 What's going on and welcome to the NBA DFS Q&A? My name is Tom Vecchio I'm one of the writers and analysts at numberfire.com. I'm the host of the Daily ISO the podcast We have for NBA DFS five days a week right here on number fire You can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom I'm here for the next 30 minutes to answer some of your questions about tonight's 11 game NBA Slate starting at seven o'clock of course the NBA tipped off Last night with only two games, but this is the first real slate of NBA DFS great options across the board Still waiting on a bit of injury information. Of course injuries are massive in NBA DFS We have some really solid games to target in terms of their overrunters what their projections should be So if you have any questions, let me know, you know kind of recap things as I did in the In the daily ISO this morning if we don't have anything but Alvin is asking favorite studs to build around and how many you're trying to fit into one lineup Oh trying to fit as many studs into Lines as possible. I only play tournaments. So do not play cash game. So going with a stars and scrubs build is something that I Generally like to do. I think that starting off with Joel and bead and Damian Lillard is a really really strong option tonight Obviously it brings down your average remaining per player to fifty five hundred But we know that Joel and bead can eat in really any match up going up against the pelicans Not really worried about that obviously no Ben Simmons We should see more offensive usage flowing towards and bead and then Lillard a player that has a 45 point floor and a seemingly 70 point ceiling on some nights going up against Sacramento And we just look at this game environment overall with a 234 point over under it's got a six and a half point spread We'd like to see that a little bit closer. But in reality, we've seen Portland just be so bad You know defensively over the past few seasons and it's not like Sacramento is a good defensive team either way. So And bead and Lillard is really where I'm starting off and then it comes down to you know Can we roster Jason Tatum and this is would be partly due to you know, what we could be waiting on would be the Jalen Brown news because earlier in the day It's he said he was in the lineup and then he said he's he's still questionable because he's coming out of the COVID protocols So we're waiting on that information if Jalen Brown is in fact ruled out I mean these three players are where I absolutely love to start There's there's obviously plenty of value out there in an 11-game slate But we're looking at like a what like a 45 point floor for all of these players with 60 70 point ceilings for a lot of them So I am on board with these three is my main three studs on tonight's late. This is obviously not to say I'm not gonna have exposure to Yokocho, I really like for GVPs. Of course Bradley Biel has immense scoring upside Exactly two players I started with was trying to fit Fox and Biel as well listen if you can find it I think it's great. It's not like deer and fox is not in a good matchup Going up against the trailblazers again They don't play a whole lot of defense and they haven't for a number of seasons and obviously his offensive usage should be there And then Bradley Biel a player that I'm and I have been always fond of rostering over the past few seasons You know especially this year without Russell Russell Westbrook if we look at the wizard starting lineup Yes, you know din we is a very solid player But he doesn't always bring that massive scoring ceiling and doesn't necessarily command a whole lot of Offensive usage if we just look at this lineup outside of Biel and then didn't we like KCP Kuzma Gafford Like these aren't high-volume shooters It's really still gonna be the Bradley Biel show this year and him going for what are the average last year 30 31 points per game Like that's what should be on the table with that three-point upside him pushing towards 50 fainted points every single night So that's a spot that I will certainly look You are looking for is if precious a Chua is gonna be starting tonight That's something we have to wait on getting confirmation if he's gonna be there. I don't think he'll be in the starting lineup Starting line-ups here for the Raptors Oh, this does have him starting because Boucher was bumped on it. Listen if he's gonna be in there Obviously, I spoke about this game a little bit or a good amount on the podcast today The daily ISO I love this game environment. I said the game opened up at 218 I said I like the over in that game. It's jumped up to 222. So really anyone in this matchup I'm gonna have some interest in obviously there's varying degrees with deal and then bleep being up at the top I'm big on Scotty Barnes this year. He looked really good in the preseason And the minute should be there for him with Still with possible siac am out and a player that can really fill it up in in all the stat categories, right? He went for like nine five and four in the preseason for points rebounds and assists like getting that value So either a Chua or Barnes, I'm on board with both of them You know, hopefully we'll you know, we'll obviously get these starting up the line-ups updated But it becomes at what point do we get them? So are we have the Rockets Porter Green Gordon wood ties? Yeah, that's what we should be expecting from them that Rockets Minnesota game is also another spot that I have a lot of interest just because We should be expecting plenty of points in this match of a 231 and a half over under I mean, we know both teams are bad on defense So again, that's another game. I'm targeting heavily Sacramento Portland Houston, Minnesota Washington, Toronto are kind of like my three games Alvin is asking Minnesota and Rockets as a high total but outside of cat doesn't really you don't really know who to target So I