Kmarko's NBA DraftKings Picks - MLK Day Special
Welcome back to the daily DraftKings picks where we try to get super rich playing daily fantasy basketball. As usual I’ll do a brief recap of my lineups from the week before then throw out some picks that I’m brainstorming for this weekend, and hopefully get some good feedback/tips/picks from you guys either in the comment section or on Twitter @kmarkobarstool.
Martin Luther King had a dream…that we’d all get rich playing DraftKings during a huge slate of games starting right in the middle of the day. Maybe you’re stuck at work, maybe you’re home on the couch enjoying a day off, either way – load up some lineups.
Note: This is for the NBA Crossover ($27), which doesn’t include the 1 PM game. I believe all the DK tournaments today are like that, but if you happen to find yourself in something that includes the Knicks/Sixers game, I like Covington, Porzingis and Ish in that one.
PLAYS
PG Chris Paul $9.7K
It’s the MLK Day Special, which means my first pick is from…the 10:30 PM game? Hey, money is money, no matter what time it comes. Yes the PG matchup in the 2 PM tipoff was my immediate first look – John Wall vs. Damian Lillard, both guys with a legit shot at being not just the top PG, but the top scoring overall player of the day. Dame’s been red hot (except for his last game) and John Wall is coming off a million point performance – either guy is an A+ play. But I also think they’ll be pretty popular, especially with people wanting exposure to the day games, so I’ll try and sneak in under the radar with CP3. I featured him last week and he responded with 55 points – Blake is still out which means he’s dominating the offense, and with DeAndre expected to play in this one he’ll draw some focus down in the paint and hopefully open things up more for Paul. A guy with 60 point upside and the 10:30 PM late game hammer – can’t beat that.
SG Jimmy Butler $8.5K
Ok, now let’s get into the early games. Back to the Jimmy Buckets well! Last time I featured him he dropped a casual 81 points. No big deal. Hope everyone was smart enough to not chase the points and lay off him the next game, where he was obviously fatigued and due for a let down. But he’s rested up and I think primed to put up another monster – ok, maybe not 80+, but breaking 50 definitely wouldn’t be a surprise. Also, without using any sort of stats to back this up or any analytics whatsoever, Jimmy is one of those guys that I just feel like always brings the heat on these weirdly timed games – holidays, day games on a weekday, etc. While other players might be thrown off their rhythm or mailing it in, Butler just turns it up to 100.
G Mario Chalmers $6.9K
Obviously this play only stands if Conley is out again, which it looks like he may be for 1 more game – if that’s the case then Chalmers is my favorite mid range guy on the board. We saw his floor against the Knicks which was 29 minutes and still managing to string together 27 points – his other games starting for Conley he’s gone 40+ minutes and bordered on 50 point gems. The Pelicans are one of the worst in the league against opposing PGs and it should be a fast paced game which means we could see 45-50 out of Mario for under 7K.
IF CONLEY PLAYS-
Pivot to Kyrie Irving $6.9K
Yeah I know he burned me last time I recommended him. I don’t feel completely safe with him yet, but I got a gut feeling he’ll bust out a vintage Kyrie performance in this championship rematch. Feels like one of those games where he goes crazy and drops 50 points on everyone.
**Update 2:20PM** Conley in the starting lineup…switch off Chalmers to Kyrie. Or, drop down to a G Value Play like Norris Cole or Eric Gordon (with Tyreke out) and use the saving somewhere.
Other guys to consider –
We didn’t hit any big men in the featured picks – at Center I’m looking at either Drummond or Pau as the top 2 options, or Gortat if I want to save an extra thousand bucks. At PF I love Draymond anytime he’s playing a big time meaningful game – if he’s too pricey, I like Millsap…or if we’re looking for value, taking a shot on Tristan Thompson could pay off. And as always, SF is the biggest bitch to fill…Jae Crowder has been money lately and his price is coming up to reflect that, but he’s still a great play.
Like I said, I’ll try and get some exposure to both Wall and Lillard in that 2 PM matchup…Bradley Beal coming off his day of rest could bust out for a nice 35-40 point game. For value guards, Dennis Schroeder has quietly been dropping some big games off the bench, Evan Fournier has more opportunities for as long as ‘Dipo is out, and Donald Sloan isn’t a sexy pick but he’s been starting for the Nets and has some good upside.
…
That’s it for me, good luck tonight. Tweet me @kmarkobarstool with your picks or to talk shit, whatever. Also if you’re depositing to play make sure to use my referral and we’ll both get hooked up with some stuff.