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Tonight, barring any postponements, we should receive a massive 12-game fantasy basketball slate, and if you haven’t by now, you need to check out DraftKings’ new Snake Draft format!
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
Stephen Curry, G, Golden State Warriors
NBA Snake Rank: 11
Curry has scored 49.2 DKFP per game across his last four, including 53.5 DKFP against the Wolves on Monday. Tonight, he and the Warriors will meet the Wolves again for the second leg of this miniseries. All season long, Minnesota has been arguably the top matchup for point guards, ranking 6th in pace and 27th in defensive efficiency. In result, they are yielding the second most DKFP per game to opposing point guards.
Curry drilled seven three pointers in this spot Monday and he is knocking down 52% of his attempts from beyond the arc in his last four games. The two-time MVP has been slightly better at home in 2020-21 (+1.7 DKFP) and the Wolves’ perimeter defense has been a disaster on the road, allowing their opponents to hit three pointers at the 3rd highest rate in the NBA. We should see a vintage Curry performance tonight and he is worthy of a top-ten selection in snake drafts for Wednesday.
Nikola Vucevic, F/C, Orlando Magic
NBA Snake Rank: 12
Simply put, the Kings are by far the worst defensive club in basketball. Their defensive rating is the worst in the league by a wide margin and they are most susceptible up front. No club in the NBA has given up more points in the paint than Sacramento and Vucevic should have a field day in this appetizing spot. Since Markelle Fultz (knee) went down for the season, Vucevic has led Orlando with 50 DKFP per game.
The immense production is almost guaranteed to maintain against this putrid Kings defense and Vucevic is one of the safest early round targets of this gigantic slate.
Early Round Player to Avoid
James Harden, G, Brooklyn Nets
NBA Snake Rank: 6
Harden’s numbers have taken a massive hit playing alongside Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. In his first two starts as a member of the Nets, with Irving away from the team, the former MVP produced 70.5 DKFP per game and obtained a team-high 36.9% usage rate. Now, in these last four with Irving back in the fold, Harden’s usage has plummeted all the way down to 20.4% and he has only amassed 45 DKFP per game. In total, this is only 1.03 DKFP per minute for the superstar. Before being acquired by Brooklyn, Harden was averaging 1.42 DKFP per minute in Houston since 2019.
These splits are eye popping and with all of Brooklyn’s big three healthy and available, Harden is a tough sell at his high ranking.
Late Round Fliers
Zion Williamson, F/C, New Orleans Pelicans
NBA Snake Rank: 34
This evening, the Wizards will be playing their second game in two nights against a well-rested Pelicans club that hasn’t competed since Saturday. Washington currently sits at 29th in defensive efficiency and opponents are scoring 124 points per game against them when the Wizards are on the second leg of a back-to-back set this season. The Pelicans will deliver one of the highest scores of the night on their home floor, where Williamson is generating 40.4 DKFP per game this year.
The 20-year-old has exceeded 40 DKFP in six of his past eight and DraftKings is undervaluing Williamson with this pre-draft ranking.
Rudy Gobert, F/C, Utah Jazz
NBA Snake Rank: 46
With the Knicks in town last night, Gobert went off for a season-best 54.25 DKFP in 32 minutes of work. Tonight, he and the Jazz welcome in another weak interior defense, the Dallas Mavericks.
After a promising start to their season on the defensive end, the Mavs have slipped to 18th in efficiency and they are currently giving up the 2nd most rebounds per game. Additionally, they are surrendering the 7th most DKFP per game to the center position and this game’s total is at a healthy 225 points on DraftKings Sportsbook. Not very often do the Jazz find themselves in this friendly of an environment and in his last three with a total of 225 points or greater, Gobert has excelled with 41.8 DKFP per game.
Jae Crowder, F/C, Phoenix Suns
NBA Snake Rank: 122
With Devin Booker (hamstring) out this past Saturday, Crowder turned in a season-high 38.25 DKFP as the replacement starter vs. the Nuggets. He logged 35 regulation minutes before the two overtime periods and contributed 0.86 DKFP per minute sans Booker. The star shooting guard has already been ruled out ahead of Wednesday night’s home matchup vs. the Thunder, which should keep Crowder as a member of the first unit.
We can safely project the well-rounded wing for 30-35 minutes and this is a favorable matchup with the Thunder allowing the 6th most DKFP per game to opposing small forwards. On the six occasions Crowder has topped 30 minutes since joining the Suns, he is supplying 26.9 DKFP per game. The 30-year-old’s role with Booker absent may get overlooked in this format and Crowder should be available in the final rounds of large snake drafts Wednesday.
Visit the DraftKings NBA lobby to view all the available NBA Snake contests!
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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.