Wednesday night brings us a full 10-game NBA 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
Karl-Anthony Towns, F/C, Minnesota Timberwolves
NBA Snake Rank: 4
After a rough start to the season, which was plagued by injuries and contracting COVID-19, KAT is finally back to playing basketball at a superstar level. In his past 10 games, the Wolves center is averaging 53.4 DKFP per game. The primary reason for his success has been an increase in playing time. With new head coach Chris Finch calling the shots, Towns has logged over 35 minutes in seven of his past 10 outings. In his first 17 starts of the season, the former Kentucky Wildcat only surpassed the 35-minute mark three times.
The Knicks are in town tonight and New York is only favored by 3.5 points over the Wolves on DraftKings Sportsbook, which should lead to 35-40 minutes for KAT, particularly with no game last night or tomorrow. After growing up a Knicks fan, Towns always turns his game up a notch against the franchise, scoring 54 DKFP per game in his last seven meetings with New York, including a 61.25 DKFP showing last month.
De’Aaron Fox, G, Sacramento Kings
NBA Snake Rank: 9
Fox has been unstoppable, posting 50.1 DKFP per game in his past 12, and his most recent start was a 44.25-DKFP effort in a win over the Spurs on Monday. The Kings will meet San Antonio again on Wednesday night for round two of this mini-series, which carries an O/U of 231.5 points on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Despite being in the top 12 in efficiency, this Spurs defense has been susceptible to point guards all season long, giving up the seventh-most DKFP per game to the position. Since the start of the month, Fox has produced 51.75 DKFP when competing in a game with a total of at least 230 points, and the speedster’s incredible form should continue on Wednesday.
Early Round Player to Avoid
Damian Lillard, G, Portland Trail Blazers
NBA Snake Rank: 5
With the Blazers all of a sudden back to full strength, Lillard is absolutely not worth a top-five draft choice tonight vs. the Pistons. After missing essentially the whole first half of the season, both Jusuf Nurkic and C.J. McCollum are back for Portland. Compared to the 24 games he played without these two starters this season, Lillard has seen a 6.2% lower usage rate in the 13 games he has played alongside both Nurkic and McCollum.
Lillard is one of the best offensive talents in the NBA, but his usage simply isn’t going to be large enough for him to pay off his high pre-draft ranking, especially against a Pistons defense that ranks as top-10 unit since the All-Star break.
Late Round Fliers:
Dejounte Murray, G, San Antonio Spurs
NBA Snake Rank: 44
Murray has looked awesome recently, supplying 40.8 DKFP per game across his past three, including 43.5 DKFP against the Kings on Monday, who will be his opponent again tonight. No defense in the NBA has rated worse than the Kings up until this point of the season, and as noted above, this West matchup’s O/U is up to 231 points on DraftKings Sportsbook.
The Spurs rarely find themselves in this type of high-scoring affair, but in the team’s seven 230 points or greater game totals this year, Murray has been a stud with 43.8 DKFP per game.
Jordan Clarkson, G, Utah Jazz
NBA Snake Rank: 79
Donovan Mitchell will be tending to a personal matter tonight, keeping him out of the lineup for this matchup with the Grizzlies. The All-Star has been scorching hot since the break, leading Utah with 29.2 points per game, and his absence obviously creates a huge void on offense. Joe Ingles, Mike Conley and Clarkson will all gain extra responsibilities, but the latter is the player who should pick up most of the slack in the scoring department. When Mitchell has been off the floor in 2020-21, Clarkson’s usage has seen the biggest bump on the team (+3%). When Mitchell missed a pair of contests in January, Clarkson didn’t disappoint, posting 36.4 DKFP in 31.4 minutes per game off the bench.
At a lower pre-draft rank than both Ingles and Conley, Clarkson is the best snake draft value from the Jazz with Mitchell missing.
Hamidou Diallo, F/C, Detroit Pistons
NBA Snake Rank: 123
In just his second game with the Pistons, Diallo showed the upside he brings when given a sizable workload. With Dennis Smith Jr. (back), Rodney McGruder (elbow) and Killian Hayes (hip) all sidelined, Diallo didn’t start, but he played 27 minutes off the bench and recorded a double-double worth 43 DKFP in Monday’s win vs. the Raptors.
The former Thunder wing’s usage was up to 24.4% and maybe as soon as Wednesday night we will see Diallo enter Detroit’s starting five, given the absences mentioned above. Nevertheless, as one of the primary players the Pistons want to develop, Diallo should see close to 30 minutes on a regular basis from here on out. So far this season, the 22-year-old is providing 1.03 DKFP per minute and an excellent 33.6 DKFP per game when his playing time has been at a minimum of 25 minutes.
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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.
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