It’s Friday, which means it’s another night of NBA Cup action. There are just six games on the board for the DraftKings main slate tonight, including quite a few with high totals and relatively tight spreads.
Let’s dive into some of the top plays on the slate using the FantasyLabs tools and projections.
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Note: Projections and Leverage Scores/Ratings may change throughout the day after this article is posted. The NBA DFS landscape changes quickly.
Consult the NBA Player Models directly for any updates as we get closer to lock.
NBA DFS Point Guard Picks
Stud
Ty Jerome ($8,000)
This slate isn’t rife with pay-up options at point guard. Jalen Brunson headlines the position at just $8,500, while the $8,000 Ty Jerome gets a nice matchup against a Pelicans team that’s really struggling defensively. New Orleans enters tonight’s clash with Memphis ranked just 27th in defensive efficiency, yielding 119.2 points per 100 possessions. Things have been particularly dire for the Pels on that end of the floor recently, as they’ve allowed each of their last three opponents to put at least 138 points on the board. Amazingly,
Jerome continues to play a leading role for the Grizz offensively. The well-traveled veteran still leads Memphis in scoring (26.2 PPG), and he’s shooting a robust 50% from the field on more than 18 attempts per game. Jerome’s 32.3% usage rate puts him among the league’s elite, and he scored 40 real points in an overtime loss to these very Pelicans earlier this month.
Value
Tre Jones ($4,600)
Some of the game environments on tonight’s slate really stand out, perhaps none of them more than the Hawks-Bulls clash. This game features a whopping 246.5 over/under with Atlanta currently installed as 6.5-point favorites on the road. Chicago will be shorthanded for this one, as Rookie of the Year contender Caleb Wilson will sit out with a hand injury. Norman Powell is questionable after missing Wednesday’s game with a bad back.
Tre Jones logged 28 minutes off of the Bulls’ bench in the last game with Powell sidelined. He’s also been quite productive this season with Wilson off the floor, averaging a solid 1.07 DK points per minute across a 95-minute sample. Jones is already a decent value in the Player Models with Wilson confirmed out, and his minutes projection will likely rise if Powell joins him on the sidelines. He’s a nice, cheap way to get exposure to this blockbuster game environment.
Fast Break
Dyson Daniels ($6,600) – Daniels is off to a nice start this season. He doesn’t excel in one specific area, but he will do a little bit of everything, as evidenced by his averages of 9.8 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 3.0 steals thus far. Daniels’ proclivity for racking up steals should come in handy tonight in a potentially fast-paced matchup against a Bulls team averaging the seventh-most turnovers per game (16.1).
James Harden ($7,000) – Another potential shootout is this Cavs-Heat clash, which features a Vegas total of 235.5 points. The Cavs will be without Evan Mobley, which will open up some usage for Cleveland’s other pieces. Since his arrival midway through last season, James Harden has enjoyed a 3.7% usage boost in the minutes he’s played without Mobley, while he’s averaging a solid 1.18 fantasy points per minute. At $7,000, Harden stands out as a solid midrange value in all formats.
NBA DFS Shooting Guard Picks
Stud
Donovan Mitchell ($8,100)
While Harden makes for a nice play, the headliner on the Cleveland side is, undoubtedly, Donovan Mitchell. Since the beginning of the 2025-26 season, Mitchell’s usage rate is up over 35% with Mobley off the floor, and he’s averaging a stellar 1.48 DK points per minute. That’s a sample size of 902 minutes, so we can feel pretty comfortable projecting Mitchell’s performance against a fast-paced Heat team that comes into this one ranked just 25th in defensive efficiency.
Miami is also giving it up from beyond the long line. The Heat are allowing the most made three-pointers per game this season (16.1), while Mitchell is attempting more than seven triples per game. Mitchell is also just wildly underpriced for what his role should be at $8,100. He comes in with the highest projected Plus/Minus of any shooting guard by a healthy margin.
