NBA DFS: Anthony Davis and best/worst DraftKings daily fantasy basketball plays for Wednesday, Sep. 30th

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. On top of that, I’ll bring you some news, statistical trends from the past few days, some studs/duds from the last slate of games, and much more!

Hoop Land Times: News and notes from around the Association

• The Miami Heat acquired their tickets to meet LeBron and the Lake Show in the Finals by winning Game 6 against the Cs. Old friends now turned foes will fight for the chip in a hot (no pun intended) series to close the bubble curtains!
• It’s the first time since 2010 the Lakers appear in the Finals (Kobe was balling seriously back then) and the first one since 2014 for the Heat (LeBron left after losing them to the Spurs).
• More than Lakers vs. Heat, it’ll be James vs. Riley, amirite?
• Kudos to Boston for the effort and stretching the ECF to six games, but it wasn’t mean to be. Just go take a look at Gordon Hayward’s missed layup to get a quick summary of the Cs season. So close, yet so far away. They’ll grow, though, with a pretty young and potent squad already in place and only getting better.
• Speaking of young Cs, Jayson Tatum is now eligible for a max-money extension and you’d be crazy if you don’t think it’ll take no time for Boston to offer him the big bag.
• The other magnificent news from a few days ago came from Minny Wolves’ Malik Beasley, who was arrested by the police and faced felony weapons and drug charges. LOL
• Speaking of Minnesota, it looks like the Wolves will make LaMelo Ball their no. 1 draftee in the upcoming draft if they keep the pick. Also related to Melo, he said that he’s already talked to the New York Knicks ahead of the November event.
• The Nuggest will need to put some cash on Jerami Grant’s table—and he truly deserves it—as it was reported that the wing will (obviously) opt out of his player option and enter free agency to cash in big time. He wants back, though, so it’s about Denver being willing to paying him.
• Lauri Markkanen wants to stay in Chicago for long, but we’ll see how the new staff+coach see and value him. Not a crazy idea to think they might want to move on from Lauri and/or Zach Lavine and refresh things a bit.
• The Sixers are determined to make Mike D’Antoni their next head coach. Looks like even Embiid has given his blessings to the move! If he’s not to be, it sounds like Ty Lue would be the next man in line. The Rockets and Pelicans are also interested in Ty.
• The problem with that Ty Lue move is... that Doc Rivers is out of Los Angeles after the Clippers canned him. The logical move for LA would be to keep the man-in-house Lue as the coach entering 2021.
• Another couple of candidates for the Clips gig: one of the Van Gundys.

Duds and Studs: Yesterday’s Slate Recap

• It was a close race to the top of the slate leaderboard, but it was Bam who snatched that no. 1 spot yesterday with a career-best game reaching 59+ DKFP. Adebayo dropped a 32-14-5 line with a steal to spare while shooting 73% from the field on 15 fga and 91% on his 11 freebies.
• Tatum came second to the surprise of no one with 57 fantasy points all by himself. 24-3-7-2-1 stuffed line, only blemished by a putrid 34.6% shooting overall on a monster 26 attempts.
• Jaylen Brown was the only 40+ player with 48 DKFP (22-2-8) but that wasn’t enough to put Boston through G6. Jimmy and Smart followed Brown, both with 38 DKFP.
• I had this gut feeling yesterday and I was right as the ROI King award went to... Duncan Robinson! The semi-rookie played almost 34 minutes and was booming from long range. Duncan hit 5 triples for all of his 15 points on the night, and added 6 boards to that scoring outing. Really nice support-performance for a Heat team that ousted Boston once for all on their way to the Finals. Shout-out to Herro too for his 19-5-7 complete game.
• And the DOTS (Dud of the Slate) Award went to... Gordon Hayward! If only that missed layup had been the worst from Gordon... Hayward played 32 minutes and although he hit double-digit points (12) he could only add a rebound and a couple of assists to that... Pretty lame. Theis sucked a bit too, same as Goran and Kemba.
• One dub-dub via points and rebounds (Bam’s 32-14) and another one on points and assists (Tatum’s 24-11).
• Jaylen led the slate with 3 steals, while Jae Crowder was the only guy to block 2 rocks.

Gotta Win The Day: Best/Worst DraftKings plays for today’s slate

• Love: (PF/C) Anthony Davis, LAL (vs MIA): Davis has been absolutely ridiculous after the season resumed all the way back in July. LeBron is LeBron, and one of the best players of the L if not the best. But AD has been putting on a show and pretty much elevating the Lakers as no one—even James—has so far this postseason. Davis is locked into a floor of around 50+ DKFP no matter the game, situation, opponent, or whatever. He’s only dropped from 44 fantasy points three times in the playoffs, and he’s finished with 55+ in eight of the 15 matches the Lake Show has played this postseason. Sure, Adebayo will be in the paint for the Heat, but look at what Jokic did (or actually tried to do) to him and you’ll see how AD remained unstoppable.
• Hate: (C) Bam Adebayo, MIA (at LAL): Speaking of high floors... Bam is another ridiculous player, plain and simple. Adebayo himself has stringed six games of 38+ fantasy points and reached 45+ in four of those six matches. He’s a walking dub-dub with passing-prowess and incredibly efficient shooting. That being said, though, he still have to face a slew of big men as the one the Lakers can throw at him all game long. Obviously, AD will be the main threat for him to beat in comparison to JaVale and Dwight, but there will always be a body out there waiting for him (not like in the series against Boston or Milwaukee to a certain extent). Jokic already suffered against the Lakers big men, and I think Adebayo will need to improve and adapt through the length of the series, not bombing in Game 1.
• Love: (PG) Rajon Rondo, LAL (vs MIA): Rondo in the Finals with his bubble-improved game and his vast experience looks like a winning play to me all the way. See, Rondo is even hitting triples these days! Although RR dropped his numbers quite a bit in the series against Denver, the truth is that his minutes were also cut down from near-30 to near-20 and his stat lines felt it. I’m betting on a bounceback in usage and playing time, and that should instantly translate into lines close to 10+ points, 5+ rebounds, and 8+ assists. That alone is a more than a palatable floor for a cheap, role player as Rondo is for the Lakers. Bet on Rajon.

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!