DraftKings, your paradise of DFS nirvana, has done it again with a new contest called NBA Starting 5. You select one point guard, one shooting guard, one small forward, one power forward and one center. There is no salary cap. The only stipulation is that you must select players from at least two different teams.
For Tuesday’s Starting 5 slate, there are five games.
NYK is playing the second leg of a back-to-back.
As for injuries, Ben Simmons is probable. Paul George, Anfernee Simons, D’Angelo Russell, Guerschon Yabusele, Andre Drummond, Robert Williams III, Kris Murray, Chris Boucher, Jett Howard and Gary Harris are questionable. Ziaire Williams is out. Keep track of all the pertinent injury updates at DK Live.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, there are four double-digit favorities: NYK -10.5 over BKN, MIA -11.5 over POR, DEN -12 over PHI and LAL -14.5 over WAS. There is one game with a total of at least 230: LAL/WAS (231). There are two games with a total below 220: POR/MIA (219.5) and ORL/TOR (215.5). Log into DK Sportsbook for the updates.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Starting 5 $10K Zone [$2K to 1st].
Point Guard
Since there are no price considerations, Tyrese Maxey is my guy at the position. Joel Embiid is out, while Paul George has missed the last two games, putting more of the offensive onus on Maxey’s shoulders. And he has no problems in the Atlas role, going for over 50 FPTS in two of the last three games. In addition, Nick Nurse ironically has no regard for player’s health as he’s running Maxey out there for 40+ minutes a night.
Shooting Guard
This position is kind of gross but I’ll go with Mikal Bridges. While he only played 27 minutes on Monday, Tom Thibodeau had been running him out there for 37 to 40 minutes a night. The ceiling isn’t high, although he did pop off for 59.25 FPTS back on Christmas, more often than not, he’s going to deliver 30 FPTS. Not great but solid for the position. Brooklyn has been 26th in defensive rating over the last 10 games.
Small Forward
In a vacuum, I like RJ Barrett, but the matchup is very unappealing. Therefore, I’ll go with lower-usage player in Josh Hart. The thing about Hart, though, is that he’s such an excellent rebounder and contributes well in every category that the floor is relatively high, especially since he plays around 38 minutes per night. He will more than likely end up in the 30-FPTS range, but he has gone over 60 FPTS two times this season, with the most recent three games ago.
Power Forward
LeBron James may not have access to ceiling games anymore, but he will more than likely finish in the 40 to 50 FPTS range, which is more than solid, especially since Paolo Banchero isn’t playing over 30 minutes yet and Scottie Barnes has a tough matchup.
Center
Nikola Jokic is on the slate so you click on him. Easy game.
Jokic has the highest floor/ceiling combo, having failed to produce 50 FPTS only three times this season while going over 80 FPTS nine times with three of those over 90.
What is the DraftKings NBA Starting 5 Game Style?
- The Fantasy Sports NBA Starting 5 Game Style is a type of contest in which participants draft lineups by selecting one point guard, one shooting guard, one small forward, one power forward and one center. NBA Starting 5 is scored the same way as classic NBA DFS contests.
Important Information:
- Fantasy Sports NBA Starting 5 contests require no salary cap balancing.
- NBA Starting 5 contests span multiple games, and Fantasy Sports participants must select athletes from at least two different teams.
- Participants will see all five positions on the draft screen and must pick one athlete per position.