wrote up Malik Beasley today. I do three values every day right here. No or on number fire comm I do the three values. I'm big on Malik Beasley a player that can always fill up the stat sheet Yes, we do see a number of options in the Rockets offense That certainly will command the ball between towns D'Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards Hopefully taking a step forward this year But Beasley is a player that it'll at only forty eight hundred dollars can really just fall into Fall into plenty of fancy points due to the pace of the game and the overall game environment, right? Where a player, you know needing to score 30 real points is not something that we need to see from Beasley But him going for 15, you know, five and five is something that you can realistically Realistically do and that's really not an amazingly impressive stat line But he's gonna be reaching or exceeding fancy value just because the game environment is so strong with the back and forth back and forth pace So I'm on board with a lot of these players tonight. We have confirmed starting lineup for the Rockets So Beasley, I would go towns Edwards Beasley is my top three actually for Minnesota. I Like D'Angelo Russell, I just think that there are better options at his position at that similar salary and then the Rockets I really think you can roster anyone probably outside of Eric Gordon not a player. I'm super interested in rostering most nights DJ's asking would you take the bulls tonight on the money line spread in the total are over 218 So I actually already took the bulls on the spread. I did not take them on the money line. They are We're the bulls they're going up against Where you're minus five Money line, whatever they are. Let me just bring up the fan dual sports book real quick To see what they're they're on the money line right now, I already took them on the spread I got him at five Nope, not MLB NBA Minus 210 and it's obviously a lot of juice or like I think that's a lot of juice To 18 you said, yeah, I mean I wouldn't lay that much straight up on the money line That's just me personally whatever your betting trends might be. I do think that they will win the game But I like them at minus five. I just don't like the the minus 210 It's mr. Jackie moon on twitch is saying thoughts on Lamello Yeah, I spoke about Lamello earlier or on the podcast. I should say, you know earlier today $7600 I think you looked really good last year, you know dealt with the injury But you know filling up the stat sheet is not something we always see from a lot of rookies and considering this game has a one-point spread You know, it's got a good over under sitting at 222 and a half It's not like amazingly high but 222 with a one-point spread like two teams that you know Had a lack of defense last year and actually played pretty fast as a spot that I would actually like to look So, you know trying to jam in some of these options in the mid tier You know alongside some of these stars. I think is a very viable option So I also going back to DJ's point. So I'm fully on board with Lamello, but outside of the Bulls I said I like Philly tonight on the spread. I like Boston tonight on the spread Philly Boston Toronto I like all those teams. I think it's you know, hopefully we get a pretty calm start to the NBA Maybe some other games offer some some craziness, but those are teams I really think should be winning took them all in the spread not on the money line Does market and play 25 plus minutes or we'll love cutting into that. You know, that's a really good question I could bring up marketing right now We've been projected for right at 25 minutes, you know a hair under one thing to point for minutes and get 24.1 with 25.62 minutes. I Believe he's expected to be in the starting lineup. I don't know if that's actually confirmed yet Let's give this a little refresh to see if he's actually confirmed in the starting lineup. It's not yet I know that the Cavs are high on Evan Mobley. So that's something we have to pay attention to what that dynamic looks like with their their rotation of players whether it be marketing in Mobley And Kevin love what we're gonna be seeing from them But if marketing is gonna be out there for 25 plus minutes, which is what we haven't projected for that's a spot that I would certainly look in some of the First run-throughs I did for my In the optimizer, you know spitting out a bunch of line-ups like Markin was in there a good amount You know, I do limit obviously the player exposure. This game. I think is okay. You know 218 is okay It's certainly not the best on the slate. It's certainly not the worst on the slate. You know this San Antonio Orlando game in the New York Knicks Boston South scheme is something that I'm a little bit hesitant on having too many players From those games at something I you know talk about a lot It's like I don't want to be overexposed having too many players From those games in the same line. I've been often or not often all the time I make sure to limit the number of players when I'm using the optimizer limit the number of players From those games in one lineup. So we don't have too much exposure. DJ is saying do you like the magic tops at the spurs tonight? Probably not the magic are Probably not gonna be winning too many games tonight. The spurs are better than the magic. I don't know by how much but You know the magic or not a team. I'm gonna be targeting too often This season I in terms of betting on them. I think you know, that's like plenty of DFS options Throwing those in a money line parlay. Hopefully it ends my curse Well, I hope hopefully they all hit too because I took all those teams as well. I took Toronto Boston Toronto Boston Well, it's Chicago and Philly those of teams I took so far tonight I also will say I took the over on Rashawn Holmes points rebounds assist combined 21 and a half is where I got it I