🏀 NBA Season Preview & Strategy Guide

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Big Ballers as a brand may be officially dead (or restructuring) but we saw some huge productivity nights in the NBA's first fully loaded card on Wednesday. Andre Drummond had a 78 point fantasy night, Kyrie Irving went for 76 and Karl-Anthony Towns had 73. These are some big name players and with it being a TNT slate of games on tap, we should expect more of the same on Thursday night.

Tonight's DFS Headlines

Can they coexist? Houston may not have the quantity of mouths to feed as some other NBA teams, but they've got Madea and Professor Klump at the head of the table. James Harden ($9,700) and Russ Westbrook ($8,900) lead the Rockets against Giannis Antetokounmpo ($10,300) and the Bucks in Houston.

We've got our first back-to-back of the season already in night 3. Can Andre Drummond ($8,300) repeat last night's 32 point, 23 rebound performance or will Trae Young ($8,600) and the Hawks' fast-paced offense be too much for a tired Pistons squad?

For the first time in a long time, Golden State is, once again, Steph Curry's ($9,400) team. No Durant, no Klay Thompson (for maybe the entire season), but a meeting with a Clippers team that already has a game under their belt after beating the Lakers on Tuesday.

Guards

Trae Young (DK: $8600 FD: $9000 Y! $42)

Trae Young did miss last Saturday's preseason finale with a sore back but by all accounts he seems good to go for the opener. The sophomore PG has a very favorable matchup with a Pistons team that is playing on part two of a back-to-back and just allowed 110 points to the Pacers offense on Wednesday. Young averaged 16.8 points and 6.6 assists in 26 minutes this preseason while also posting 13.1 field goal attempts over that span.

Luke Kennard (DK: $4700 FD: $4800 Y! $13)

There's great upside for Luke Kennard for that price tag today. Detroit is in game two of a back-to-back, but Kennard's load management was respectable at 28 minutes. Kennard also proved in the opener vs. the Pistons that he didn't need a whole lot of court time to get shots, going 8-13 including 6 of 9 from 3-point range while getting to the foul line 10 times. Derrick Rose and Andre Drummond also had big opening nights for Detroit, but expect their minutes to be watched more heavily on the B2B. You have to like the Pistons pace differential here (+9.68) even playing on consecutive nights.

Lou Williams (DK: $6700 FD: $6900 Y! $31)

Lou Williams is going to enjoy his time as scoring option 1A for the Clippers until Paul George returns. So far so good for 'Sweet Lou', who logged 36 minutes off the bench Tuesday vs. the Lakers while going 8-14 from the field for a 39 point fantasy night. We all know Williams is no fan of the Lakers, as he averaged 24.8 ppg vs. them in 4 games last season. The same ill will could probably hold true vs. Golden State too. Williams averaged 21 points and 6.7 assists in 3 games vs. the Warriors last year in just 28.3 minutes per game. GS goes Jordan Poole and Jacob Evans on the depth chart after Curry and D' Angelo Russell. Oh boy.

Forwards

Jabari Parker (DK: $3800 FD: $4500 Y!: $26)

DraftKings is holding a Super Soaker to our heads in this one, making Jabari Parker a must play at just $3,800. For one, Atlanta plays the Pistons who are on a back-to-back and just gave up a 27 point, 13 rebound night to Damontas Sabonis at the SF/PF position on Wednesday. John Collins is a GTD at PF for Atlanta and Cam Reddish / Kevin Huerter will both be on minutes restrictions because of injury. That opens up a lot of lineup room for Parker, who will be making his Hawks debut.

Montrezl Harrell (DK: $6100 FD: $7000 Y!: $25)

Montrezl Harrell provided nice value with a 34 point fantasy night in the opener vs. the Lakers that included 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. The best stat line that he may have put up, however, was 38 minutes on the floor. His price remains firm at $6.1K despite that strong night. The Clippers playing in their 2nd game vs. a Warriors team in their season debut has to favor LA here.

Khris Middleton (DK: $6900 FD: $7600 Y! $27)

Who knows what that Houston pace is going to be with Harden and Westbrook trying to get out and run. Either way, more opportunities should bode well for Khris Middleton. You could call the Bucks G/F the Lumber Liquidator because he's always been one of the better DFS floor guys. Middleton also has a solid matchup with Eric Gordon who is moved to the SF spot nearly full-time with the addition of Westbrook. Middleton should also see more offensive sets run for him now that Malcolm Brogdon is off to the Pacers.

Center

Draymond Green (DK: $7100, FD; $8000 Y!:$34 )

Does Draymond Green come out with a breath of fresh air in the Warriors' season opener now that he will get to be a more consistent part of the offense? They aren't the same player at all, but the Clippers did just give up a 25/9/5 night to Anthony Davis on Tuesday playing in the F/C position. It's a light night at the C position, especially with Drummond on the B2B, so Green is a nice slot here as he can get you points in a variety of ways.

After tonight, every team will have had a game under their belt. From there it gets easier to decipher who to play in DFS and why. That starts with a nice plump 9 game card to wrap up the week on Friday. The chat room will be active tonight so join in on the discussion. You can also follow me, Carl Taylor (@dailydogsports) on Twitter for more DFS and sports betting talk.

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