Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: Best NBA DFS DraftKings Lineup for Jan. 27
Tuesday's shortened NBA schedule typically leaves daily fantasy gamers searching for options, but there is no shortage of marquee players present for the upcoming six-game slate.
Six All-Star starters will compete, and a handful of others are strong candidates to round out the reserves. Yet a complete stars-and-scrubs approach is not necessary for DraftKings lineups, as several mid-level bargains also headline the night's wish list. Let's cover every base with a look at the stars, mid-priced values and low-priced steals frequenting Tuesday's lineup.
| PG | John Wall, WAS | @ LAL | $9,200 |
| SG | Monta Ellis, DAL | vs. MEM | $7,100 |
| SF | Jeff Green, MEM | @ DAL | $5,000 |
| PF | Dirk Nowitzki, DAL | vs. MEM | $6,400 |
| C | Andre Drummond, DET | vs. CLE | $8,200 |
| G | D.J. Augustin, DET | vs. CLE | $5,800 |
| F | Anthony Tolliver, DET | vs. CLE | $3,600 |
| UTIL | Paul Pierce, WAS | @ LAL | $4,700 |
Note: The original published lineup uncluded Luol Deng, whom the Miami Heat have since listed as doubtful with a sore calf.
Stars
PG John Wall, Washington Wizards ($9,200)
If John Wall averaging 49.25 DraftKings points over his last three games isn't enough to get noticed, a golden matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers should do the trick.
Nobody allows more DraftKings points to opposing point guards than the Lakers, who rank second-last in defensive rating behind the Minnesota Timberwolves, per NBA.com. As monitored by 82games.com, they yield 25.3 points and 9.5 assists per game to the position.
The biggest worry here is that the Washington Wizards jump out to an insurmountable lead and rest their star, but Wall should have already secured his 25th double-double by then.
C Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons ($8,200)
Finally righting the ship, the Cleveland Cavaliers will enter Detroit with a six-game winning streak. Stopping big men, however, remains a problem area for the title hopefuls.
They rate No. 25 in DraftKings points relinquished to centers, and don't expect newcomer Timofey Mozgov to amend that flaw. According to RotoGrinders, the Cavaliers have averaged 56.83 fantasy points allowed to centers over the past nine bouts.
Although Andre Drummond has underwhelmed in his last two contests, he remains a daily double-double threat capable of riding a barrage of blocks to a massive finish. The last time he faced Cleveland, before it acquired Mozgov, he amassed 16 points, 17 boards and five blocks.
Mid-Level Values
SG Monta Ellis ($7,100) and PF Dirk Nowitzki ($6,400), Dallas Mavericks
The Dallas Mavericks' pairing of Monta Ellis and Dirk Nowitzki remain cheap, so keep turning their way. They both performed well against the Memphis Grizzlies on Jan. 19.
| Ellis | 9-18 | 3-7 | 25 | 2 | 7 | 39 |
| Nowitzki | 7-13 | 2-4 | 21 | 6 | 0 | 29.5 |
A rough patch deflated Nowitzki's price, but the elderly star (he turns 37 in June) has delivered 22.0 points and 7.4 rebounds over the past five games. Although people won't strain their neck peering up at his ceiling, he has exhibited remarkable consistency with at least 26.5 DraftKings points through each of his last 10 matchups.
While the same can't be said for Ellis, his 36-point showing on Sunday reminded everyone of his scoring prowess. Nobody who played him minds that he needed 27 shots to assemble that mark in a 109-106 loss.
“I thought it was breathtaking,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle told ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon. “It was just a great performance. It was just unfortunate that we couldn’t get the ball in his hands on the last possession.”
Since the shooting guard attempts 17.5 field goals per contest, at least gamers know he'll keep trying to augment his scoring tally against a Memphis defense that concedes 8.5 three-pointers a game.
PG D.J. Augustin, Detroit Pistons ($5,800)
With Brandon Jennings sidelined, D.J. Augustin wasted little time filling the injured point guard's shoes.
DraftKings acted swiftly, upticking his sticker tag from $3,200 to $5,800. Even at the expanded price, he's worth employing after receiving 37 minutes during Sunday's start. As noted by ESPN.com's Kevin Pelton, the 27-year-old shines when given a heavier workload.
"Over the last three years, spent primarily as a reserve, Augustin has started 14 games. In those starts, he's made 44.7 percent of his 2-point attempts and 44.4 percent of his 3s, as compared to 41.7 percent and 35.5 percent as a reserve, respectively. Augustin's true shooting percentage jumps from .535 as a reserve to .617 as a starter. Splits happen, and that small sample of starts probably overstates Augustin's true ability. Still, he appears to perform better with heavy minutes, something he also got in a reserve role during his effective 2013-14 stint with the Chicago Bulls. That could make Augustin a useful fantasy player the remainder of the campaign.
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Don't expect another earth-shattering outing like his last, during which he proved an off-the-chart value at $59.81 per fantasy point. However, expect more than enough goodness for someone who has churned out 17.7 points and 7.2 assists when given at least 30 minutes.
Bargain Bin
PF Anthony Tolliver, Detroit Pistons ($3,600)
Sorry, you're probably sick of the Pistons by now. The actual team is in trouble without Jennings, but real-life despair often orchestrates fantasy value for daily players willing to peruse the clearance racks.
Anthony Tolliver has backed into increased playing time, playing 81 minutes over the past three matchups. While he hasn't decimated the opposition, his modest 40 points, 15 boards and four three-pointers netted him 64.25 DraftKings points, which rates to a 21.4 average.
For $3,600, that's not bad at all. Ed Davis costs $1,000 more with that same mean over a full season, so take the modest value and delegate the savings elsewhere.
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