It’s the first night of the NBA finals! What a great ride it’s been despite this strange 2020 season. This article aims to highlight some of the best plays for today’s showdown NBA slate. Keep in mind that the following player write-ups were constructed earlier in the day, and sometimes injury/rest situations can alter the fantasy landscape. Monitoring our NBA News & Headlines Feed throughout the day will keep you in the loop. Today’s showdown slate on FanDuel and DraftKings features Los Angeles and Miami at 9:00 ET.
DraftKings format uses six players with one captain earning 1.5X fantasy points (and costing 1.5X salary). FanDuel format uses five players with MVP (2.0X fantasy points), Star (1.5X), Pro (1.2X) and two utility. Yahoo does not have NBA DFS today.
Top Priorities
LeBron James – LA (vs. Miami) – DK $19,800 (Capt)/$13,200, FD: $15,500
No surprises here. James is the best bet to lead all fantasy scorers in tonight’s game. Don’t feel obligated to use him in the Captain/MVP slot, because it will be very tough on DK, and because Miami will surely be devoting their significant defensive prowess toward slowing him down. Still. James has faced this kind of attention his whole career. He’s been here, and if he’s not getting the shots he wants, he’ll become the distributer and rebounder his team needs, getting Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Danny Green and Alex Caruso open threes.
Jimmy Butler – Miami (at LA) – DK: $13,800 (Capt)/$9200, FD: $14,000
Butler has been the picture of consistency in these playoffs, but hasn’t yet had a massive fantasy line. I want him in lineups tonight for both reasons. He’s reasonably salaried on both sites, and his 40 fantasy points in the FanDuel Star or Pro slot provides a lot of stability to your lineup while also capturing the potential for a true monster performance. He’s waited a long time to be here; Butler going crazy would not surprise me.
Tyler Herro – Miami (at LA) – DK $12,000 (Capt)/$8000, FD: $11,000
I debated prioritizing Bam Adebayo here, coming off his masterful series closing game vs. Boston Saturday night, but ultimately find it too hard to fit his salary with the rest of my build. Herro has really risen to the occasion and surpassed Goran Dragic as the playoffs have gone on. Contributing in multiple categories, he offers a solid floor and 50-plus fantasy point upside when he’s taking more shots. I also expect the Lakers to make it a higher priority to contain Adebayo than Herro, which might provide some better looks for the rookie.
Anthony Davis – LA (vs. Miami) – DK: $18,000 (Capt)/$12,000, FD: $14,500
Davis might be a better candidate for the GPP Pivot article, since I’m finding it impossible to roster both him and James and live with the rest of my lineups, but he deserves at least a brief mention here. His scoring is a mainstay of the Lakers’ success and he contributes in every category pretty much every night. He really limited his turnovers in the Denver series, while suffering in the rebounding department during that series. He should be able to make it up with a few more offensive boards in this one.
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Bargains
Rajon Rondo – LA (vs. Miami) – DK: $5400, FD: $10,000
Rondo was relatively quiet during the Denver series, scoring over 10 points just once, but could be more of an offensive focal point tonight as the Heat swarm James and Davis. Rondo’s minutes have also fluctuated quite a bit, but with his passing and rebounding, he has generally helped lineups rather than hurt them. I prefer his salary on DraftKings, but he also keeps fitting my FanDuel lineups so while I don’t feel as strongly about him as the stars, I think he’ll end up being rostered at a high rate tonight.
Alex Caruso – LA (vs. Miami) – DK: $3000, FD: $7000
Caruso does a little bit of everything when he’s on the court, which generally provides for a useful fantasy line at this salary. The important thing in this price range is the steady 25ish minutes Caruso has been playing. He can certainly flop, but he can also hit 6-7X value which is just what I want for this bargain salary.
Andre Iguodala – Miami (at LA) – DK: $5100, FD: $7500
Much has been written already this week about Iguodala’s sixth straight finals appearance. He’s also coming off his best offensive game of the playoffs, making four of four three-pointers. I put him below Caruso because he is more costly, and because his usage has varied so much. There’s definitely an argument to be made for his ability to defend James (they’ve been here before together), but Jae Crowder is another candidate for that job when Butler’s off the court. The first game of a series will be telling, but I’m confident enough in Iguodala’s experience and leadership to include him in lineups tonight, with the hope of 20 minutes.