took the over on that I spoke about Rashawn Holmes on the podcast because they announced that Marvin Bagley is not gonna be in the starting lineup before the Kings he's just gonna be like out of their rotation at least to start the season and etc So I like Rashawn Holmes Rashawn Holmes in DFS. Again, I said I took the player prop Hit the over 21 and a half points rebounds assist combined Alvin is asking would you play in bead and Harris together and you like Ingram or rather than the value from New Orleans? So Yes, yes, and Yes, I guess like I spoke about Ingram extensively I spoke about him. I did a show on NBA TV on Monday night I'm big on Evan Ingram this at least to start the season Right because there's no Zion and until Zion comes back if we look at this Pelicans lineup, which is Further down right here like yeah, sure Devonte Graham certainly put up some shots But you know valentines is going to take playing game But Brandon Ingram is kind of the guy on that team So I am all over Brandon Ingram every night until Zion comes back like that's just something I want to make sure I do because him going for 25 You know seven and four a game is realistic like that's something we can certainly see I do also like the value I do like Nikhil Alexander Walker. I'm on board with him. Najee Marshall is going to be starting lineup Can you get some confirmation on that? I think that's also fine Garrett temple And not necessarily player. I love rostering or I have loved rostering over the the few years So to answer your question. Yes, I do. I think it's fine to have and bead and Harris in the same lineup I also do like Ingram As I mentioned on the podcast as well These teams finished ninth and tenth last year when it came to offensive pace And we have a four point or four and a half point spread of the solid 224 over under So I think it's viable to have all three of them in the same lineup So that's certainly A viable option really no matter which way you you spin it Andrew Carlson is asking I'm back and forth between marketing or barns from Toronto in DFS Uh You know, I like both of them if I had to choose one I'm going to choose scotty barns just because I think that this game environment is going to be a little bit stronger For all involved right where uh an over under that's uh, you know Four and a half five ish points higher. We have a closer spread You know salaries are let's just call them equal I'm going to be leaning with scotty barns. You know if I have to choose one Uh, DJ is asking thunder over the jazz tonight Uh, I mean if you're a thunder fan, I guess you can you can hope but I We saw what the jazz did at home last season. We see how heavy favorites. They are 13 and a half on the spread What's their updated money line? Uh, we're the jazz right here. I mean If you want to just throw a dart, that's fine. That's not something I do That's not something I would like initially recommend. I think there are better ways to you know bet this slate The jazz were just so dominant at home last year. That's not a spot that I'm really going to be looking Uh, at least on the money line from a betting perspective Dinwiddie and subbonus or van vleet and christian wood from sal on youtube That's a really good one dinwiddie and subbonus or van vleet and christian wood. So I'm a big subbonus guy. I am to have been for a couple years. I just think he's super super consistent like Double double or like a triple double on a nightly basis and he gets there like seemingly sometimes at halftime I'm still going to go with van vleet and van vleet and christian wood You know these game environments are just so good It's not saying that the the other game environments aren't good as well But van vleet should have a very high usage rate and christian wood is a player that we have seen be able to Match or you know staying the same range when it comes to the production that subbonus was putting up You know over the past few seasons So I would go with van vleet and christian wood in that circumstance Not saying I don't like subbonus because I know I will 100 have shares of him In my line of tonight like that's a fact dinwiddie. I think is fine Like I know why you're you're going to dinwiddie like again this game environment is good overall Modest salary just in this price range as we get into like the mid sixes you know, I would I almost rather see myself taking shares of tiris haliburring Or even dropping down a little bit further to take some of the value here at point guard slash shooting guard set career I think is a solid option And then you know tiris maxi. I also wrote up him today. So I just think of the Like the the cost benefit of rostering dinwiddie over someone else. I think it's too much Compared to van vleet and christian wood Uh, so let's just give this a refresher if we have any starting lineups. I doubt it. It's still only 415 uh rougiers downgraded a questionable that matters for Uh, you know some people that are expanding there Uh, player pools, obviously, uh, if he's gonna be out of the starting lineup, I believe miles wasn't miles bridges also uh Wasn't he downgraded or still listed as questionable Or my remembering something else whatever it might be like that could open up Some playing time for kelly ubrey on the wing Yeah miles bridges. Yeah, I knew he's dealing with this need. Oh, he's probable now. Okay So if rougiers at the starting lineup, we might see kelly ubrey in there We might see ish smith on a on a long shot part of what we'll see You know early in the season is and I'll talk about it on the podcast as well I was always like once we get like clarity on the teams rotations what their minutes look like for the given players That's really when we can, uh You know really really start to cook in mba dfs once we have a little bit more clarity Andrew's asking one more for you achua or marketing at power for the whole militant positional this