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Whats up, everybody? For Wednesday night, the NBA has blessed us with a massive 11-game slate, and if you haven’t by now, you need to check out DraftKings’ new Snake Draft format! Snake Drafts are now available in the DraftKings lobby for both NBA and NFL.
If you’ve ever played season-long fantasy before – either for NBA or any other sport – you’re likely familiar with how a Snake Draft works. In short, for these contests, once the allotted number of entries are filled in a contest, the draft will begin one minute later. The entrants are assigned a random draft order and will commence in that order. The player with the first pick gets dibs on anyone while the player with the last pick will get a double pick, as it’ll end the first round and thus begin the second.
Roster requirements for lineups: G – 2, F/C – 2, Util – 2
Visit the DraftKings NBA lobby to view all the available NBA Snake contests!
Favorable Early Round Targets
Giannis Antetokounmpo, F/C, Milwaukee Bucks
NBA Snake Rank: 2
If you have one of the top picks and Antetokounmpo is on the slate, he is always a safe choice. Tonight, he will be facing the Pistons, who he just scored 61.75 DKFP against this past Monday. After a subpar start to the season (45.8 DKFP per game in his first four), the reigning two-time NBA MVP has produced 65.2 DKFP per game in his last three.
The Bucks are big favorites over this 1-6 Detroit squad (MIL -13.5 on DraftKings Sportsbook), but we should never let a large spread stop us from perusing Antetokounmpo. Over the past two seasons, the superstar forward has amassed 60.6 DKFP per game when the Bucks have been favored by double-digits on their home floor. The Pistons rank as the 4th worst defense in basketball and Antetokounmpo is a near lock for over 60 DKFP.
Nikola Vucevic, F/C, Orlando Magic
NBA Snake Rank: 14
As usual, I get expect Vucevic to get slept on tonight and slip way too deep into snake drafts. Right off the bat, his #14 snake draft ranking for Wednesday is way too low for the center’s consistency. He supplied 45.8 DKFP per game last season and hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down in 2020-21, generating 45.5 DKFP per game. In his last start, Vucevic recorded 47 DKFP in a blowout win over the Cavs and he will match up with this defense again tonight, as Orlando and Cleveland complete the second contest of their season doubleheader.
Cavs center Andre Drummond may have the size, but he is a terrible individual defender and he and this Cleveland defense have given up the 3rd most DKFP to opposing centers this season. Vucevic has a ceiling north of 50 DKFP in this spot and is well deserving of a second or third round pick.
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Early Round Player to Avoid:
Julius Randle, F/C, New York Knicks
NBA Snake Rank: 7
I have been more than impressed with Randle and the Knicks’ hot start to the season, but his draft ranking is severely inflated after his performance vs. the Hawks on Monday (62.75 DKFP). Following this showing, Randle should come back down to earth tonight when he meets a Jazz defense that ranks 12th in efficiency. Not only are they a stout group collectively, but Utah has been tough on power forwards, giving up the 6th least DKFP per game to the position.
Plus, there is a chance that Alec Burks (ankle, questionable) returns for the Knicks, which could hurt Randle’s usage and assist rates. Either way, this matchup is rating poorly for the big man and I can’t stomach wasting a top-10 pick on Randle tonight.
Late Round Fliers
Clint Capela, F/C, Atlanta Hawks
NBA Snake Rank: 48
After being limited due to the Achilles injury that cost him most of last year, Capela has finally started to look like the center we saw flourish with the Rockets for multiple seasons. He only saw 20 minutes in each of his first two contests of 2020-21, but Capela has now logged at least 30 minutes in three straight and the increased playing time has helped him score 37.4 DKFP per game during this stretch.
The 26-year-old has reached the DraftKings’ double-double bonus in all three of these starts and Caplea is in a perfect spot to extend this streak tonight vs. the Hornets, who have yielded the 8th most rebounds per game. This matchup currently carries a large O/U game total of 232 points on DraftKings Sportsbook and you shouldn’t let Capela fall outside the top-30 in your snake drafts tonight.
LaMelo Ball, G, Charlotte Hornets
NBA Snake Rank: 54
Ball has already found his groove in the NBA and there’s no chance he slows down tonight vs. the Hawks. The rookie has filled up the stat and scored 37.6 DKFP per game across his last four, and regardless of coming off the bench, Ball has ranked 3rd in minutes, 3rd in usage and 1st in assist percentage for the Hornets during this run.
He averages 1.2 DKFP per minute for the season and as noted above, this matchup vs. the Hawks is projected to be one of the highest scoring contests of this 11-game slate. Ball should excel in this beautiful game setting and grabbing the young guard with one of your final picks should be a priority on Wednesday.
Seth Curry, G, Philadelphia 76ers
NBA Snake Rank: 87
Curry is one of my favorite sleepers for this slate. He struggled Monday vs. the Hornets (17.25 DKFP), but we can safely expect a bounce back effort from the shooter against the Wizards tonight. Curry was amassing 33.25 DKFP per game in his previous three before Monday and this Washington team has been awful defensively, ranking 25th in efficiency. Also, they are one of the fastest units in the NBA (3rd in pace) and they are allowing the 3rd most DKFP per game to opposing shooting guards thus far.
Via DraftKings Sportsbook, this East matchup is projected for an immense O/U game total of 231 points and I would be shocked if Curry didn’t light up this soft Wizards defense for at least 30 DKFP.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is Hunta512) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.