Dillon’s Daily Fantasy Review: December 17, 2021

By Dillon Sage

Last night, I participated and got 5th place in Fan Duel’s Friday Pick ‘N Roll 20 max lineup. Doing DFS in the Covid era is a tricky proposition, but the edge is huge if you stay by your computer and stay current on the information. I wanted to take the opportunity to talk about the thought process of building that lineup. 

Damian Lillard: Going against the Hornets is gold in DFS. They are the fastest team in the NBA and the worst defensively. The Blazers had CJ and Dennis Smith Jr out, so Damian would be the only option to set the table for the team if it was a competitive game (It shouldn’t have been btw). 

Jrue Holiday: Some say it was a revenge game. I say the reason I aggressively played Jrue was because Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Bobby Portis, Thanasis Antetokounmpo Brook Lopez, and Donte Divincenzo were all out. With all those players out, Jrue has a usage rate of 42% god damn. With the depleted roster going against an awful New Orleans Pelicans defense, Jrue was the most popular on the slate for a reason. 

D’Angelo Russell: Anthony Edwards was ruled out due to health and safety protocols. So his enormous 27% usage rate had to go somewhere, and it was most likely going to D’Lo and KAT. Going against a shockingly fast and mediocre Laker team at an 8000 dollar salary, D’lo was a reasonable risk. 

Grayson Allen: Grayson and Pat Connaughton were excellent value players with all those Milwaukee Bucks players out. For this lineup, Grayson was my choice. 

Andrew Wiggins: With Jordan Poole out with health and safety protocols. Andrew Wiggins became the second option on the Warriors. With them playing the Celtics, Andrew was going to play extended rotations.

Franz Wagner:  Injuries devastated the Orlando Magic. They signed four new players to play yesterday. Orlando was the value team of the slate, and my idea was to limit Orlando Magic to only two players max in a lineup. In my player pool, the three Orlando Magic were Franz Wagner, Chuma Okeke, and Wendell Carter, Jr. 

Harrison Barnes:  Kings had six players out, including De’Aaron Fox and their head coach Alvin Gentry. If that game was to take place, I wanted at least one Sacramento King to be on my roster. Kings play fast, and with a lack of guards, Harrison would get the ball more and play a full rotation.  

Chuma Okeke: Orlando had so many new players on their roster that I knew they would give extended minutes to their actual rotation players. Chuma was a 2019 first-round pick, and they needed to give him the PT. I didn’t think he would get 18 points, ten rebounds, and seven stocks. 

Karl-Anthony Towns: The consensus at Center was going for the most expensive Nikola Jokic, and when DeMarcus Cousins was named the starter, go cheap with him. I went heavy with Joker on my other lineups, but KAT, with the added usage with Anthony Edwards out and low ownership because of other popular Centers, was a great risk.