Value
Jaylon Tyson ($4,200)
Mobley isn’t the only Cleveland regular missing from the rotation, as they’ll also be without sharpshooter Sam Merrill tonight in Miami. Jarrett Allen will likely be tasked with trying to keep Giannis Antetokounmpo in check, but the Cavaliers don’t have much size left beyond him. With two big holes in the rotation, Jaylon Tyson is projected to start with a clear path to 27-30 minutes tonight.
Tyson has played his way into a steady role for Cleveland over the past couple of years, and he’s been a productive piece when given the chance, averaging 0.95 FP/minute with Mobley on the bench. A $4,200 salary and SG/SF eligibility make it easy to find a way to jam him into lineups.
Fast Break
Cedric Coward ($5,900) – Jerome and Cam Boozer tend to generate most of the headlines for the Grizzlies, but Cedric Coward has emerged as one of the core pieces of the team’s rebuild, too. The second-year swingman is averaging 12.8 points and just under nine rebounds per game early this season. The rebounding prowess is particularly impressive for a player listed at 6’5″. Coward has already racked up three points and rebounds double-doubles in 10 games this year.
Amen Thompson ($6,900) – The Rockets are the biggest favorites on the slate (-15.5) thanks to a tasty home matchup against the Jazz. Amen Thompson is off to a bit of a slow individual start this season, but the cheap $6,900 salary reflects as much. He’s still averaging around a fantasy point per minute on the season, and there’s a little less competition for minutes in Houston’s backcourt with Marcus Smart suspended for this game.
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NBA DFS Small Forward Picks
Stud
Franz Wagner ($9,500)
Reinforcements could be on the way for the Magic, as Jalen Suggs is questionable to play in this one after missing the past few weeks with a knee injury. Regardless of Suggs’ status, though, Orlando’s offense should continue to run through Franz Wagner with Paolo Banchero still sidelined by his own injury. Wagner has been stuffing the stat sheet this season, averaging 23.5 points, 7.9 assists, and 6.5 rebounds while averaging the second-most minutes (36.8) in the league.
Franz has been particularly prolific of late, as he’s topped 50 DK points in each of his last four games. The Magic also draw one of the slate’s better matchups against a rebuilding Milwaukee team that comes into this game ranked 29th in the NBA in defensive rating. Only the Bulls have allowed more points per 100 possessions than the Bucks (120.7) so far. Somewhat surprisingly, Wagner is projected for less than 3% ownership despite his sparkling run of form.
Value
Matas Buzelis ($5,800)
The Bulls are going nowhere fast this season, but they can use these games to evaluate some of their young players and figure out whether they’re worth building around. Matas Buzelis was viewed as one of Chicago’s young cornerstones coming into the season, but he’s gotten off to a ragged start. Buzelis is averaging just 13.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game this season, both of which are down from the numbers he posted a season ago (16.3 points, 5.8 rebounds).
Tonight, however, Buzelis should have more on his plate offensively with Caleb Wilson sidelined and Norman Powell questionable. Matas’ usage rate is up by just over 4% on the season with Wilson off the floor. That number jumps a bit to +5% in the minutes he’s played without both Wilson and Powell. Despite his struggles, Buzelis looks like a great buy-low candidate here at a cheap salary and in a favorable matchup against Atlanta in the game with the highest total on the board.
Fast Break
Kevin Durant ($7,600) – Even in a game with blowout risk, Kevin Durant is always worth keeping in a player pool. The future Hall-of-Famer’s usage is down a bit this season (23.8%), but he’s still contributing more than a fantasy point per minute and logging mid-30s minutes in competitive games. He projects for around 17% ownership at a small forward position that lacks depth on this slate.
Saddiq Bey ($6,200) – Bey has played almost exclusively off the Pelicans’ bench this season, but the minutes are still there. With Trey Murphy and Yves Missi sidelined, Bey has a path to around 30 minutes in tonight’s matchup against Memphis. He’s a rock-solid per-minute producer (0.96 DK) projected for sub-10% ownership tonight.
NBA DFS Power Forward Picks
Stud
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,500)
Nobody is truly capable of stopping Giannis Antetokounmpo, but Evan Mobley would’ve been the Cavs’ best hope of keeping him relatively contained. With Mobley out of tonight’s game, Antetokounmpo likely won’t find much resistance. The Greek Freak is averaging 27.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, and two combined blocks and steals per game through his first 11 appearances for Miami.
