Thursday night offers up a fun four-game slate in daily fantasy basketball, which is an interesting change of pace after a truly explosive (and loaded) 10-game slate on Wednesday night. A lot of tonight’s NBA DFS lineups will be fairly similar given the small slate, which naturally will mean you’re going to want to dig a little deeper in big GPP tourneys and try to uncover value no one else is using.
Differentiating your daily fantasy basketball lineups could be key, so let’s take a look at five appealing NBA DFS sleepers for tonight that can be had for $4k or cheaper at DraftKings:
Note: We’ll hit up each position, giving us five individual NBA DFS sleepers to consider for each spot ahead of Thursday’s slate.
Michael Carter-Williams, PG, Chicago Bulls ($3.6k)
Do we actually trust a scoring point guard who can’t shoot? No, and we even trust him less when he’s coming off the bench for a new team. That being said, there are two things we do like about MCW tonight: he’s cheap and he has a versatile skill-set.
Chicago traded for this guy and they have to know they don’t have much of a bench, so he’ll probably get some run behind Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade. His length makes him interesting, as he trips into rebounds, steals and assists. The guy has a knack for scoring, too, provided he doesn’t fall in love with a broken jumper from outside.
He’s not safe at all, but on a four-game slate, you’ll want to take a chance or three in some GPPs. Due to a versatile skill-set, he could rack up a bunch of meaningless stats in this one and for such a low price, wouldn’t take much to end up paying off.
Kyle Korver, SG, Atlanta Hawks ($3.3k)
Korver is insanely cheap for a guy who can get red hot from outside. I wouldn’t be interested in him at all if he were his usual price ($4k or more) but he still has a solid role with the Hawks and shooting guard isn’t that appealing at DK tonight.
Even if you do use Dwyane Wade, C.J. McCollum or Bradley Beal tonight, Korver could fit in nicely as an insanely cheap G or Util play on DraftKings. He does not do a whole lot other than score, but the hope here would be he catches fire at home in what should be a pretty fast-paced tilt with the Wizards. If Korver can put up 15+ actual points, he might be able to get enough rebounds, steals or assists to actually be a killer value play tonight. It all comes down to how hot he can get tonight, though.
Kyle Anderson, SF, San Antonio Spurs ($3.7k)
Due to recency bias, Kyle Anderson could be a fantastic GPP value play at DK tonight. Jonathan Simmons benefited the most from the absence of Danny Green in their season opener and given how balanded and deep the Spurs are, it wouldn’t be shocking to see that go back in Anderson’s favor. Both guys are strong value picks, but Anderson has a more versatile skill-set and should get about the same run.
Omri Casspi, PF, Sacramento Kings ($3.5k)
I’m not sure how much I trust Casspi, but here’s two things I’m pretty confident in: the Kings are going to run a decent amount of small ball this year and tonight they’re probably getting housed by the Spurs. San Antonio just wrecked the Warriors in Golden State, so do the math there.
Casspi is certainly not the most reliable DFS performer, but he can stroke the deep ball and can be fairly active on the boards. If he gets enough minutes tonight (and if they get trounced, he will), he should also tack on a few dimes and steals. The value is there to help you stack a sweet GPP team tonight and Casspi is a big reason why.
Ed Davis, C, Portland Trail Blazers ($3.8k)
Last, but not least, Ed Davis is another guy to consider due to recency bias, as well as matchup. He actually got good run in Portland’s season opener and just didn’t perform as well as he’s capable of. He could be needed even more than usual tonight, too, since the Blazers host a dominant frontcourt in Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.
Davis is always a double-double threat due to his high energy, and if he gets added run he could be one of the top value plays on the night in daily fantasy basketball. He also represents a fun pivot play at center or power forward, as most people will feel more comfortable with Taj Gibson or Mason Plumlee, both of which are only slightly more expensive. I like them just fine, but Davis could match their production and also saves you salary cap space.
That does it for our look at cheap daily fantasy basketball sleepers for Thursday night. Remember, we’re not necessarily saying you should use all of these guys together or that they’re all locks. They’re GPP sleepers that have some logic behind them that could make them sneaky, profitable plays. It’s up to you when/where to use them. Regardless what you decide, we wish you luck in your daily fantasy basketball contests tonight!