year is making things difficult I agree. I think that's like one of the I think that will be a the multi-positional thing could be a differentiator where Especially if you hand build lineups um, you know, I think that you can really like tweak things in terms of where you slot players obviously As I said before I use an optimizer So you have to go in and like set the limits of where you use certain players or you know A lot of optimizers have the option to select them as like only a power forward instead of a small forward And that's how you could do it If achua gets confirmed, I would take him over marketing again slightly better game environment Uh for for him just I think that's just gonna be better than cleveland and memphis Who are your double double candidates tonight? Uh, that's a good one I bet on I already bet on julius randall to have a double double for the new york nicks Uh, I wouldn't wouldn't be surprised if we see a double double from obviously mb. I think that's a pretty easy one Uh, sub bonus. I think is another solid option. Uh, as we could see let's just scroll down this list a little bit Uh, I mean go bear getting to a double double. I don't think anyone's going to be shocked. Uh, if that were to happen You know, the mellow ball could be a sneaky option for a double double if that game stays close as it's Uh projected to just one point spread solid over under he could get there for points and assists I wouldn't be surprised there. Of course, you could you know go carl anthony towns Uh jaren jackson I took the over on his points rebounds and assists combined which was at I want to say was a 27 and a half or 28 Uh, I took the over on that Uh, you know Looking to have more exposure to him in the betting market tonight rather than dfs just because again not super Like thrilled with that game environment. I just because it's an 11 game slate. I think that there are other options on the slate Uh, it's mr. Jackie moon is also saying vooch voosevich for the bulls absolutely carl anthony towns Those are all pretty solid options. Yeah, absolutely Like we know the players that should be super consistent when it comes to posting double doubles dj is asking What would you do for indiana and charlotte looks like an even spread Would memphis be a good choice to upset cleveland's night or does cleveland still have too many scores? memphis is a memphis is a seven and a half point Uh, home favor seven point home favorites. They are minus 290. So memphis is the favored in this game Uh, I would just double check the lines that you're looking at to make sure because memphis is the favorite Obviously making the playoffs last year Uh via the play-in game if I remember correctly, I know they lost to utah in the first round, but Uh, the play-in game is pretty sure they were there in the playing game Uh, but memphis is the favorite tonight. So I would be siding with them on the spread If you can get at six and a half that would obviously be great Uh, what do you do for indiana and charlotte's night? in terms of betting or Betting or dfs like if you are Looking to take this in betting. I mean, obviously it's super close. I mean, I think ultimately indiana is a slightly better team I don't think it's by much. Uh, so I would just take indiana straight up on the money line Uh, that's where I would go. So indiana straight up like, you know, we're dealing with essentially the same Across the board, but I think indiana is better slightly not by much Uh, I think they you know, they have a Little bit more consistency what we get from the horn and obviously their injury situation if rozier isn't in there, etc etc, so Pacers are where I would go Can you rank mole bamba? Wendell carter derrick favors and evan mobley? So I know derrick favors at least he's popping in our projection, which I'm I understand why just because the blow-up potential like there's You know, he's obviously going to see plenty of run kind of regardless of what happens, which I understand um, for me, I would take Uh of that See if we have any more confirmed starting lineups. Maybe that maybe that will uh, will impact things. Um You know mo bamba, she should have plenty of touches mobley I mean, these are all really really close. So I would go mobley bamba favors carter in that order Uh, that's probably what I'm doing tonight. They're all like super super close Like it's not like one is like dramatically higher than the other I think they're all in roughly the same spot. It's not like one game environment is You know substantially better than uh than the rest Uh, it's mr. Jack moon is saying I took some of most improved player futures kuzma Lanzo tyler hero just small bets on each Yeah, that's good. Like I I love betting on some of those longer markets I I didn't do any at the jump of the season. I know I'll hop in once Maybe we get like a month or two into the season Just to see how things shake out a little bit Um, you know, I think that the tyler hero one is is a solid one. I know he had like, uh, You know a a weaker year last year than he did in his rookie year But still his his men's are going to be there Miami trust him, um, you know He'll still be out there with plenty of men. So his opportunity should be uh, perfectly fine It's been a former lake there the last couple years I might have to do with the angel russell kuzma lanzo just in case the trend continues. Hey, it might be Uh, you know, maybe kuzma has a time to shine now that he's uh with the wizards Uh and can really like step up and be like a a true score for them Obviously playing a bit of a backup role the past few years and then lanzo like I said this before like lanzo had a really solid year last year Especially from you know downtown shooting like he was improved last year. I think you you know Kind of went overlooked in in some capacities. I know the bulls are like a a huge pick for a lot of people to make the