Daily Fantasy

NBA DraftKings & FanDuel DFS Primer: Dec. 1

FantasyPros walks through the best player values for DraftKings and FanDuel NBA DFS.

Joel Bartilotta, FantasyPros

December 1, 2022 4:57 PM

The Mavericks travel to Detroit to face the Pistons in Thursday’s only matchup.

We had almost every team in action on Wednesday and are left with just one game here. In any case, it’s still basketball, which means we still have DFS to cover! It also means we’re looking at a single-game slate, so this will be one of the shorter articles of the season. With that in mind, let’s look at the odds for this one game!

Injury Report

Isaiah Stewart (toe) Questionable
Cade Cunningham (shin) OUT
Jaden Ivey (knee) Questionable
Marvin Bagley (illness) Questionable
Bojan Bogdanovic (knee) Questionable

Core Plays/Cash Game Considerations

Luka Doncic (PG/SG – DAL): $14,400 DraftKings, $17,000 FanDuel
Doncic is the safest play on every slate, and he’s impossible to fade with just one game. He’s leading the NBA with 65 DraftKings points per game, scoring at least 45 DK points in all 18 outings this year. No one on this slate is even averaging that floor, making Luka the lock for your captain slot on both sites! Not to mention, Detroit ranks 25th in points allowed and 29th in defensive efficiency.

Bojan Bogdanovic (SF – DET): $7,800 DraftKings, $10,500 FanDuel
You usually need to ride the best player on both teams in a single-game slate, so, Bogey and Doncic are the best pairing out there. Bojan has been carrying this Detroit offense all season, scoring at least 27 DraftKings points in nine of his last 10 games. He’s also averaging 33 fantasy points per game in those nine outings, which is no surprise since he’s playing 35 minutes a night and taking nearly 20 shots a game. He also shot lights out against Dallas last year, averaging 21.3 raw points on 58% shooting in their three meetings.

GPP Targets

Christian Wood (PF/C – DAL): $8,000 DraftKings, $12,500 FanDuel
Wood just had a rough night on Tuesday, but those are rare for this usage stud. Wood is being asked to do everything off of the Mavericks bench, posting a 32% usage rate in that role. That’s led to Wood posting a 29-point average through his first 17 games of the season. He’s done that damage in just 25 minutes a night, and there’s some talk he’ll enter the starting lineup sooner rather than later.

Alec Burks (SG/SF – DET): $5,800 DraftKings, $10,000 FanDuel
Burks has been a consummate professional throughout his career, and it’s hard to understand why no one wants him. Detroit clearly does right now, with Alec averaging 25 DraftKings points per game across his last seven games. He’s only playing 21 minutes a night in that span, but we expect that to increase with Cunningham sidelined for the foreseeable future. He’s also attempting double-digit shots in those limited minutes while posting one of the highest usage rates on the team, and that’s really all you can hope for from such an affordable player.

Value Plays

Dorian Finney-Smith (SF/PF – DAL): $4,800 DraftKings, $9,500 FanDuel
DFS can be frustrating with his per-minute averages, but anyone who plays 35-40 minutes is in play on a single-game slate. We’ve seen that from Finney-Smith for a few years now, playing a career-high 33.4 minutes a night this year. That paying time is finally leading to some fantasy production, with DFS scoring at least 20 DK points in four straight games. He’s also posting a 25-point average in that span, which would be massive from such an affordable player. Not to mention, Detroit allows the fourth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards.

Isaiah Stewart (PF/C – DET): $6,800 DraftKings, $11,000 FanDuel
It was exciting to see Beef Stew return on Tuesday. This big man was amid a breakout year before a foot injury, scoring at least 25 DraftKings points in 13 of his 14 games before getting hurt. He returned with 30 DK points on Tuesday, which is right on par with his season average. It looks like these sites have kept him a bit too low in his return, and we certainly don’t anticipate this Dallas center rotation to slow him down.

Advantageous Pricing