Happy Friday, everyone! With just the Pro Bowl scheduled this weekend, we can safely focus on the NBA without missing too much in the world of the NFL. And what a great Friday night of hoops we have lined up for us! Eight games tip off between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. ET, providing us with a plethora of DFS options. So, we decided to put together a lineup and enter DraftKings' NBA $350K Fadeaway tournament, which awards $100,000 to the winner.
We have enjoyed a ton of daily fantasy success since the calendar turned to 2023. Each tournament we enter, we go in with a set strategy and a core group of players we want to build around. And our most essential principles remain: do the research, analyze the matchups, and find the most bang for our buck at every position.
As always, we would never tell you to carbon-copy our lineup and roll with the exact eight players we drafted. Our goal is to:
- teach you the different lineup-building strategies you can employ,
- show you how we arrive at our DFS-drafting decisions,
- highlight the players who are hot and/or have a solid opportunity to exceed their average, and
- get you the most bang for your buck.
Lately, we have cashed in with the 'stars-and-sleepers' strategy, but today we are going with a more balanced approach. We anchored our lineup this evening with fantasy stud and All-Star snub James Harden ($9,600), and then drafted seven other players with salaries between $4,800 and $6,600. Our goal with this balanced lineup was to utilize matchups and find the right balance of high-floor, high-ceiling plays that might help us cash in big time.
MORE FRIDAY NIGHT DFS: FanDuel lineup
Let's dive into our lineup, and discuss which players made the cut. Here's our Friday night DraftKings NBA roster, and a brief explanation on why each player could help win you some weekend DFS dough.
Note: DraftKings lineup construction is simple: draft eight players with assigned salaries — one for each position, as well as one guard flex, one forward flex, and one utility — and keep the team under the $50,000 salary cap.
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Best NBA DFS Lineup 2/3: DraftKings strategy, sleepers for Friday night
PG: James Harden, 76ers at Spurs ($9,600)
One of the most puzzling All-Star snubs, Harden has put together a super season with the Sixers. His per-game average of 11 assists ranks as the second-highest of his career, and he's also chipping in 21.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 1.2 steals per game. Fans and media seem to be underrating the Beard in a major way, and apparently so are the DFS outlets. Harden averages 50.3 DK points per game, 0.2 points higher than All-Star Damian Lillard, yet Dame's draft cost lists at a whopping $1,000 higher! Well, snub no more – we're taking Harden against the Spurs, who allow the third-most fantasy points to opposing guards this season. He scored 55.3 DK points in his last game against the Magic, an equally-abysmal defensive team. Here's hoping he comes up even more clutch in San Antonio, releasing some of that All-Star angst on Gregg Popovich's youngsters.
SG: Anfernee Simons, Trailblazers at Wizards ($6,500)
Simons has taken a big step up for Portland this season, oftentimes looking like the new C.J. McCollum sidekick alongside Lillard (how many times can we mention Dame in one article!?). He won't consistently hit the highs that his All-Star teammate puts up on the regular, but he's starting to look like 35 DK points has become his baseline. And with multiple Blazers out or banged up, including high-usage guys like Jerami Grant and Jusuf Nurkic, we trust that Chauncey Billups will get Simons plenty of volume against a below-average Wizards defense.
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic, Pistons vs. Hornets ($6,600)
Bogdanovic has been a consistent mention in trade rumors leading up to the Feb. 9 deadline day, with his career year catching the eye of shooting-needy squads like the Lakers. Regardless of may or may not happen in the trade market, Bogdanovic will keep balling for Detroit until he gets the call. The Hornets have been the second-worst defense when it comes to defending perimeter wings, so fire Bojan up with no hesitation like he fires three-pointers.
PF: Kyle Anderson, Timberwolves vs. Magic ($5,700)
Anderson has been one of our go-to sleepers this season, and he has filled up solid across-the-board stat lines ever since the Wolves started experiencing injury issues. SloMo does a little bit of everything: scoring, passing, rebounding, defending. You name it, the veteran can do it. He may not score 30 points on the young Magic, but he can certainly put up 30 DK points for the tenth time since the New Year. And with an upside in the 49-50 fantasy point range — like we saw from him three games in a row in mid-January — what more can you ask for at $5,700?
C: Daniel Gafford, Wizards vs. Trailblazers ($4,800)
Here's our most affordable roster player, but let's refrain from calling him a scrub. Gafford excelled the moment Washington inserted him into the starting lineup alongside Kristaps Porzingis, and he put up 51.5 DK points the last time we saw him in New Orleans last week. He just got over an illness, so he seems to be good to go tonight against a Portland squad that will be without starting center Jusuf Nurkic (calf). Fire up Gafford and watch him impose his will against the depleted Blazers.
G: Franz Wagner, Magic at Timberwolves ($6,000)
Wagner has been a mild disappointment of late, failing to reach the highs we witnessed from him in his rookie year and early on this season. A lot of it has probably been due to No. 1 pick Paolo Banchero commanding a high usage, as well as Orlando just not being a good overall team offense. But we can still trust in Franz to deliver with a floor around 30 DK points per game and a ceiling in the 40-50 range. And with Minnesota still dealing with a banged-up core, this seems like a solid value at our utility guard spot.
F: Deni Avdija, Wizards vs. Trailblazers ($5,000)
Avdija has been quietly rolling the past few games, and the Wizards trading Rui Hachimura to the Lakers has helped boost his stats immensely. The second-year swing has averaged 36.4 DK points since Jan. 24, with a huge 41.8-point night his last time out in San Antonio. With top Blazers defender Jerami Grant questionable this evening, Avdija should be able to keep the good times rolling.
Util: Walker Kessler (C), Jazz vs. Hawks ($5,800)
Let's play a game: if the Wolves were granted the ability to time travel, would they go back and not trade Kessler, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, and multiple first-round picks to Utah for Rudy Gobert? I'll start: yes, yes they would absolutely not make that deal if they had the benefit of hindsight. Kessler has been outstanding for the Jazz, averaging 2.1 blocks per game and hitting 71.8 percent of his shots. He dropped 53 DK points on the Raptors on Wednesday, and now draws a Hawks D that surrenders the seventh-most fantasy points to opposing centers. Talk about a fantastic final addition to a balanced DFS lineup.