NBA Daily Fantasy Picks & Playbook: November 12, 2026

James Grande | @The_Real_Grande | DraftKings and FanDuel main slate

On Thursday, we have a four-game slate on DraftKings and FanDuel. Players such as Cade Cunningham, Cooper Flagg, Anthony Davis, and Tyrese Maxey take the floor. We have two teams on a back-to-back on Thursday. There are plenty of injuries to run through in today's NBA DFS playbook as well, so let's dive into the top NBA DFS picks.

Before actually diving into the meat and potatoes, welcome to the NBA DFS season. If this is your first time reading our column on NBA DFS picks, I just want to welcome you and give you a few tips and tricks on what you should be looking for each night.

• News outlets: reliable sources that give us injury news & starting lineups
• Pace of play: who's playing fast vs. who's playing slow. Which teams get a pace-up spot (more possessions) vs. pace-down (fewer possessions)
• Usage rates: is a percentage of how many plays that player is being used in
• NBA DFS Projections
• Lineup Generator
• NBA Ownership

NBA DFS Picks & Daily Fantasy Playbook Today, November 12th

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Slate Snapshot & Injury Updates

Last updated: 1:30 p.m. ET

5 games | Lock: 7:00 p.m. ET

• Two teams on second leg of back-to-backs: Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
• Dallas Mavericks vs. Minnesota Timberwolves have a slate-high: 225.5
• Joel Embiid went through shootaround but is listed as QUEST
• LeBron James is OUT

Full Injury Report

Game Environments

Each game shows the away team first. DAL @ MIN pairs the slate's top total with its closest spread. DET @ WAS carries blowout risk. DAL @ MIN has the best pace matchup on the slate. Ranks are league-wide, 2026-27; pace rank 1 is fastest, and off and def rank 1 are best. Green marks a better DFS spot and red a worse one, so a weak defense shades green.

DraftKings vs FanDuel Price Differential

• Allen Graves is the 14th highest priced PF on DraftKings but 21st on FanDuel, so the better positional value is on FanDuel ($4,100 DK, $3,700 FD).
• Kevin Huerter is the 25th highest priced SG on DraftKings but 12th on FanDuel, so the better positional value is on DraftKings ($3,900 DK, $4,200 FD).
• Jordan Goodwin is the 26th highest priced SG on DraftKings but 13th on FanDuel, so the better positional value is on DraftKings ($3,800 DK, $4,200 FD).

Each player is ranked by salary among every player in that site's file eligible at the position, including multi-position players (1 is the highest priced). Players are compared at a position they are eligible for on both sites; when they share more than one, the position with the bigger gap is shown. Rank Gap is how many spots apart the two ranks are; the greener the cell, the bigger the gap. Better Positional Value is the site where the player has the lower position rank (priced lower among players at the position), regardless of the raw salary, since the two sites use different salary scales.

Top Tier Core Plays

Cooper Flagg - SF · DAL

I mean, Cooper Flagg is awesome in every area of the game. He's first or second in points, rebounds, assists, and steals while averaging a 31.6% USG and 1.47 FP/min. It's a tough spot considering Minnesota is ranked first in defensive rating this year, but Flagg can go off against anyone despite how good defensively they are. This game has a slate-high 225.5 implied points.

Cade Cunningham - PG · DET

There's only ONE Piston with a USG rate north of 21% with Jalen Duren and Isaiah Joe off the floor; Cade Cunningham. His USG this year is 31.3% and is averaging 1.3 FP/min on both DK and FD. Washington ranks 17th in DRtg and it's the second leg of a back-to-back for the Wizards.

Anthony Davis - PF · WAS

As long as Anthony Davis suits up, he's an elite option. We'll see if he plays on the back-to-back as he did earlier in the year, but was out for their last set of back-to-backs. AD has a 31% USG and 1.36 FP/min, which leads the team in both categories. It's a tough spot, but AD just went for 44 & 13 against DET two games ago.

Mid-Tier Core Plays

Naz Reid & Grayson Allen - PF/C & SG/SF · CHA

The Hornets have ruled out Brandon Miller again and that means it's wheels up for Naz Reid and Grayson Allen again. Reid's role without Miller, Knueppel, and Schroder has been crazy elite posting a 30.7% USG and 1.25 FP/min. Phoenix is the worst rebounding team in the league and rank 28th in DRtg. Allen's numbers look good with these guys out posting a 25.8% USG and over 1 FP/min.

Devin Booker - PG/SG · PHX

The leader in both FP/min and usage for the Phoenix Suns is Devin Booker at 29% & 1.1 FP/min. The Hornets are 18th in DRtg and it's gotten worse lately. I like the ownership and the upside Devin Booker has today.