Despite their reputation as a solid defensive frontcourt, the Cavs have struggled to keep teams from killing them in the paint this season. Cleveland has coughed up 52 points in the paint per game, which is the fifth-highest mark in the NBA. With the $9,300 Jalen Johnson likely to pull significantly more ownership, Giannis looks like a very interesting way to get different in GPPs.
Value
Isaiah Stewart ($3,900)
The Grizzlies will be shorthanded in the frontcourt tonight against New Orleans. Zach Edey will sit this one out to rest, while Quinten Post is out with a concussion. As a result, former Piston Isaiah Stewart is projected to start and play mid-20s minutes against a Pelicans team missing its own starting center, Yves Missi. Stewart is only averaging about 18 minutes per game this season, though he did log a season-high 28 minutes in the most recent matchup with New Orleans back on November 2nd.
Stewart has averaged 0.99 DK points per minute in a 135-minute sample so far this season with both Edey and Post on the bench. He’s unlikely to see a ton of usage, but he’ll be happy to do the dirty work on the boards and in the paint. Stewart is a bargain at just $3,900 with PF/C eligibility.
Fast Break
Jalen Johnson ($9,300) – Johnson figures to be among the slate’s most popular players thanks to the Hawks’ massive 126.5 implied team total in a matchup with Chicago. You can easily argue he should be a $10,000 player, so we’re getting a discount on Johnson, who’s averaging 1.3 FP/minute on the season. Johnson has the second-highest projected Plus/Minus among power forwards, behind only Isaiah Stewart.
Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,200) – We’re nearly a month into the new season, and Karl-Anthony Towns has still posted a double-double in every single game so far. KAT is averaging 20.9 points and a career-best 13.5 rebounds per game across his first 11 games for the reigning champs, and he’s a good bet to make it 12-for-12 in double-doubles tonight against a Pacers team with the second-lowest rebound rate in the league.
NBA DFS Center Picks
Stud
Alperen Sengun ($9,400)
The Rockets aren’t expected to have a difficult time against an undermanned Jazz team at home, but someone has to do some damage. It might as well be Alperen Sengun, who’s thriving this season now that Houston has a real point guard back in the mix. The two-time All-Star is averaging a career-high 21.1 points per game to go along with 9.4 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and over two blocks/steals. For good measure, Sengun is also shooting over 47% from three-point range, which is no small feat for a career 28.8% shooter from long range.
Utah’s frontcourt is missing Jaren Jackson Jr., Jusuf Nurkic, and Lauri Markkanen. With Walker Kessler now in LA, the Jazz just don’t have any rim protection. Sengun should have his way against a couple of career backups filling Utah’s center rotation in Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba.
Value
Jarrett Allen ($5,700)
We don’t typically think of Jarrett Allen for his offensive prowess, but he has played a bigger role on that end of the floor with Evan Mobley out of the lineup. Over the last two seasons, Allen’s usage rate is up by 2% to 21.6% with Mobley off the floor. He’s also averaging a sparkling 1.3 DraftKings points per minute across a team-high 973-minute sample.
Tonight’s matchup against Miami’s jumbo frontcourt of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo does bring some foul trouble risk into the equation for Allen, but he’s also clearly underpriced for his level of production without Mobley at $5,700.
Fast Break
Bam Adebayo ($8,300) – It took a few games, but Adebayo seems to have acclimated to playing next to Giannis. So far in November, Bam is stuffing the stat sheet to the tune of 19.6 points, 9.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 3.0 combined blocks and steals per game. Adebayo has also topped 40 fantasy points in five of his last seven appearances.
Onyeka Okongwu ($6,500) – The Bulls recently got Nic Claxton back from injury, but Chicago is still likely to be a team we can consistently target with opposing centers. In addition to allowing the fifth-most paint points, Chicago is also just 27th in rebound rate. Okongwu won’t necessarily come cheap, but he will likely fly under the radar from an ownership standpoint in GPPs.
Pictured: Jalen Johnson
Photo Credit: Imagn
