DraftKings & FanDuel All Star Break MVP Team

We commonly refer to the NBA All Star break as the mid-point to the season, but in reality, we’ve only got about 25-26 games left per team to wrap up their 82. While we still have a few more days off from DFS NBA, we thought we’d highlight the top studs that have won you (or hopefully won you) all the money so far this season at DraftKings and FanDuel. Small disclaimer, not every player here is the super stud at the position. Some are the guys that have consistently crushed value and played a vital role in allowing us to get to the super studs. Without further ado, we present our All Star Break MVP team.

Point Guard – Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

The likely MVP of the league is carrying his team at an unprecedented rate this year. Westbrook leads the NBA in PPG (31.1), Usage Rate (41.8%) and Assist Rate (56.3%), but before you start to call him a ball hog, who is only putting up numbers due to his volume, consider that he also leads the league in Player Efficiency Rating (29.5) as well.

In DFS terms, Westy has been a rock for owners with the exceptions of the rare off night. When the Thunder can’t compete as a team, i.e. when Victor Oladipo was out for a few tough road games, Westbrook has failed to meet value, but otherwise he’s lived up to the expectations of his ridiculous price tag by consistently hitting 70 FPs and producing the third-most triple doubles (26) in league history to this point in the season.

Honorable Mention: Isaiah Thomas, Boston Celtics – The guy has been underpriced all year for the type of production he has put up game after game. While his stats will likely come back down to Earth when Avery Bradley comes back, he was a integral part of high scoring GPP lineups to date.

Shooting Guard – James Harden, Houston Rockets

Of course, the man who could challenge Westbrook for MVP this year has also been an extremely valuable asset in DFS contests. Like Westy, Harden’s price tag has reached the $12K barrier on both DraftKings and FanDuel, but he’s also justifying it with averages of 60.5 DK PPG and 54 FD PPG on the season.

He’s been incredibly consistent in terms of playing big minutes each and every game (leads the NBA in total minutes at 2,123) and is clearly the catalyst behind the Rockets second-ranked offense with a league-high 11.3 APG on the year.

Harden went into the ASB with three performances of 70-plus DK points while meeting value in three other appearances this month and he should come out of the break fresh and ready to match Westbrook triple double for triple double.

Honorable Mention: CJ McCollum, Portland Trailblazers – Who is the third highest scoring shooting guard in the league? The guy behind only James Harden and DeMar DeRozan? You guessed it. McCollum is averaging 23.4 points per game, and has a higher shooting percentage, three point percentage, and free throw percentage than both DeRozan and Harden. And he’s done all this while coming in significantly cheaper than both most days.

Small Forward – Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors

It’s not all about the elite guys on the board on full slates of NBA action, as value plays like Iggy make it possible for you to afford Westbrook, Harden or both on a given night.

The Warriors elite sixth man has been consistently under priced on both main DFS sites and has routinely met value with solid averages of 6.4 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.4 APG and 1.3 STL/BLK per game despite playing just 25.3 MPG over 54 appearances. His production increased when the calendar turned to 2017 and so far this month he’s averaging 9.1 PPG on 55.3% FG shooting, so look for Iguodala to come out of the ASB as a great value at just $3.8k on DraftKings and $4.4k on FanDuel.

Honorable Mention: Harrison Barnes, Dallas Mavericks – Barnes likely won’t come close to the production he’s put up for the majority of the season (20.1/5.3/1.5), but we can’t deny he was one of the best bargain ballers of the first half. The numbers he put up when the Mavericks were ravaged by injuries (considering his cost and ownership percentage) put him on this list.

Power Forward – Dario Saric, Philadelphia 76ers

While he didn’t exactly have a strong start to his rookie campaign, Saric has been an incredible DFS asset over the past couple of weeks. With Joel Embiid (knee) on the shelf, Ersan Ilyasova (hip) hobbled and Jahlil Okafor benched amidst trade talks, Saric and Nerlens Noel have taken over production in the Sixers frontcourt.

He’s averaging 16 PPG, 6.9 RPG and shooting 44% from the floor over nine appearances this month, which is right in line with his per 36-minute numbers on the year, yet he’s still only logging 28.2 MPG in February. Perhaps when Okafor finally gets moved ahead of the Feb. 23 deadline and Embiid potentially gets shut down to protect the franchise, we’ll see Saric emerge as a truly consistent mid-tier option.

Honorable Mention: Markieff Morris, Washington Wizards – The player we hate to roster actually decided to be pretty consistent so far this season. Morris has scored 10+ real life points in 44 of 53 games. He’s got at least five rebounds in 41 games, and at least one steal in 35 games.

Center – DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings- New Orleans Pelicans

Reportedly Boogie will open the second half of the year alongside Anthony Davis in one of the best value trades we’ve ever seen (New Orleans gave up Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield and two draft picks), but that can never take away from the run he went on before the ASB.

The Kings unquestioned offensive leader was a monster on a nightly basis, as his Usage Rate jumped to 41.5% with Rudy Gay (Achilles) off the floor due to a season-ending injury. Big Cuz averaged 27.3 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 4.8 APG and 2.7 STL/BLK per game in what has been the most consistent season of his career and he was arguably more valuable on a per dollar basis than both Westbrook and Harden while leading Sacramento.

Honorable Mention: Brook Lopez, Brooklyn Nets – Quick, who’s averaging the most points at the Center position? Okay, it’s Karl-Anthony Towns (we’re counting Boogie and AD as power forwards). But sitting second is Brook Lopez at 20.8 points per game. He’s also pulling down 5.2 boards, dishing out 2.5 assists, and recording nearly two blocks per game. To top it off, Lopez can be rostered on DK for less than $7k nearly every night.

Utility – Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

The Joker is now one of the most expensive centers on DraftKings and the most expensive PF on FanDuel, but it wasn’t always that way. Back in December he started to break out while getting just 25.7 MPG and his price tag slowly increased to the upper-tier range before he set the league on fire in January.

Jokic made a serious run for player of the month in January with averages of 23.9 points, 11.1 rebounds and 4.8 assists over 11 appearances last month and he’s already posted two triple doubles in February.

He may very well be the best passing center we’ve ever seen in the NBA and he’s posting an extremely efficient .676% True Shooting Percentage over the last three months while sparking the rise of the Nuggets offense in overall efficiency ratings.