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Welcome to your daily NBA DFS digest at FakeTeams, gents. Every day I’m here with a handful of pro-tips to roster a winning team just a few hours from now.
You might be new to fantasy hoops, so let me tell you this: the world doesn’t end in LeBron James. Each night gives us a pretty good batch of surprising performances and leaves us in the dust with more than a few upsetting outings by those we played. First world problems, carry on. That’s the beauty of this game. There are so many matches going on every single day and such a big roster available that you can’t fixate yourself in the very same player on and on but instead you need to keep things fluid.
So read on, take note, play cool, and win the day. (Player salaries pulled from DraftKings.)
Love: (PG) Luka Doncic, DAL ($9100, at CLE)
You’ll have to pay, but it’s Luka day. Did you watch the change of guard? Did you catch at least a glimpse of the pass of the baton? Cause oh my Lord. Doncic put on a show against LeBron James and you are not telling me he doesn’t have enough in him to bamboozle Cleveland into a kid’s game to ultimately hydro-launch them packing to Mars. Luka is playing almost 36 per game, scoring 26.2 points on a great 45.3% for his massive 19 attempts and shooting 8.8 treys. His 30.7% usage rate is stupid, as is his connection with Kristaps Porzingis and the future he has ahead.
Love: (SG) RJ Barrett, NYK ($6500, vs SAC)
It’s all about the youngins, it seems. Sure, sure, Barrett has come down to Earth a little in his last two outings with nine and 15 points, but uh oh is he balling for them Knickerbockers. RJ has yet to drop from 30 minutes and has scored 15-plus points in five of his six pro games so far. But that doesn’t matter. He was a thrower in college and he was going to keep shooting in the L. What matters is that he’s snatching more rebounds (6.5) and dishing out more assists (3.3) than you would have ever in your life imagined. Add 1.8 stocks per game, and you got a perfectly rounded rook.
Love: (SF) Bojan Bogdanovic, UTA ($5300, at LAC)
Turn back the clock and picture yourself in the 90s NBA. That guy in there, waiting for the pass to launch a corner three, with short shots a la Stockton and that messy old-man’s hair? That’s your man Bojan, doing what he does best. Hitting treys. Five games has he played—and started—and in each of them he has buried at least a triple with a season-best of five against Sacramento. Bogdanovic scores (20.4 PPG), rebounds (4.4), assists (1.4), steals (1.0) and blocks (0.4). He basically is a box-score stuffer as not many in the league, and he does so shooting 51.5% from the floor and a massive 48.4% beyond the line attempting 6.2 treys per game. Not to mention his point-perfect free throw shooting so far this season... And all at a sweet discount.
Love: (PF) Julius Randle, NYK ($7300, vs SAC)
The Randle has arrived and he’s here to do some damage. Julius was this close to posting his sixth double-double in six games but fell a point short of it. Damn son, gotta hate that one. No joke, Randle is averaging 14.3 and 11.0 per game to go with a sweet five assists and a stock per night. Yes, he’s a turnover spinning wheel (4.7) but he makes up for it with the rest of his production. I mean, when you’re part of a group of only 11 players with those averages in points and boards through this day, you must be doing something right, right? And when that group shrinks to three guys (Russ, Giannis, and Randle) if we add the five dimes per, then you know you’re serious business, sure? Far from his Pels days, they say...
Love: (C) Bam Adebayo, MIA ($7900, vs HOU)
Bam Bam. Shoutout to the non-believers, holla at me! Bam Bam. Coming from a two-day rest. Bam Bam. On a five-game 12-plus points streak. Bam Bam. Averaging a dub-dub* as is. Bam Bam. Okay, okay, you get it. Adebayo has started the season en fuego (no pun intended) and although his usage is ridiculously low—Miami fix it pls—he’s still putting up 15 points, *9.8 rebounds (not a dub-dub but let’s accept it), and 5.2 assists on the box score each night. In case that doesn’t warm your heart enough, he’s adding 1.2 and 1.8 steals. Four of the five starting centers that have played against the Rockets finished with 11-plus points, 10-plus boards, or 2-plus blocks, and Adebayo can eat them alive.
If you have any comment or question about the daily column, tonight’s games, players involved in them, or even season-long fantasy NBA topics, just drop it below or reach out to me on Twitter at @chapulana and I’ll get back to you as soon as I grab a keyboard!