Daily Fantasy Basketball 2015: DraftKings NBA Lineup Advice, Strategy, Dec. 15
Tuesday's NBA action features several opportunities for daily fantasy players to take advantage of reserves seeing starter minutes, especially at the point guard position. For this reason, both Darren Collison and Jameer Nelson are likely to outperform their DraftKings salaries.
There is also one game on the schedule expected to involve significantly more scoring than the rest, making many of its participants solid value plays.
Here are five names to build a roster around for December 15.
SG James Harden, Houston Rockets ($10,800) at Sacramento Kings
James Harden is the most expensive player on the board, but there's good reason to think he'll be worth every penny. The NBA's second-leading scorer is also third overall with 20.3 field-goal attempts per game. In addition, Harden has the No. 3 usage percentage in the league.
Tuesday's clash with the Kings is the perfect chance for Harden to make the most of his high-volume numbers. Via Odds Shark, Sacramento is favored by just 2.5 points and the contest's over/under is a whopping 220. A close, fast-paced matchup is an ideal situation for Harden.
Per RotoWire, the Kings are allowing 44.9 DraftKings points per game to opposing shooting guards, the second most in the NBA.
PG Michael Carter-Williams, Milwaukee Bucks ($5,800) at Los Angeles Lakers
Jerryd Bayless has been out since December 5 with an ankle injury, and he didn't travel with the team to Los Angeles (per Andrew Gruman of the Associated Press). During Bayless' absence, there's been a noticeable increase in Michael Carter-Williams' production. The third-year guard is averaging 25.3 DK points per game for the season but 29.5 since Bayless went down:
| 29.8 | 3.0 | 6.8 | 1.2 | 0.4 | 13.4 | 29.5 |
Carter-Williams has also scored more than 37 fantasy points in two of his past three outings.
Point guards are putting up 57.9 DK points a night against the Lakers, according to RotoWire, easily the highest total of any team.
SF Jae Crowder, Boston Celtics ($5,700) vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
Jae Crowder may have had Cleveland's visit to Boston on his mind since the start of training camp. As shown in the above video, the last time Crowder faced the Cavaliers, he suffered a season-ending knee injury after being hit in the face by J.R. Smith.
Besides the chip on his shoulder, Crowder also draws the responsibility of being LeBron James' primary defender—Celtics coach Brad Stevens will want Crowder on the floor as mush as possible. Via Taylor C. Snow of Celtics.com, Crowder said: "He's one of the best scorers in our league and you've gotta be up for the challenge. I certainly am."
Even if Crowder doesn't have a big night, he won't be a detriment to your lineup. The small forward is averaging 27.7 fantasy points over his last 10 contests, but his lowest DK score in that time is 21.75.
PG Darren Collison, Sacramento Kings ($4,900) vs. Houston Rockets
With Rajon Rondo serving a suspension, Darren Collison is in line to get the start at point guard for Sacramento.
When Collison was out earlier in the season, Rondo averaged over 45 minutes a night for a five-game stretch. Don't expect the opposite to be true in this case; however, Collison will definitely log major court time.
Collison last played at least 30 minutes on December 6, when he scored 16 points and dished out five assists on his way to putting up 30 fantasy points. A repeat of that performance will make him well worth his $4,900 price tag.
PG Jameer Nelson, Denver Nuggets ($4,500) at Minnesota Timberwolves
Jameer Nelson got his first start of the season Monday in place of Emmanuel Mudiay. As NuggetsPR noted, Nelson was among the most influential Denver players in the box score:
When Mudiay left Friday's contest against Minnesota early, Nelson responded with 20 points, six rebounds, seven assists, two steals and four three-pointers, good for 42.5 DK points.
Christopher Dempsey of the Denver Post reported that Mudiay wore a walking boot after practice Sunday. It appears highly unlikely the regular point guard will return Tuesday.
Assuming Nelson once again gets the starting nod, he'll be a bargain at $4,500.
All prices courtesy of DraftKings. Statistics via NBA.com unless otherwise noted. Mark Vandeusen is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @LucidSportsFan.
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