NBA DFS: Devin Booker and best/worst DraftKings daily fantasy basketball plays for Sunday, Jan. 12th

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) Spencer Dinwiddie, BKN ($7500, vs ATL)

The whispers are already on the streets. Kyrie could be back soon. Take that “soon” for whatever you want, sure, but I’m leaning toward believing those voices to some extent as this fool Kyrie hasn’t played crap for these Nets after all the hype he brought with him. Shaking my head... No matter what, for as long as Kyrie is out, Widdie must be in. Spence has been thriving ever since he was put at the helm to the point he’s getting All-Star consideration. The Din has started 26 consecutive games and he’s performed as a top-20 player since Nov. 16 averaging more than 42 DKFP per game. Although his performance have dropped the level a bit lately (though it must be said he’s been fewer minutes on the court, which hasn’t helped) Widdie is still a nightly threat to reach the 20 points and 7-4 boards-dimes while boasting a still-high 30% usage rate in his last four games but up to 36.4% in his last 12 games combined. Squeeze this orange until it runs out of juice.

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Love: (SG) Devin Booker, PHO ($8400, vs CHA)

Speaking of juicy things... Oh my Booker. Dev has been cooking and his Book is far from finished. I’m not making this up: in the last eight games he’s played DeBo has finished in between 42 and 55 DKFP and averaged performances as the ninth-best player of his slates. Only five players have ranked better in that span yet only Luka did so playing at least eight games, and Booker’s got the fourth-most fantasy points in that same stretch. The stove has been really hot. Booker is cooking north of 33 chicken wings per game lately and pairing those points with averages of 3.3 rpg, 6.6 apg, and 1.1 spg since Christmas Day. The shooting has been ridiculous and definitely Santa’s gift as he’s kept it up at 53.9% from the floor ever since the chubby guy went down his chimney, and he only failed to break the 32-point mark two days ago for the first time in eight games versus Orlando. The hotness can’t be higher.

Love: (SF) Kawhi Leonard, LAC ($9000, at DEN)

Check this out: Kawhi’s price two days ago was $9.9K; Kawhi’s price today is $9K. Do you know what happened in the meantime? The Klaw had a 61-DKFP game. And yes, his price dropped almost a full grand. Lol. I get it. That game was against the Warriors and this one is against the Nuggs, but still... Kawhi shouldn’t rest his ass any time soon as there are no back-to-back games at sight, so even while he will always carry the what ifs attached to his forehead for this price you just can’t pass on him. Denver’s matchup might stink a bit, not going to lie, but we’re talking about Kawhi Boardman Leonidas here, folks. When Kawhi plays, he plays. He averages his good 37 minutes and if you’re excellent and math and also know that his average fantasy points per minute are 1.47 then what do we get nightly? Correct! 54-DKFP burgers at the very least. That’s some pretty healthy diet to follow during and start of the decade properly, let me tell you.

Love: (PF) Kelly Oubre Jr., PHO ($6200, vs CHA)

Some extraterrestrial force is making Oubre play incredibly well this season over a huge chunk of time. Never heard of, but me likes. Machine Gun Kelly has played 38 games, which is to say virtually half a season, and he’s still shooting 46/36/79 and averaging an 18-6-1-1 line with just 1.5 turnovers in 34 minutes of playing time with a usage of 21.5%. The production should be a bit higher given the extended run, but for what Oubre has done in the past this is very palatable. Waive Papi has always been the most erratic guy around, but he never stopped dripping. I guess that helps him keep his level up. He’s flopped a bit in his last three (only if you consider two 36-DKFP games bad), but other than that and going back to Dec. 28 (seven games played) he’s averaged 42 DKFP and balled almost as a top-15 hooper in the slates he’s been part of. Makes sense considering he’s dropping more than 20 points on every fool that crosses his path and scoring triples like a mad man (3.4 per in his last seven) while grabbing 8.1 board and dishing out 2 assists a night. The shooting line isn’t bad on the season, but it’s mental in the aforementioned span with 54.7% success from the floor on more than 15 attempts per.

Love: (C) Jonas Valanciunas, MEM ($6300, vs GSW)

Say hey to the under-the-radar play of the day! JoVa comes cheap as he misses playing time often because Memphis doesn’t even know what the hell is doing. Every time Valanciunas racks up 25 minutes or more he’s a sublime play. He’s done so eight times since Dec. 16 and in those games he’s averaged a 21-10-2 line painting boxes all across the board. Jo has graduated from JV to V in the blocks cat with 7 in his last four games combined for an average this close to a couple per. Not your average three-point machine thrower with just 1.5 long-range attempts per game, but when he does he hits them with gusto as his 44.4 3p% illustrates. All-shots considered he’s dropping 59.4% of them in as he basically shoots two inches from the rim. The per-minute production, again, is massive at 1.29 DKFP. If he gets the minutes he will always win you the night.

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!