Say it with me: SPORTS EQUINOX.
That’s right. All four major sports leagues will be in action tonight, which is something that used to excite me before I turned my hobby into a job a decade ago and sold my soul.
Anyway, one of those four sports is basketball and there’s a 10-game featured slate this evening on DraftKings. Let’s dive in and find some undervalued players to put in your lineups.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st]
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SG/SF Bilal Coulibaly, Washington Wizards at Atlanta Hawks, $4,900
While the Wizards did bring in some new players this offseason, their two key additions, Malcolm Brogdon (thumb) and Saddiq Bey (knee), have yet to suit up. That’s opened up some opportunity on the wing for Coulibaly to take on a larger role than he saw in his rookie campaign. The former lottery pick has averaged 32.5 minutes in Washington’s two games in 2024-25, and he’s on the heels of dropping a career-high 23 points in Saturday’s loss versus the Cavaliers. Even in the Wizards’ season opener against the Celtics, Coulibaly was able to register 25.0 FPTS thanks to six rebounds and six assists. He has the ability to stuff the stat sheet in several categories and he should be able to show off that skill set in a contest that owns this slate’s highest implied total. It’s early, but the Hawks do sport the NBA’s sixth-worst defensive rating (117.4).
C Dereck Lively II, Dallas Mavericks at Utah Jazz, $5,100
At this point, we’re pretty familiar with the way the Mavericks utilize their five spot. In theory, it’s a 50/50 split between Daniel Gafford ($4,900) and Lively. However, through the season’s first two games, it seems like the sophomore is eating into the veteran’s workload. Despite starting, Gafford has logged fewer than 20 minutes in both contests, while Lively is averaging 24.5 minutes, 10.0 points and 11.0 rebounds. For those trying to do the math at home, that’s an impressive 14.7 points and 16.2 rebounds per 36. If these usage trends continue on Monday, Lively should be able to post a huge performance against the floundering Jazz. Utah isn’t just bad, its the perfect type of bad to create a wonderful fantasy environment. The Jazz come into this slate with the sixth-fastest pace in the NBA (104.0) and the Western Conference’s worst defensive rating (121.6).
PG Scotty Pippen Jr., Memphis Grizzlies vs. Chicago Bulls, $5,200
Pippen is probably worth considering on every slate at this point, simply based upon his own merit. Consider that the undrafted guard is averaging 1.31 FPTS per minute played through three games, which ranks second on the Grizzlies behind only Ja Morant ($9,200). His 47.1% assist rate isn’t just the best mark on Memphis, it’s the third-best mark in the NBA, trailing only Nikola Jokic and James Harden. Yeah. That’s some pretty special company — even for a small sample size. As it pertains specifically to tonight’s matchup with the Bulls, Pippen’s viability has the potential to skyrocket if the aforementioned Morant (thigh) is unable to play through a questionable tag. Even if he does, the Grizzlies as a whole are in a decent environment, as the Bulls are far and away operating as the league’s fastest-paced team in 2024-25. There should be no shortage of possessions in this game.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st]
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
