Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: Best NBA DFS DraftKings Lineup for Super Sunday
We know what day it is. It's Super Bowl Sunday, a national holiday made for football. But you can pass the time until kickoff with a little—and we mean little (with just two games)—daily fantasy basketball action in the afternoon.
The Miami Heat are in Boston to take on the Celtics, while the Los Angeles Lakers are in New York City to face the New York Knicks. Las Vegas has these two matchups between bottom-feeders as low-scoring games, per the over-under totals at Odds Shark, but we help you maximize your scoring totals with the best NBA DraftKings lineup for Super Sunday.
The best part of having such a small slate to work with is you can control more of the variables. Sure, your points won't approach 300 in DraftKings games, but neither will others either. Analyzing the news, injuries, data and inefficiencies in pricing can really help you cash big here. Go big or go home.
PG Mario Chalmers, Miami Heat ($5,800)
It is not as if we love Chalmers here as much as hate everyone else. Chalmers is the lesser of the evils, particularly with Dwyane Wade (hamstring) out for this stretch of the road trip, per the Miami Heat's official Twitter account. Chalmers is going to see huge minutes, even if the Heat need to work in young Shabazz Napier and the long-lost Norris Cole.
"Right now we're obviously a team with all hands on deck," head coach Erik Spoelstra told the Miami Herald's Joe Trezza.
The best part of the equation for Chalmers is all the attention that will be paid to forward Chris Bosh, who was collapsed on heavily Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks. Chalmers is the veteran point guard who will have to run the show and do the proper distributing to the open man...not merely the only man. Bosh told Trezza the attention is mind-boggling and a great opportunity presented for others on the Heat.
"They were flying at me pretty fast, making me put the ball on the floor, corralling me. They were really hounding the ball. I haven't seen that in a while—ever really. ...
They know I'm going to draw a little more attention and that they [defenders] will be leaning on me a bit more. So I'll encourage [teammates] to capitalize on this. It's a great opportunity for somebody to step up.
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With Luol Deng (calf) also banged up and questionable Sunday, the onus falls squarely on Chalmers' shoulders. He is going to be in almost everyone's lineup, but he is also the best pick at a pretty decent price. This could be a coming-out party for the veteran guard.
- Jordan Clarkson, Los Angeles Lakers ($5,000)
- Jose Calderson, New York Knicks ($4,800)
- Shabazz Napier, Miami Heat ($3,200)
SG Wayne Ellington, Los Angeles Lakers ($5,700)
You don't need regression analysis or advanced metrics to notice what Ellington has done since moving into the starting lineup after Kobe Bryant (shoulder) went down for the season. Ellington has been a man possessed and is coming off a 46-minute, 23-point effort last time out.
He has cracked the 35-minute and 35-fantasy-point mark in each of his past two games. He is still a great buy even at this dramatically increased price.
Ellington has taken over as the Lakers' primary scoring option and has upped his game by working off the dribble instead of being just a catch-and-shoot guard, he told Joey Ramirez of the Lakers official website.
"Just being aggressive has really been working for me. In the past, I haven't always had this much of an aggressive mindset. I've always been a player that stuck to my role and stuck to what the team needed me to do. Right now I'm getting an opportunity to show everything else that I work on and something other than my shooting ability.
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Ellington, along with the emerging Clarkson above, are also must-have bargains in daily lineups Sunday.
- James Ennis, Miami Heat ($3,300)
- Marcus Thornton, Boston Celtics ($3,600)
SF Luol Deng, Miami Heat ($5,400)
Carmelo Anthony is the easy play at this position, but we decided to give you some insider analysis here. 'Melo is the star of the day, and he believes he will play, per NorthJersey.com's Steve Popper. If you want someone outside of the obvious, it's the Heat's Deng. Unlike Wade, Deng made the road trip and he has the potential to play, per Jason Lieser of The Palm Beach Post.
Have Danny Granger ($3,900) queued up and ready in case Deng winds up on the wrong side of a game-time decision amid his calf issue, though. As coach Spoe said above, it is all hands on deck for the Heat, though.
Deng looks like a great option if he can go. He has averaged 35-plus points in the past two games and even posted a double-double Wednesday. With Wade out, Deng will be the scoring option Chalmers dishes to when everyone crashes on Bosh. We just need to be sure that calf is well enough for him to make good on the promise.
- Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks ($9,400)
- Jae Crowder, Boston Celtics ($3,600)
PF Brandon Bass, Boston Celtics ($5,500)
Since Bosh is listed among the centers at DraftKings, power forward is a position on which you might not want to spend the premium. Usually, it is the big point position. Unless you want to be a Boozer on Super Sunday (kidding, folks, drink responsibility), it's all about the Bass (ignore this other shameless pun).
He has been good of late, and what we really like about him right now is he is a pending free agent who is motivated to make a case for himself around the league before the trade deadline. The Celtics are rebuilding and really need to showcase Bass, even if they are playing him behind the emerging Jared Sullinger ($7,100), who might not be worth the price because the Heat at No. 1 against power forwards at DraftKings (thanks to Bosh).
Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge told A. Sherrod Blakely of Comcast SportsNet he likes Bass' production and skills off the bench:
"What I like about Brandon, he just...he’s never satisfied with his role. He goes about his job the same, every day. He's a rare guy in that he's getting better. I think he's better right now than he's ever been in his career. And I think his upside is still ahead of him.
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Sure, Bass has the same matchup as Sully, but he won't be getting the same minutes and might match up better as a backup, potentially when Bosh is getting his rest minutes on the bench. Also, Bass' production will be similar for less coin.
- Carlos Boozer, Los Angeles Lakers ($5,300)
- Jason Smith, New York Knicks ($4,900)
C Chris Bosh, Miami Heat ($8,300)
Yes, we know Hassan Whiteside ($8,100) is a revelation and a rebounding, double-double monster right now, coming off his 24-rebound effort, as Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel wrote. We also have to be realistic of his ceiling and the fact he is just $200 cheaper at DraftKings than the Heat's No. 1 scoring option, Bosh. The Knicks are just 25th against fantasy centers and 24th against power forwards, which is what Bost truly is.
We go Bosh over Whiteside, if only because everyone else is going to load up on the red-hot Whiteside in their daily lineups right now. You cannot win playing the same players; you have to go against recent results sometimes. Here is a great example. Bosh will have to be on the floor as much as possible for the offensive numbers with Wade out. That will mean he can beat Whiteside to the glass.
Bosh told Trezza (see link above) it is a great time for him and the heat to get healthy against a suspect opponent.
"Those were the types of games that were tough to get up for. Now I don’t think we have to get ourselves psyched. It’s there. We need them, those games. ... Those were the types of games that were tough to get up for. Now I don't think we have to get ourselves psyched. It's there. We need them, those games.
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Those ropes are the offensive reins he takes from Wade. This should be a big Bosh day, a Super Sunday for the one-time Big Three member who is the only one left playing today.
- Jordan Hill, Los Angeles Lakers ($6,600)
- Hassan Whiteside, Miami Heat ($8,100)
Eric Mack, one of the giants among fantasy writers, is the Fantasy Football Lead Writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter, where you can ask him endless questions about your team, rip him for his content and even challenge him to a head-to-head fantasy game.
