NBA DFS Picks 22 October: Fanteam, DraftKings, FanDuel & Yahoo

Fanteam uses 7 players (PG, SG, SF, PF, C and two UTIL), an 80 cap and at most 7 players from one team. Value here is projected points divided by salary. Around 3 is the normal mark, so anything clearly above that is a discount.

Top plays

Jokic is my starting point. At 18.2 he is the most expensive player on the slate, yet his 59.5 projection still comes out at 3.27. No one else offers that combination of floor and ceiling. The road matchup and the chance of a lopsided score are real, but on two games I would rather start with him than build around him.

Embiid is the best price among the stars. At 12.8 and a 43.9 projection, his 3.43 value leads the slate. He fills the box score even on quiet scoring nights, and his role in this short rotation is heavy. Of the four main Philadelphia players, he is the one I want most.

Donovan Mitchell at 13.7 is Cleveland’s top scorer on a team that lost scoring from last season. He is a clean way to run back a Philadelphia stack. James Harden at 11.8 is the cheaper Cleveland guard I like. His rebounding and playmaking keep his floor steady, and if Allen sits, Cleveland goes smaller and his rebounding upside grows.

Value plays

Isaiah Hartenstein at 8.0 is the cheap big I want. He is efficient whenever he is on the floor, and foul trouble in the opener may keep people off him. Oklahoma City also plays two bigs together for long stretches, which protects his role.

Peyton Watson at 8.3 looks set for a starting job in Cleveland. He is not a high-usage scorer, but he defends well enough to stay on the floor, and blocks and steals give him a fantasy floor. Jared McCain at 6.3 is the cheapest useful piece on the slate. He is a real scorer with a bigger role now that Oklahoma City’s rotation has thinned out. He shot very well on opening night, so I expect some regression, but at this price he does not need a big game.

LeBron James at 11.7 is cheap for what he produces. He handles the ball, rebounds and passes, so he has several ways to reach his number. A double-double is a fair expectation. If Dean Wade returns, I would expect LeBron to lose a little of his workload, which is worth watching.

Fades

None of these are bad players. They are just badly priced tonight. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is elite and can post a 50-point game, but at 16.5 his 2.85 value is the weakest among the stars. If I am paying top dollar, I would rather pay it for Jokic. Fitting both is hard, and I would only do it in a smaller share of lineups.

Jaylen Brown plays heavy minutes, but his usage is more modest than Maxey’s or Embiid’s, and Embiid is almost the same price. Jamal Murray is Denver’s second option with real usage, but at 13.0 he is priced at full rate. Mobley is the conditional one. If Allen is ruled out, Mobley slides to center and gets more work. That would also put him against Embiid, which brings foul trouble risk. At 13.2 I would not chase him unless the news breaks his way.

DraftKings uses 8 players (PG, SG, SF, PF, C, G, F, UTIL) with a $50,000 cap. Value is points per $1,000, and around 5 is the baseline. Jokic at $10,900 and Embiid at $7,700 both clear that, so I want both in most builds. Chet Holmgren at $5,800 is the standout price here. He has a full role with no restriction and is underpriced for it. Jaylon Tyson at $3,600 is my favourite punt. He crashes the offensive glass, produced when Cleveland’s bigs were missing, and gains more work if Allen sits and Cleveland goes small. He does need to shoot efficiently to pay off.

FanDuel uses 9 players (PG, SG, SF, PF, C, G/F, F/C and two UTIL) with a $60,000 cap. Value is points per $1,000. Hartenstein at $4,700 leads the value list, and he is an easy way to fill the F/C slot. Mobley prices better here than on Fanteam at $7,600. That makes him more attractive if Allen is out. Ajay Mitchell at $4,400 is a guard I like for a bounce-back. He had solid counting stats in the opener but missed shots. His role should be large, and the poor shooting may keep people on McCain instead.

Yahoo uses 8 players (PG, SG, G, SF, PF, F, C, UTIL) with a $200 cap and at most 6 players from one team. Value is a plain ratio, and above 1 beats the price. The stars are priced tightly here, so the cheap Denver wings matter more. Cameron Johnson at 21 is the only player above 1. Denver is thin, so he and Christian Braun at 22 are worth taking shots on in tournaments, though both are up-and-down. Jalen Williams at 34 and Chet Holmgren at 35 are the secondary Oklahoma City pieces I like at fair prices.