LaMelo Ball & Ayo Dosunmu - PG & PG/SG · MIN

Look, I think the TWolves look quite good without Anthony Edwards because they run a small rotation. We haven't really seen a ceiling for LaMelo Ball very often but the numbers suggest that it's coming considering he has a 31% USG and is averaging 1.3 FP/min. Dosunmu isn't far behind him in either category, is cheaper, and has better positional eligibility. He's 1/3 the ownership of Ball, too.

Kyrie Irving - PG/SG · DAL

If we're going to see Kyrie Irving with nearly 40-minute upside, well, he's firmly in play as he's still under 8K on both DK and FD. Irving's USG of 29.4% is right behind Cooper Flagg's while he's averaging 1.2 FP/min on both platforms. Irving's matchup is a little easier because Jaden McDaniels is going to be presumably following Flagg around.

Rudy Gobert - C · MIN

Without Anthony Edwards this year, Rudy Gobert has been nearly a 1 FP/min player at .99 on both DK and FD. Gobert has put up 30+ DKP in three of five games and 28 DKP in four of five. He's very popular, but is a solid option. It feels safe.

ADDED - Jaylen Brown, Tyrese Maxey & Joel Embiid - SG/SF, PG & C · PHI

With LeBron James ruled out, there are elite options for Philly and we still don't know if Joel Embiid is going to play. I want to start with Embiid because he leads in USG without LBJ, but his minutes are so up and down it's hard to trust him. I prefer Jaylen Brown and Tyrese Maxey to Embiid unless we are told there is no minutes limit but they haven't given us that information before any game. All three players have USG rates of 30% or higher without LBJ on the floor and Embiid's at 1.5 FP/min, Brown's at 1.25 FP/min, and Maxey's at 1.19 FP/min.

ADDED - VJ Edgecombe - PG/SG · PHI

I have not clicked VJ Edgecombe much this year, but with LeBron James out, he's been a really good FP/min player. He's not a high USG player (18.9%) but is well over 1.1 FP/min without him. I'm very interested to see where his ownership comes in at, because if it's low, I'm interested.

Value Tier Core Plays

Moussa Diabate - C · CHA

The rebounding upside in this spot makes him very interesting. The Suns are the worst rebounding team in basketball and Diabate has already flashed 17 rebound upside this season. Diabate, at a similar price to Rudy Gobert, is a great GPP pivot as a .9 FP/min player.

Duncan Robinson & John Collins - SG/SF & PF/C · DET

There's just simply a lot to like for the Pistons today. They're still without Jalen Duren and Isaiah Joe and they moved Paul Reed to the bench and Collins/Reed basically split 48 center minutes. Robinson is shooting the lights out of the ball and playing a LOT. He's averaging 18.6 PPG and 29.3 FP/game, so he's very playable today. Collins, starting at center, had a team-leading 14 potential rebounds and grabbed 10 of them.

Daniss Jenkins & Kevin Huerter - PG/SG & SG/SF · DET

Slightly cheaper is Daniss Jenkins and a lot cheaper is Kevin Huerter. Jenkins has played 30+ minutes in two straight games and entered the starting lineup last game and has been over 1 FP/min while Huerter has clearly been the team's sixth man and is playing a LOT of minutes currently. Now, the Pistons had multiple players in big foul trouble last game and that benefitted Huerter the most. Keep that in mind here.

Tre Johnson - SG/SF · WAS

It's very interesting where Tre Johnson's role has settled into. The Wizards clearly want to play him and play him a lot. They've played him 27+ minutes in four straight games and he's made shots in two and missed all of them in the other two. During this stretch, there have been competitive games and blowouts and Johnson pretty much closed in both situations, which is really good, but it just simply comes down to him making shots.

Walter Clayton - PG · DAL

In three of the last four games, the Mavericks have had Walter Clayton in their closing lineup. He's under 4K on DK and 4.1K on FD and has been really solid in his role. He has a 19.5% USG this year and is averaging north of 1 FP/min, closer to 1.1 than 1.0. Decent value for sure.

ADDED - Jakob Poeltl & Collin Murray-Boyles - C & PF/C · TOR

With Scottie Barnes and Trayce Jackson-Davis ruled out, we're going to see a ton of minutes out of CMB and Poeltl in the front court. CMB needs to stay out of foul trouble, but is over 1 FP/min on the year without Leonard and the others out. Poeltl is over 1 FP/min too and played 32 minutes last night and the fact he's not on the injury report makes me very comfortable rostering him. As good as Philly is defensively, they're not good on the glass ranking 22nd in that category.

Late-News Core Plays

Players we are considering core plays based on late-breaking news and research

• Joel Embiid is IN

Core Lineup

Cash Core: Daniss Jenkins - Grayson Allen - Kevin Huerter - John Collins

GPP Leverage: Ayo Dosunmu - Naz Reid - Jakob Poeltl

Player Pool

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Stacks

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