playoffs this year Uh, so that's like I'm totally on board with that and then jaren jackson. Yeah, I think that's also, uh A solid option like last year just dealing with so many injuries. He comes back to the end of the season You know doesn't look amazing Uh, you know when they were in the playoffs like all that but you know jaren jackson was awesome Like what was it two years ago at this point? Uh, and just an option. I think you could use in dfs Looking to his combined points and rebounds For betting prop if you're looking at that on a nightly basis. I think that's totally fine Especially, you know, once the once we see like some of the matchups for them Like when the grizzlies play, you know, the timber wolves or the rockets or They're playing the kings or the trailblazers or all these teams that play like super fast and don't play defense You know jaren jackson like stepping up to be that secondary score behind jamma rance I think is something that is very very realistic. Now. He did just get paid Uh, what was that on monday? He got paid. Uh, so like they want him there They're gonna get him involved in the offense like all those sorts of things so The big news on tonight's later at least one of the one of the news points that we're waiting on is uh, jail and brown for the uh, the boston seltics Uh, you know, I think that will only elevate uh, jason tatum. I don't think like He needs any more like uh help because he's obviously an amazing player to begin with You know him scoring 45 to 55 fandal points tonight is obviously Uh, realistic possibility even if you know brown was in the lineup But if he is in fact ruled out because again, they said that he was starting and then he said himself He's questionable because he's coming out of the kovat protocols and there was a quote today about His conditioning because he said he had trouble breathing, you know, whatever it might be We want final confirmation whether he's in or out. I still know i'll have Plenty of shares of tatum regardless if he's in or out Lillard and drill and bead are players that i'll be trusting Again and again tonight Big on rachon holmstein as well If especially if you're a hand-building lineups, I think this is really where you could get pretty creative In terms of rostering, you know multiple Players that are quote-unquote should be at one position, but you can kind of slot them in somewhere else I think that is interesting I think that's something you need to pay attention to Especially if you're using an optimizer Whatever settings they have in terms of selecting players at a given position Some of them have like, you know drop downs where you can select to only use rachon holms at power forward That's something you should really pay attention to Uh, just in terms of when you're building multiple lines because you want to have certain players in certain spots So you're not blocking like if you have rachon holms Obviously in center you have so can't play and bead that and if you want to have imbed an x amount of lineups You just got to make sure all those settings are set. That's something that you know, everyone's gonna have to deal with 11 games on the slate again really looking at washington, toronto houston, minnesota And sacramental portland has like the main three games. I want a lot of exposure to Again, I to recap it for the people that are interested in betting I took chicago. I took washington. I took boston. I took philly all four teams all on the spread Not not apart leg just all on the spread all by themselves I know chicago, toronto, boston philly if that's what I said those the four teams Uh, I took the over on rachon holms on his points rebound assist combined prop That was the 21 and a half. I took the over on that took, uh, jaren jackson the over on His property things at 27 or 28 and a half. I took julius randall to have a double double tonight Uh pretty pretty good spread to to start the season again We have plenty of value. We need to confirm the lineups for all these teams Obviously, we'll get those ones like six six thirty. Hopefully not much later than that rolls around And we should be in a good spot tiris maxi value play for philly is someone i'm high on tonight believe beasley for minnesota i'm also Pretty high on tonight. I think that this game is going to be awesome for Fantasy scoring. I like scotty barns from toronto as a value tonight I think you can certainly be looking there uh It's mr. Jack moon is saying in b double double plus a 76ers win was about 138 Uh I mean, yeah, that looks pretty good. Like I think obviously he can do a double You know he can post a double double on any given night. Obviously I I think we'd all agree that philly There are better teams than the pelicans That's not too bad. Um No, I don't personally don't love doing those combined things where you need to have both things happen where like It's not unrealistic to think that imb goes for like 30 points and nine rebounds and the 76ers still win and then like you're just obviously One short of losing it. Uh, meanwhile, like you handicapped it perfectly You knew it was going to happen and it just like doesn't get one extra rebound Meanwhile, they they won the game and he was like that close Uh, which would I be more confident in indeed hitting a double double where the 76ers winning out of those? Uh, I mean the 76ers straight up or Minus 178 like again, I think that's a little bit a little bit too much juice as I already said already took philly minus four So that's the spot I would go Just to like stay on that same path again, uh philly just winning and covering All right, so that does it for the mba q and a again We have the daily iso the podcast covering, uh the day slate five days a week over at number fire dot com You can also find on the fandom podcast network. You can follow me on twitter at dfs underscore tom until next time Good luck in your contest