The eighth-seeded Heat host the 10th-seeded Bulls in Miami on Friday night (7:00 p.m. ET, TNT) with both aiming to advance into the NBA Playoffs. The team that prevails on Friday will assume the eighth seed and battle the top-seeded Bucks in a first-round best-of-seven series. We've already covered the best bets for this pivotal Eastern Conference clash, but today we will be providing our optimal Heat-Bulls SuperDraft lineup to help you make some late-week DFS cash.
SuperDraft offers salary cap DFS contests, but the majority of its tournaments feature no restrictions like caps or tiers. The strategy involves points multipliers — the higher a player's average fantasy score, the lower their multiplier. The lower their average fantasy output, the higher their multiplier. A winning lineup will feature a good mix of stud fantasy contributors with 1x-1.5x boosts, as well as matchup-based sleepers with larger multipliers.
The "Champion" spot — much like the "Captain" or "MVP" spot in DraftKings or FanDuel — yields an additional 50-percent multiplier of the champ's fantasy score (on top of their listed multiplier). We want our "Champion" to be a low-down, stone-cold assassin in the clutch, so it was between Heat superstar Jimmy Butler and Bulls mid-range king DeMar DeRozan. Ultimately, we gave DeRozan the nod, as his 1.9x multiplier intrigues us far more than Butler's 1.5x boost. But never you worry, Jimmy Buckets fans — he still made our squad.
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Let's discuss who else made our SuperDraft roster for Heat-Bulls and briefly explain our reasoning behind each pick.
Before we break down all of our picks, here are the most notable scoring rules for SuperDraft contests: Made three-point shot (+0.5 points), rebound (+1.25 points), assists (+1.5 points), steals and blocks (+3 points), double-double (+1.5 points — max one per player) and triple-double (+1.5 points — max one player). Additionally, your Champion player gets his point total increased by an additional 50 percent.
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Heat vs. Bulls NBA DFS Picks: Best SuperDraft lineup
Lineup consists of a Champion player scoring an additional 50 percent of its multiplier and four FLEX players. Lineup must include players from at least two different teams. Draft all of your favorite players based on their multiplier value with no restrictions.
Champion (50% more points): SG/SF DeMar DeRozan, Bulls (Multiplier: 1.9x)
DeRozan has been one of the most clutch players in the Association since he joined the Bulls, always appearing cool, calm, and collected in the biggest moments. More important, he's been a matchup nightmare for the Heat, who typically put top perimeter defender Jimmy Butler on Zach LaVine. Newsflash: Caleb Martin and Max Strus can't guard DeRozan, folks. He averaged 28.3 points, 8.0 assists, and 5.3 assists against Miami during the regular season, and he's coming off a strong game against Toronto in which he posted 23 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and two blocks. We're all-in on Deebo!
UTIL: SF Jimmy Butler, Heat (Multiplier: 1x)
We don't love getting just the 1x multiplier, but we simply cannot make a postseason DFS lineup involving the Heat and leave Jimmy Buckets off of it. Butler remains Erik Spoelstra's most clutch player on both ends of the floor, and he relishes the big moments. He had a down game against the Hawks on Tuesday, going just 6-of-19 from the field for 21 points, but his nine dimes, four rebounds, two steals, and a block still made him look like a SuperDraft stud! If he can bounce back from his poor-shooting night vs. the ATL, he should be well worth a selection despite his low multiplier. Miami can't expect to get 33 points from Kyle Lowry again — the veteran point guard hadn't previously scored 18 points in a game since the day after Christmas — so Jimmy will have to get buckets-a-plenty on Friday night.
UTIL: SG/SF Zach LaVine, Bulls (Multiplier: 1.2x)
We usually like to make contrarian plays in this type of format — the majority of casual fans and novice DFS players tend to gravitate toward the bigger names in non-salary contests — but we doubt many winning lineups will be without LaVine this Friday. The veteran scorer filled it up in the second half against Toronto on Wednesday, producing 30 of his 39 points after intermission and leaving Nick Nurse and his Raps in a daze. Even with Butler defending him, he should eat just fine. LaVine averaged 19.5 points, five rebounds, and seven assists per game against the Heat this season.
UTIL: C Nikola Vucevic, Bulls (Multiplier: 1.3x)
We wish we had the guts to pass up on both big men in this contest, but we have to side with reason when trying to make some money. Big Vooch averaged 19 points, 13 boards, and two assists against Miami this season, and he just recorded a 14/13 effort against Jakob Poeltl and the physical Raptors on Wednesday. Bam Adebayo is a tough bruiser to bet against, but he looked pretty poor against Clint Capela and the Hawks on Tuesday (12/9/4). We like Vucci Mane to have the best showing down low this Friday night.
UTIL: SG Tyler Herro, Heat (Multiplier: 1.45x)
Now we're digging a bit deeper down the player pool. We passed up on Bam Adebayo and his 1.3x multiplier and opted instead for Herro at 1.45x. The reigning Sixth Man of the Year lit up the Hawks in a losing effort, shooting 12-of-23 for 26 points, six rebounds, and two steals. He only shot 2-of-9 from long-distance and yet nearly poured in 30 points! Imagine if he catches fire from outside on Friday. We know his baseline against Chicago, as he averaged right around 19/5/3 against the Bulls this season. But a 30-point, seven-rebound effort with a couple of steals would be huge for us at a near 1.5x boost.
