The start of the NBA season is here after a quick turnaround from the end of last season inside the Florida bubble! Although teams are back to playing in their home markets, there still won’t be fans in attendance. Tuesday brings a brief two-game slate, one of which pits the Clippers against the Lakers. Let’s discuss some players to target as you build your Showdown lineups.
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Big Trey Payday
Opt-in and if a player hits a 3-pointer in the last minute of the fourth quarter in tonight’s Brooklyn vs. Golden State game or tonight’s LAC vs. LAL game, you get an entry to an exclusive $100K contest on 12/28! See the DraftKings Big Trey Payday page for more details!
SHOWDOWN STRATEGY
Captain’s Pick
Anthony Davis ($16,500 CP): Talk about ending the preseason on a high note. Davis destroyed the Suns on Friday, recording 35 points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks across 30 minutes. He made 11 of 16 shot attempts, including six of his seven tries from behind the arc. The Lakers had a great offseason adding depth to their roster, but this team is still only going to go as far as Davis and LeBron James ($10,600) can take them. Davis playing 30 minutes Friday indicates that he shouldn’t be on any type of a minutes restriction entering the season, so expect him to start things off with an all-around juicy stat line.
Kawhi Leonard ($15,000 CP): The Clippers fell short in their goal of winning a championship last season. Leonard still fared well in his first season with the team, averaging 27.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, a career-high 4.9 assists and 1.8 steals a game. When he’s healthy, he can stuff the stat sheet like few others around the league. With the condensed schedule that the league has deployed, expect Leonard to receive plenty of load-management days to avoid playing in both games of back-to-backs. That won’t be an issue Tuesday, though, so expect him to log his normal allotment of minutes.
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FLEX Plays
Dennis Schroder ($6,600): Schroder was one of the key offseason acquisitions made by the Lakers. He was stellar off the bench for the Thunder last season, averaging 18.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and four assists per contest. He’s averaged at least 17.9 points in three of the last four seasons — although, he could see a decline in usage rate playing alongside James and Davis. Still, he’s going to be an important part of the team since the Lakers brought him in to share some of the ball-handling responsibilities with James and take some of the scoring pressure off of their two stars. He did suffer an ankle injury towards the end of the preseason, but all indications are that it was minor and he should be ready to play in this contest.
Montrezl Harrell ($6,000): Harrell was the other big name that the Lakers brought in to help with their quest to defend their title. He’s coming off the best season of his career with the Clippers, during which he averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.7 assists. It seems highly unlikely that he’ll be able to maintain his scoring averaging playing alongside James, Davis and Schroder. Still, he’s an efficient shooter who has never finished with a field goal percentage of under 58%. At this reduced salary, he could still provide value as one of the key members of the Lakers’ second unit.
Serge Ibaka ($5,800): In to replace Harrell on the Clippers is Ibaka, who enjoyed three-plus successful seasons with the Raptors that included a title. Despite only averaging 27 minutes a game last season, Ibaka was very productive with averages of 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds and 1.3 three-pointers made per game. He’s not the shock blocker that he was during his time with the Thunder, but he’s proven he can still be productive while playing somewhat limited minutes. He didn’t average more than 28 minutes in either of the last three seasons with the Raptors, but he averaged at least 15 points and 8.1 rebounds in both of the last two seasons. He’s set to start this year over Ivica Zubac ($5,400) and his ability to help stretch the floor while playing excellent defense will keep him busy.
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Fades
Marc Gasol ($5,200): The Lakers further fortified their center position by signing the veteran Gasol away from the Raptors. He’s clearly in the late stages of his career and is coming off of a disappointing campaign in which he averaged 7.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists. While he’s expected to be the Lakers’ starting center, Harrell should log more minutes than him on a nightly basis. Combine his limited playing time with the likelihood for an underwhelming usage rate playing alongside so many talented scorers and Gasol isn’t a very appealing option.
THE OUTCOME
The additions of Schroder and Harrell are huge for the Lakers, especially in their efforts to keep James and Davis healthy for the playoffs. Their overall depth is much stronger this season when you also factor in the additions of Gasol and Wesley Matthews ($3,600), so the Clippers no longer have a significant advantage in the depth department. This game should be close as both teams look to round into shape — but the Lakers should get the win here.
Final Score: Lakers 112, Clippers 109
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA Showdown $300K Banner Ceremony [$100K to 1st] (LAC vs LAL)
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