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Friday night presents to us a full 11-game slate, and if you haven’t by now, you need to check out DraftKings’ new Snake Draft format! Below, we break down some of the best targets for tonight’s DraftKings NBA Snake slate.
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Favorable Early Round Targets
Trae Young, G, Atlanta Hawks
NBA Snake Rank: 5
Young has been a fantasy monster, scoring 53.4 DKFP per game across his last seven and tonight’s matchup vs. the Spurs is absolutely perfect. Up until this point of the season, no defense has yielded more DKFP per game to opposing point guards than San Antonio. In fact, this is the top matchup in all of fantasy basketball this year, regardless of position.
Per the DraftKings Sportsbook, this matchup’s O/U game total is up to 228.5 points and Atlanta is only favored by two points. Three times this season Young has found himself in a total higher than 225 with a spread under five, and the 22-year-old has been spectacular with 57.2 DKFP per game. His impressive run will certainly continue tonight and Young is a player we can confidently use a first-round pick on.
Russell Westbrook, G, Washington Wizards
NBA Snake Rank: 13
Westbrook has had a poor first season for the Wizards, including a 2-13 record with him in the lineup, but win or lose, the point guard is going to post a huge stat line Friday. For the first time this year, Westbrook will play a game with Bradley Beal (rest) out of the picture. When the shooting guard has been off the court, Westbrook’s usage has skyrocketed 9.2% to a team-high 40%. His assist rate also jumps 9% and the 32-year-old has produced an elite 1.5 DKFP per minute sans Beal.
The matchup isn’t appealing, taking on a Knicks’ defense that ranks 5th in efficiency, but we are talking about the type of workload we saw Westbrook handle during his 2017 MVP season. No matchup should concern us in this scenario and Westbrook is arguably a top-five pick for Friday night.
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Early Round Player to Avoid
Kristaps Porzingis, F/C, Dallas Mavericks
NBA Snake Rank: 20
Porzingis has been a tough pill to swallow this season and to keep it simple, I would rather look elsewhere this evening. Wednesday night, he logged a season-low 19 minutes in a game that was decided by one point. Yes, he did have five fouls, but for the former All-Star to only see 3.5 minutes in the four quarter of this competitive game is alarming. The often injured 25-year-old could have easily be dealing with an ailment that could hamper him tonight, and regardless of his health, Porzingis has been very inconsistent.
He has scored less than 40 DKFP in six of his past nine and to top it off, this matchup vs. the Pelicans is ugly, with them giving up the 9th least DKFP per game to opposing power forwards this season.
Late Round Fliers
DeMar DeRozan, F/C, San Antonio Spurs
NBA Snake Rank: 28
DeRozan was quiet Tuesday, posting only 24.25 DKFP vs. the Warriors, but San Antonio lost this game by 23 points, limiting him to only 28 minutes. Hopefully this makes people sleep on him tonight and we can get DeRozan later than his pre-draft ranking for this prime setting against the Hawks. Prior to the letdown Tuesday, the Spurs’ forward was on a roll, supplying 47.7 DKFP per game across his previous three. LaMarcus Aldridge (hip) was out for this stretch and he will sit again on Friday.
DeRozan has amassed 39.8 DKFP per game in the eight contests Aldridge has been inactive for this year. Lastly, the Hawks have slipped to 27th in defensive rating over their last five and in all the Spurs’ contests that presented a total of 225 points or more in 2020-21, DeRozan has been great with 40.3 DKFP per game.
Lonzo Ball, G, New Orleans Pelicans
NBA Snake Rank: 46
Very quietly, Ball has been a reliable fantasy player over the last few weeks. In his past eight, he has generated 36.25 DKFP per game and we have seen the 23-year-old surpass 40 DKFP in two of his last three.
Tonight’s date with the Mavs’ calls for a high total of 233.5 points on the DraftKings Sportsbook, and this should come as no surprise, considering that Dallas ranks dead last in defensive rating across their last ten. Ball is going to fill up the stat in this beautiful spot and has ceiling over 40 DKFP.
Lou Williams, G, Los Angeles Clippers
NBA Snake Rank: 83
Williams has been huge for the Clippers with Paul George absent for their last three, scoring 38 DKFP per game. His usage has cracked 30% in each of these tilts and Williams has also seen his playing time rise to 26.5 minutes per game. George has already been confirmed out for Friday and there’s no chance the Bulls’ slow down Williams.
They rank 22nd in defensive efficiency this season and the DraftKings Sportsbook is giving this contest an O/U game total of 228.5 points. Williams should carve them for at least 30 DKFP and I’d be more than happy to walk away with the three-time six man of the year at his low pre-draft ranking tonight.
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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.