Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, FANation! Christmas means basketball and basketball means NBA content galore! We have a five-game slate on tap beginning at 12 PM EST with the last game set to tip at 10:30 PM EST. Let’s get into some of our favorite values of the slate from both DraftKings and FanDuel!

DraftKings

Goran Dragic , PG MIA ($5,300)

The Heat opened up their 2020-’21 campaign with a loss in Orlando and travel south back home to take on the Pelicans on Christmas day. This Pelicans team looks like no different than the one we saw last year -- they play fast. That bodes well for the Heat and Goran Dragic , who might be my top value option of the slate. Dragic looked fantastic off of the bench against ORL scoring 20 points while dishing out seven assists, grabbing four rebounds and even nabbing a steal. He did all that in 26 minutes and those minutes could increase if Jimmy Butler -- currently questionable -- sits. Let’s get you prepared in case he sits/doesn’t sit. Dragic actually led MIA in usage rate last season at 25.7%, higher than Butler. When Butler was out, Dragic’s usage spiked to 28.6%, a team-high by a whopping 3.6-percent. In either scenario, Dragic is an elite play at this price tag.

JJ Redick , SG/SF NO ($4,400)

Something worth monitoring all season long is how the Pelicans distribute their minutes and in the first game of the year, they basically gave them all to seven guys. Redick looked fantastic in game numero uno going 8-for-14 from the floor while knocking down six three’s. We know Redick isn’t much of a peripheral stat guy, but when his shot is on he is one of the most lethal shooters in the league. We prefer him on DK because of the three-point bonus he gives us and if Jimmy Butler doesn’t suit up here, Redick will be chased around by the likes of Robinson, Herro and Dragic. Not one of those dudes should scare us defensively. 

Jeff Teague , PG BOS ($4,200)

It was quite surprising to see Teague come off the bench after all indications were that he was going to start once Kemba Walker was slated to miss time. Teague was third fiddle to Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum but still notched a usage rate over 27% and poured in 19 actual points in just 25 minutes. Expect those minutes to creep up a bit as long as he continues playing well. Teague will see a match-up against Kyrie Irving in this one and Irving has a career 109 DRtg. He’s someone we should be taking advantage of on the offensive end of the floor. Teague is a strong value here.

FanDuel

Dennis Schroder , SG LAL ($5,000)

It’s very hard to look at this price and not start salivating like you just watched your filet mignon get put on the grill at your favorite Hibachi restaurant. Schroder exploded on opening night falling just two assists shy of a triple-double while posting 39.4 FD points. LeBron James and Anthony Davis aren’t going to play that poor every night, so Schroder will definitely take a backseat more often than not, but the match-up with Dallas is solid here and we loved to see Schroder in the starting lineup on opening night. I’d be fine using Schroder in both cash or tournaments at this price tag.

Donte DiVincenzo , SG MIL ($4,500)

Although we saw just an 18.7% usage rate out of DDV in the first game of the year, he averaged 1.13 FP/min, which is an elite mark. We’ve seen in his short time in the NBA that he is a FP/min monster when he is simply given the time. Not only did he score 15 actual points, but he gave us five rebounds, three assists and two steals. This is someone who causes havoc in the passing lanes as he averaged 1.3 SPG last season and that was in just 23 MPG. The Warriors turned it over 18 times in the first game and that could bolster DiVincenzo’s value here considering the three points we get for steals on FanDuel. He’s cheap on DK too, so don’t limit your exposure to only FD.

James Wiseman, C GSW ($4,200)

I’m not willing to call him blowout proof after one game, but is Wiseman blowout proof? He not only started, but closed this game out even when the contest was well out of reach. Golden State wants to get him as much exposure as they can now considering he hadn’t played competitive basketball in 13 months. We saw how talented he can be in this uptempo offense and what he can provide from a fantasy standpoint as well. Wiseman at this price tag is as good as it gets on this slate as FanDuel is just begging us to play him.