Welcome to the NBA DFS Triple Threat here at Paydirt! This is going to be a daily article aimed at giving thoughts on three important aspects of the NBA DFS slate. We will talk through the most popular players on the slate, popular roster construction, and potential pivots and leverage spots. This article is best used with the projections models here at Paydirt (Found here), but it will still be valuable even as a one off piece of content. While the focus is on Draftkings, the content is applicable to Fanduel as well. Costs, Projections, and finishing percentiles format will be Draftkings/Fanduel.
Main Points
- The highest-owned players for tonight’s games are projected to be Dalano Banton, Craig Porter, Precious Achiuwa, Ayo Dosunmu, and Caris LeVert. Notably, CLE will still be without Max Strus, Evan Mobley, Donovan Mitchell and now Dean Wade is doubtful. Additionally, Lebron, AD, Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Cade Cunningham, Jimmy Butler and Rudy GObert among others are all questionable.
- A popular roster construction tonight will likely include 2 value players complemented by 4 mid-range players and 2 stars. Ownership on the high end is concentrated on AD, Sabonis, and Anthony Edwards. Based on this, spending up on Lebron, Tatum, Dejounte Murray or Jalen Brunson seems like a good option on the high end.
- Players such as Clint Capela, Walker Kessler, and Keyonte George are intriguing GPP plays. Additionally, value plays such as Bojan Bogdanovic, Marcus Sasser, and John Konchar look like potential pivot opportunities.
Depending on the size of the slate, there may be multiple situations, value plays, and popular options that you need to consider. Join the Paydirt discord with this link for more updates and game theory on all the slates details: https://discord.gg/mQ6u5dfawF
NBA DFS Cash Game Core:
This core of players will help you build a strong foundation in cash games. While it is best to use all these players, it’s not a requirement
Craig Porter
Dalano Banton
Caris LeVert
Harrison Barnes
Precious Achiuwa

NBA DFS GPP Core:
This core of players will help you build in differentiation in your lineups. These players are meant to be mixed in with some of the stronger chalk options. How many of these players you put in is dependent on the size of the field and personal risk tolerance.
Payton Pritchard (Value)
Sam Merrill (Value)
Keyonte George (Midrange)
Pascal Siakam (Midrange)
Lebron James (Stud)

NBA DFS Final Thoughts
The popular build tonight is going to be focused on a core of Craig Porter/Dalano Banton/Precious Achiuwa with AD. Thankfully, this makes it easy to get different tonight. You can pivot to lower-owned options on these teams such as Darius Garland, Deandre Ayton, or Jalen Brunson. Additionally, you can leverage the chalk build by playing lesser-owned options like Lebron over AD. The Paydirt models are heavy on NYK/CLE as spots to target with secondary exposure to the Wolves and Blazers. Good luck and let’s bake some bread!
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