effective shooting guard.
The Miami Heat are the league's worst rebounding team, which bodes well for Luis Scola vacuuming plenty of loose balls. Only Jimmy Butler consumes more minutes a night than Trevor Ariza's 38.3. He and Patrick Beverley will keep stuffing the stat sheet against the Charlotte Hornets.
DraftKings
| PG | Darren Collison | at Boston | 6,900 |
| SG | Jamal Crawford | vs. New York | 4,900 |
| SF | Rudy Gay | at Boston | 8,700 |
| PF | Blake Griffin | vs. New York | 11,200 |
| C | Cole Aldrich | at LA Clippers | 5,500 |
| G | Jameer Nelson | vs. Sacramento | 3,600 |
| F | Evan Turner | vs. Sacramento | 4,900 |
| UTIL | Lavoy Allen | vs. Miami | 4,300 |
| PG | Reggie Jackson | vs. Phoenix | 5,300 |
| SG | James Harden | vs. Charlotte | 11,500 |
| SF | Jared Dudley | at Cleveland | 4,400 |
| PF | Anthony Davis | at San Antonio | 11,600 |
| C | Steven Adams | vs. Phoenix | 4,800 |
| G | Anthony Morrow | vs. Phoenix | 3,400 |
| F | Corey Brewer | vs. Charlotte | 4,900 |
| UTIL | Marcus Morris | at Oklahoma City | 4,000 |
Similarities: Collison, Crawford, Gay, Griffin, Ariza, Adams
DraftKings separates the day's first three games from the four that begin at 7 p.m. ET or later. Don't worry, you're covered with a lineup for each.
Several familiar faces pop up for the first batch of games, as they're priced similarly on both platforms. The different roster and budget allotments, however, call for a few alterations.
The first of significance is Cole Aldrich, a good value on FanDuel who was simply deemed a smidgen less desirable than Adams, who barely edged out the Phoenix Suns' Alex Len. Over the last six games, New York's center has posted 9.7 points, 5.3 boards and 1.3 blocks during 24.2 minutes.
After scoring 18 points against the Sacramento Kings, which he followed up with a 19-board outing versus the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday, Aldrich expressed his affinity for the triangle offense to the New York Post's Marc Berman.
"I personally love the triangle, being able to have more opportunities to post up but also have the ball in your hands in the pinch post with the guard coming off," Aldrich said. "There’s a lot of opportunities to get assists and easy buckets down."
Miami's lack of size makes Lavoy Allen worth a look down low, and a pair of Boston Celtics round out the first lineup. Although Jameer Nelson hasn't wowed in Boston, he has dished out 25 assists through four games. The volatile Evan Turner may fall way short of hitting value, but he also could explode against Sacramento's No. 25-ranked defense.
A tougher code to crack, the later lineup relies on studs James Harden and Anthony Davis to do their thing. Harden leads all eligible participants in DraftKings' points per game with 50.9, and Davis isn't far behind at 49.4.
A red-hot Jared Dudley is making the most of his minutes with Jabari Parker out, averaging 15.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.2 threes over the past six games. LeBron James' iffy status makes the swingman well worth the price of admission.
Corey Brewer has also benefited from a change of circumstances, adjusting marvelously to his new club. In four games since getting dealt to the Houston Rockets, he has scored 65 points on 52.3 percent shooting. Immediately handed a steady role, Houston's new addition can become a poor man's Ariza.
With or without Russell Westbrook, Reggie Jackson continues to get heavily involved in Oklahoma City's offense. At the low price of $3,400, Anthony Morrow only needs to sink a few threes to pull his weight.
Note: Advanced statistics courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com.
