Happy New Year weekend, everyone! Hope you have a safe and enjoyable holiday with your loved ones, and best wishes for a happy, healthy, and fortunate 2023. Of course, we aim to bring you good fortune every Friday with our NBA DFS lineup of the day on DraftKings. Let's kick this weekend off in style — by injecting it with some daily fantasy cash flow!
Believe it or not, over 40 percent of the regular season is already in the books. What a year it has been! We've seen Steph Curry go from superstar to borderline top-ten all-time player with his dominant effort towards a fourth title. We witnessed Nikola Jokic win his second MVP in a row. And now, we are seeing Luka Doncic rewrite the history books.
We're lucky to experience this era of NBA basketball. But we aren't lucky enough to have those three players on our Friday night DraftKings Classic lineup. Curry is hurt, Doncic is off, and Jokic (vs. Miami, $11,800) just costs too much damn money! We're all about getting the most bang for our buck, so you'll rarely catch a reigning MVP on our DFS squads.
We do, however, have some high-profile names on our roster today. To bulk up our starting five, we went with a stars-and-sleepers strategy. We don't feel right calling this technique 'stars-and-scrubs,' because we would never recommend a scrub. And hell, who wants to be called a scrub on New Year's weekend? No, this weekend is all about positivity — and we're positive we have a solid lineup to help you mold your own winning team.
Let's dive into our Friday night DraftKings NBA lineup, and briefly discuss why each player made the cut. Cheers!
Note: DraftKings lineup construction is simple: draft eight players with assigned salaries — one for each position, as well as one guard flex, one forward flex, and one utility — and keep the team under the $50,000 salary cap.
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Best NBA DFS Lineup 12/30: DraftKings strategy, sleepers for Friday night hoops
PG: Dejounte Murray, Hawks vs. Lakers ($8,900)
Murray has turned it up as of late, registering 46-plus fantasy points in two of Atlanta's past three games. He's clearly taken a liking to playing alongside Trae Young in Atlanta, regularly contributing across-the-board stats that make for some attractive fantasy nights. The 26-year-old's average across the past month is 40.9 fantasy points per game — consistent with his season-long average of 40.7 — so his floor is the same as most point guards' ceilings. He has basically made 20/5/6 with two steals his baseline. Against a defensively-soft Lakers backcourt, we like Murray to go off tonight and serve as a dependable anchor for our squad.
SG: Tyler Herro, Heat at Nuggets ($9,000)
Your highest-priced DFS player should obviously be one of the players you expect to own the night, so Herro seems like an appropriate choice. The fourth-year star has enjoyed a career season, averaging personal bests in points (21), rebounds (5.8), assists (4.6), steals (1.0), and blocks (0.4). He's damn close to shooting 50/40/90, and he barely turns the ball over (1.7). Herro has averaged 45.3 fantasy points since Thanksgiving, and now faces a Denver D that has been the second-most generous to guards in fantasy this season. Tyler can be your Herro tonight.
SF: Josh Hart, Blazers at Warriors ($5,800)
Hart has become my go-to fantasy role player, always providing a safe floor and a solid value in the $5,000-to-$6,000 range. He's the best rebounding guard in basketball, he's a good shooter, he defends, and he creates for others. And Blazers superstar Damian Lillard never takes away from Hart's fantasy scores — he helps propel them. We get a discount here, as Hart recently dealt with an ankle sprain. But all signs point to him continuing to play his usual 35-38 minutes, which typically leads to a fantasy line of 31-36 points. With the Warriors surrendering the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing perimeter players, we love Hart here.
PF: Josh Collins, Hawks vs. Lakers ($5,700)
We're stacking Murray with Collins, because both have been sizzling lately. The power forward with the smooth stroke has also been taking the ball to the hoop with force as of late, and we love the results. He has over 111 fantasy points in Atlanta's past three games (1/11 is my birthday — bonus points for the good-luck number!), averaging out to 37 FPts per game. In his last two games, we saw him banging with Nic Claxton and Myles Turner and averaging 24 and nine with a block. The results should be even better against a small Lakers lineup desperately missing Anthony Davis.
C: Nikola Vucevic, Bulls vs. Pistons ($7,600)
Vooch has been on the loose lately, averaging 40.7 fantasy points over Chicago's past six games and reaching 12 boards and 47-plus FPts in three of those six. He's always a monster on the boards, but he also fills it up with dimes, triples, and defensive stats. Against a young Detroit front court nucleus, we like Vucevic to teach the kids a little something tonight.
Alec Burks tonight:
— Legion Hoops (@LegionHoops) December 29, 2022
32 points
2 steals
10-11 FGM
6-7 3PM
6-6 FTM
Near perfect shooting night.🔥 pic.twitter.com/sMPSLQ9Y7i
G: Alec Burks, Pistons at Bulls ($4,400)
Burks has a prime opportunity to step up for Detroit this evening in the wake of Killian Hayes' boneheaded cheap shot on Orlando's Mo Wagner that led to Hayes being suspended. The sharpshooting veteran guard exploded for 32 points on 10-of-11 from the field after Hayes got ejected, finishing with nearly 50 fantasy points on the night. We'll chase that upside for $4,400, especially considering Chicago allows the ninth-most fantasy points to combo guards this season.
F: Damion Lee, Suns at Raptors ($4,200)
Speaking of sharpshooters, Lee has turned it on for Phoenix in a season marred by backcourt injuries. With Chris Paul nursing a heel injury that cost him 14 games, and now Devin Booker out for at least four weeks with a groin injury, Monty Williams has needed everything he can get out of the former Warrior. Lee won't give you anything defensively, but he will serve as a solid source of threes, assists, and rebounds. His baseline with 20-30 minutes of action seems to be around 15, but his ceiling is closer to 30. Against a struggling Raptors squad with questionable backcourt defense, Lee is a great value at $4,200.
Util: Daniel Gafford, Wizards at Magic ($4,400)
Against the Suns on Wednesday, Gafford drew his fifth-consecutive start and logged one of the best nights of his 2022 campaign. All said, the veteran center finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting, eight boards, three blocks, and an assist. We like the good times to continue rolling against Orlando, a young squad that will be without Mo Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. due to suspensions from the Killian Hayes fight in Detroit. Eat up, Gaff — our stars may shine the brightest, but our sleepers will take our Friday night DFS lineup over the top!
