Thursday has a trio of tilts with a simultaneous lock time of 8:00 p.m. ET on DraftKings and FanDuel. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS picks and core plays like Anthony Edwards, Victor Wembanyama, Chris Paul, and potential discount dandies Stephon Castle and Julian Champagnie.
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NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Thursday, Nov. 7
The NBA Lineup Generator is a powerful yet user-friendly tool that makes building your DFS lineups easy. Simply choose your DFS platform and slate, set your preferred ownership level (chalky, contrarian, balanced, or all), and lock in any specific players you want. Once your settings are ready, the Lineup Generator will create high-ROI lineups and provide valuable insights to guide your decisions.
Take a look at the screenshot for an example of a slightly contrarian lineup we crafted for today’s DraftKings main slate — where we locked in Chris Paul — and check out our NBA Lineup Generator guide for more tips!
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks
Chris Paul: Spurs vs. Trail Blazers
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 34.56 | FanDuel: 33.12
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 39.5% | FanDuel: 58.1%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $6,900 | FanDuel: $6,600
Shout out to Chris Paul, who keeps chugging along in his 20th NBA season with his 40th birthday coming up this spring. He continues to collect jerseys from the various Western Conference teams. The plan was for him to play around 27 to 28 minutes per game, helping mentor the young San Antonio squad.
The injury to Jeremy Sochan has likely usurped that strategy for the time being, with Paul probably getting low-30s minutes in close games, though being at risk of sitting in less than competitive affairs. This is exactly what happened last night as the Rockets gobsmacked the Spurs in Houston and Paul hit the pine at the 5:55 mark in the third quarter. Victor Wembanyama had only 24.7 minutes of run, so he too should be good to go tonight.
That is key with question marks surrounding the availability of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Zach LaVine, which will dramatically impact the player pool. In the four games preceding Wednesday’s matchup, Paul averaged nearly 40 fantasy points. Portland is in the bottom third of the league from a defensive efficiency perspective, which bodes well for both Paul and Wembanyama.
Devin Vassell is close to a return, and that could occur as soon as this weekend, while Tre Jones is not far behind. In the meantime, veterans Keldon Johnson and Harrison Barnes are secondary tournament options. Julian Champagnie and Stephon Castle look like the discount dandies across the various DFS sites, with Malaki Branham and Sandro Mamukelashvili serving as tournament wild cards.
Deandre Ayton, Jerami Grant and Toumani Camara are Portland players who are popping as potential tournament pairings with the San Antonio players for DraftKings tournaments, and Anfernee Simons and Deni Avdija look better on FanDuel.
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Anthony Edwards: Timberwolves at Chicago
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 42.84 | FanDuel: 41.04
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 12.7% | FanDuel: 46.4%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $9,300 | FanDuel: $8,700
It would be great if Antetokounmpo plays tonight since that would take some of the DFS attention away from Anthony Edwards.
Now that Karl Anthony-Towns is plying his trade in New York, Edwards looks to be taking a giant leap forward.
During the playoffs, Ant-Man demonstrated just how good of a two-way player he had become, and his offensive prowess has been on display through the first seven games of the season. He is posting personal highs in most categories, including 27.3 points, 5.6 rebounds and a 59.6% effective field goal rate. He is also playing 37.1 minutes per game, and while that is likely to be trimmed back by a minute or two as the NBA hits the holidays, for now it looks like his nightly attainable baseline.
Chicago is in the middle of the pack from a defensive perspective, but the team is currently playing at the fastest pace in the league, with 106.2 possessions per 48 minutes. Gone is defensive stalwart Alex Caruso, while the absence of DeMar DeRozan has also changed up the team scheme.
Julius Randle is mispriced on FanDuel ($7,200), making him one of the five most popular plays on the blue site. Jaden McDaniels has the better salary on DraftKings, slotting him inside the 10 most popular options.
If LaVine is out again tonight, Coby White, Ayo Dosunmu and Nikola Vucevic will get an uptick in their respective projections, though Dosunmu is the only real salary saver from the team.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick
While there is no mistaking the talent of Victor Wembanyama — and as noted above, he should be a DFS priority tonight — we can also look to target against him in the sports wagering world.
Tonight the under on Wembanyama’s 11.5 rebounds prop is worthy of our attention. By using Portfolio EV to do the heavy lifting when researching favorable bets, we can quickly spot inefficient lines like this one, and having accounts at multiple sportsbooks allows us to pivot to the best number quickly.
This pits the books against each other, which shows that BetMGM has posted a +100 line that is well above the rest of the major operators.
Odds are constantly shifting and moving, so when you find a good number, pounce on it. That is the beauty and power of Portfolio EV to find the best odds at any point in the day.
Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Wembanyama projected for 31.2 minutes and 10.83 rebounds. That is a tick below the line and, of course, below the 12 rebounds needed for this under to lose.
This still is likely to be a nip and tuck wager, with the Frenchman corralling errant caroms as the minutes tick by. In his last five games, he had six, 13, six, nine and eight rebounds while averaging right around 30 minutes per outing. Last year he averaged 29.7 minutes per game and 10.6 rebounds. He had 20 games (28%) of more than 12 rebounds and eight games (11%) with exactly 12 boards.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
Get all the latest news and updates for NBA DFS picks today on the Stokastic NBA Live Before Lock Show at 5:30 p.m. ET on YouTube, breaking down all of the key elements for today’s slate.
