Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: NBA DFS DraftKings Best Player Picks for Dec. 13
The NBA slate of action isn't going to blow you away on Sunday, but fortunately for daily fantasy basketball players, it means that those who can find the sleepers, could be in for strong days.
There's four games on tap, including one starting at 3pm EST between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Phoenix Suns. With such few games on the schedule, evaluating the matchups and finding those that really jump off the page is going to be all the more important.
Is there a way to get a guy like Russell Westbrook or Kevin Durant in your lineup? Absolutely, but you'll need to save some money somewhere. Let's get to a few of the top plays for Sunday's action, and kick things off with a strong power forward play.
Chris Bosh, PF, Miami Heat ($7,200)
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Aside from just one game against the Charlotte Hornets three games ago, Chris Bosh has played at least 35 minutes in five of the last six. Bosh struggled against the Hornets in that single game, but in the other five has averaged 18.4 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 blocks.
Basically, Bosh has been filling up the box score on a pretty consistent basis and is getting a whole lot of work as well. Next up? The Memphis Grizzlies, which bodes pretty nicely for him.
Memphis has been in the bottom half of the league against opposing power forwards this year. In the four games before their most recent, they allowed 18 points to LaMarcus Aldridge, a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds to Jon Leuer, 17 points to Serge Ibaka and 16 points to Marcus Morris.
With that in mind, don't be surprised to see Bosh put up big numbers against the Grizzlies, and wind up being more than worth his fairly expensive price tag.
Brandon Knight, PG, Phoenix Suns ($7,500)
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Brandon Knight deserves a ton of praise for his play this season. He's averaged 21.4 points, 5.2 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game. With that said, we'll go ahead and put his one-point performance on Friday night aside. While he did have 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals as well, his 0-12 shooting was brutal to watch.
Fortunately for Knight, he should have no problem getting his confidence back against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday. Minnesota has ranked in the top 10 this season in terms of most fantasy points allowed to opposing point guards per game. Basically, Ricky Rubio may be doing a strong job offensively, but not so much on the defensive end.
Knight has posted at least 16 points in the previous 14 games before Friday night, so scoring shouldn't be an issue for him against the T'Wolves. A double-double absolutely doesn't seem out of the realm of possibility either, and he'll definitely be one of the most intriguing, and best plays on Sunday.
Jahlil Okafor, C, Philadelphia 76ers ($6,400)
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While Jahlil Okafor may have caused some drama off the court, he seems to have bounced back nicely on the court.
Over his past two games against the Brooklyn Nets and Detroit Pistons, Okafor dropped 22 points in back-to-back games, while also bringing in 16 total rebounds, with three blocks and two assists. Best of all, he's played over 30 minutes on both nights and avoided getting into any type of foul trouble.
Now, Okafor and the woeful 76ers are up against the Toronto Raptors. While the Raptors are 15-9 this season, it doesn't mean they've been absolutely stellar across the board defensively. Toronto has actually been very mediocre against opposing centers this year, allowing 44.4 fantasy points per game to the position.
Okafor should be in for yet another big night, and his price tag isn't going to break the bank either. Looking for someone who should be able to put up all the shots he wants and could be locked in for a nice double-double? Okafor is your man.
Ricky Rubio, PG, Minnesota Timberwolves ($6,900)
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While we can talk about the fact that Ricky Rubio and the Timberwolves have been pretty bad against opposing point guards, there's a bright spot in all of it.
As bad as the Timberwolves have been against point guards in 2015, the Phoenix Suns have actually been worse.
Now, the Suns and Timberwolves are both in the top 10 of the worst defensive teams against point guards, which bodes well for not only Knight, but Rubio as well. Since hitting a bit of a stretch where he struggled late in December, Rubio has been playing solid basketball once again in his past four games.
Over that four game span, Rubio has averaged 10.75 points, 10.25 assists and 6.25 rebounds. From a fantasy perspective, that's pretty nice to see. Will Rubio be able to keep it going against the Suns? It's a pretty strong bet, as the Suns have allowed 43 fantasy points per game on average to opposing point guards this season.
I'll take Rubio's reasonable cost and give him a run, even if you just want to put him in the guard flex spot, while using Knight as well.
DeMar DeRozan, SG, Toronto Raptors ($7,100)
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As we know, the Raptors and DeMar DeRozan will draw a pretty appealing matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday. So, what's that mean for DeRozan? Well, he may wind up being one of the best plays of the day Sunday.
To this point in 2015 season, the 76ers have allowed an average of 34.4 fantasy points per game to opposing shooting guards, which means that DeRozan should have little issue being more than worth his price tag. While he's had a strong season, averaging 21.4 points, 4.3 assists and 4.2 rebounds, he's been especially strong over his past five games.
Over the five game stretch, DeRozan has averaged 24.2 points, including games that featured him scoring 34, 28 and 27 points. It's obvious that DeRozan can take advantage of a strong matchup, and he has just that with the 76ers on Sunday.
DeRozan and Kyle Lowry are usually the two offensive leaders for the Raptors, but I believe it should be DeRozan taking charge in this one.
Andrew Wiggins, SG, Minnesota Timberwolves ($6,800)
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Andrew Wiggins has officially turned on his offensive game in 2015. After a rookie campaign in which he averaged 16.9 points, he's turned his attention towards finding his offensive stroke it seems this year.
Wiggins is averaging 21 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. While he's usually not doing much statistically aside from scoring, he's still going to be a nice fantasy option on many days. One of those days is Sunday when the Timberwolves take on the Phoenix Suns.
Not only have the Suns been one of the top 10 worst teams against opposing shooting guards in terms of fantasy points per game, but they're allowing shooting guards to score nicely as well. In terms of points per game allowed against the position, the Suns are giving up 22.5 on average, ranking them tied as the fourth-worst in the NBA.
Wiggins has topped 17 points in 15 of the last 17 games. Expect him to have any trouble scoring against the Suns on Sunday? I'm not betting on it, and I'll have him locked in many of my fantasy lineups.
Pricing information and scoring data obtained from DraftKings.com. All statistics courtesy of ESPN.com or RotoWire unless otherwise specified.
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