It is the second game of the season for both teams tonight as the Los Angeles Clippers take on the Sacramento Kings in the NBA Showdown Slate matchup. The teams are going in opposite directions but there is star power on both ends of the spectrum. With Kawhi Leonard receiving a rest night it comes down to a decision between Paul George and De’Aaron Fox from a superstar perspective but that does not mean we cannot drop down to Ivica Zubac and save some cash. Let us dig in and take a look some picks at various ends of the pricing spectrum for DraftKings and FanDuel. 

 

Los Angeles Clippers Injuries

Kawhi Leonard – Out

John Wall – Out

Sacramento Kings Injuries

None

MVP/Captain

De’Aaron Fox (PG – Sacramento Kings)

Sacramento generally is trailing which means they play fast and that leads to the Kings finishing seventh in the league last season with 103.5 possessions per game. Fox is at the center of that and he certainly was busy in his first game of the year on Wednesday with a 33-point, seven rebound, and seven assist effort. It was marred by eight turnovers out of Fox, but no one is going to argue against a 12-of-21 shooting performance and 54.5 DK points. 

Paul George (SG – Los Angeles Clippers)

George got the playing time on Thursday, 36 minutes, but he did not bring his shot making with him as he shot just 33.33% from the field. With Leonard out tonight, George should get a larger share of the offensive focus although the former was only on the court for 21 minutes. There is no reason to be concerned about George’s track record or underlying skill set despite the underwhelming start to the season, but he still finished with a double-double picking up 15 points along with 10 rebounds and four assists in his debut. There are floors a lot worse than that, and George is relatively affordable for a superstar here. 

Ivica Zubac (C – Los Angeles Clippers) 

While the lack of other options on the Clippers’ depth chart cannot be overlooked, we also should not hold it against the center as he got 35 minutes of run on Thursday in his season debut. Zubac was perfect from the field making all six of his shot attempts from the field finishing with 14 points, but the real value came from his 17 rebounds and five blocked shots. While Zubac is never going to be fully featured offensively, he generally finds his way to double figures, but the extended playing time will be valuable tonight against a Kings team that should not offer up much resistance in the paint. 

Utility

Keegan Murray (SF/PF – Sacramento Kings)

From a professional level, all we know about Murray is that he dominated action in the Summer League after a strong NCAA performance for Iowa last year. Murray is one of the top contenders for the Rookie of the Year, and tonight we get him in his NBA debut at a solid price that should fit into just about every lineup. 

Kevin Huerter (SG/SF – Sacramento Kings)

The move to Sacramento appeared to be a positive one for Huerter’s value, and that fact was highlighted in his season debut on Wednesday. Playing time was never really the issue in Atlanta, but the availability of shots was, and Huerter will not have that issue for the Kings. While he might not be as efficient shooting as he was against Portland making 8-of-12 shots from the field (including six-of-nine from behind the arc), it is hard to ignore a 23-point debut as he added three rebounds and two assists. 

Norman Powell (SF – Los Angeles Clippers)

It was a slow night for Powell on Thursday as he only made two of eight shots from the field which was good for nine points along with four rebounds in 22 minutes of action. When given the chance last season, we saw what Powell could do offensively and not only does he have the ability to rebound tonight, but his volume should increase with both Leonard and Wall sidelined. 

Reggie Jackson (PG – Los Angeles Clippers)

With both Leonard and Wall out for rest purposes tonight, I would expect Jackson to have a larger role than the 23 minutes he played on Thursday. It was a quiet night for the guard who last year, was more of a volume-based option, but he scored just eight points two days ago. With less competition tonight, it should be a better night for Jackson against the Kings.

Domantas Sabonis (C – Sacramento Kings) 

There was a lot of focus on Sabonis in the paint, and it showed as he ultimately fouled out in 33 minutes of action while finishing with just 13 points and four rebounds. Sabonis only got off ten shots, making five of them, and with nothing else for opposing teams to focus on in the post, there could be some issues moving forward and we are not getting any bargains with the price either. There is name recognition and upside, but we do have a salary cap to manage. 

DART THROWS

Trey Lyles (PF – Sacramento Kings)

Lyles was busy in his 14 minutes of playing time as he took eight shots and grabbed four rebounds. What did hold him back from a DFS perspective though is the fact that he only converted two of those shots. It does not take much here to really make Lyles a solid DFS option for the price. 

Terance Mann (PG/SG – Los Angeles Clippers)

With minutes in their rotation to fill tonight, it would not be surprising to see the Clippers look Mann’s way more than they did on Thursday. Of course, anything would be more than the five minutes that he played as Mann did not even take a shot. We saw some big games out of Mann last season, so while this is a pretty large GPP dart throw considering the one game sample size we have, the upside is there. 

 

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