Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: NBA DraftKings Ideal Lineup for May 10th

Before I reveal today's lineup, let's take a look at the second-round rankings.

1. Derrick Rose 

According to draftkings.com, Derrick Rose hasn't even shot 45 percent in a game in the second round.

Whatever.

Bulls fans don't care. He doesn't care. He'll still bank in a contested three as time expires like it's pregame warm-ups. 

Rose is outplaying Kyrie Irving. He's (somehow) still the heart and soul of this Chicago team, and he has them poised to take out the King. He was awesome in the last two games with only one day of rest after I ridiculed him for failing to play well without much rest. 

We all kinda-sorta forgot how good Rose was. He's making sure we never forget again. 

2. Austin Rivers 

Per draftkings.com, Austin Rivers had 40 fantasy points in 23 minutes on Friday! Austin freaking Rivers?! What the heck is going on in Los Angeles? Is Austin Rivers becoming a valuable basketball player?

The Clippers probably wouldn't have taken out the defending champs without him shooting 7-of-8 in Game 4 of the Spurs series. Now he's playing the Jamal Crawford role for a team that employs the real Jamal Crawford. 

3. Mike Conley

He wasn't nearly as good in Game 3 as he was in Game 2. But his two-way impact is monumental. The threat of his outside shot prevents the Warriors guards from double-teaming Gasol and Randolph. His grinding defense has frustrated Steph Curry into two straight awful shooting nights. 

4. Tony Allen

Klay Thompson is a shell of himself when Tony Allen is around. #Firstteamalldefense.

5. Paul Pierce 

Easily the soundbite MVP of this year's playoffs. Pierce is old, he's cocky, he's still good and he says whatever he wants to say. Plus Trevor Ariza would have wanted no part of that shot. I think Washington fans are pretty pleased with their veteran leader.

6. Older Gentlemen Who Bring Posters to Games

Last: Higher Seeds

All four higher seeds are down 2-1. The Grizzlies have dominated since Conley returned. The Wizards are outplaying the Hawks without John Wall! Chris Paul has played 23 of the 144 minutes in the Rockets/Clippers series.

Year after year, the NBA Playoffs are the most predictable of the four major sports. Now we're staring at a very realistic Memphis/Washington final. Adam Silver is probably workshopping different ways to pitch the advertisers on Otto Porter and Courtney Lee. Sheesh.

OK, on to the rankings.

Quick reminder: Sometimes players are ruled ineligible/eligible very shortly before their games start. To avoid starting a player who might not get you any points, do a final sweep on twitter.com, draftkings.com, and rotogrinders.com just before that player's game starts. I promise you, it's worth it. 

Position	Player	Opponent	Price
Point Guard	Derrick Rose	vs. Cle	$8,100
Shooting Guard	Jimmy Butler	vs. Cle	$8,300
Small Forward	LeBron James	@ Chi	$11,300
Power Forward	Terrence Jones	@ LAC	$4,600
Center	Joakim Noah	vs. Cle	$5,700
Guard	Matthew Dellavedova	@ Chi	$2,500
Forward	Nikola Mirotic	vs. Cle	$3,300
Utility	Trevor Ariza	@ LAC	$5,900

One Question: Why No Clippers?  

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Good question. The Clippers are the team most likely to drop 130 today. They should have the most fantasy points as a team. Theoretically, I would have several Clippers players on my roster. But I'll walk you through my thought process.

At point guard, Chris Paul still worries me. Plus Rose has been so good and played so many minutes. Rivers is intriguing, but he's nearly doubled in price over the weekend, and if the game is close, he'll likely sit.

Redick and Crawford have been up and down and are both highly dependent on their shots. They're more intriguing in guaranteed prize pools where upside is more important than a high floor. Matt Barnes has been good in the series and would make a fine play. 

Blake is a safe bet to have a huge night, but I spent up for LeBron and couldn't afford both of them. DeAndre Jordan should cruise to 30 fantasy points, but he will struggle to exceed value.

So there you go. I somehow talked myself out of every player on the best offense in the league on a day when only four teams are in action.

This strategy might backfire; we'll have to wait and see.