This article is part of our DraftKings EuroLeague DFS Picks series.
Slate Overview
Compared to the teams who played Tuesday, we will see a much different pace of play and style of defense from the teams going Wednesday. To be specific, we will see four of the better defenses in the league. The injury news to monitor Wednesday concerns Olympiacos and Kostas Papanikolaou and who starts in his place. I'm assuming they stick with a big lineup and slot in Filip Petrusev, but if they go with a guard that would shift my interest to that player. Good luck!
Guards to Go After
Players listed in order of confidence
Preferred Plays
Mike James, AS Monaco ($10,500)
This is an easy lock for me personally. No one on this slate comes close to his usage and he's below the $11,000 mark. The matchup is tough but we need raw DraftKings points.
Nick Calathes, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($8,700)
If we see playoff minutes from Calathes it would be very hard for me to get off him at this rate. He just because he impacts the game in so many ways without scoring.
Scottie Wilbekin, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($9,700)
Wilbekin is very scoring-dependent but could get into a back-and-forth with James where both try to outdo the other.
Thomas Walkup, Olympiacos Piraeus ($8,800)
Nigel Williams-Goss, Olympiacos Piraeus ($7,800)
I'm not a fan of the pricing and the number of options in the crowded Barcelona backcourt, so I'll go with condensed minutes but more usage from the two Olympiacos point guards. I would never play both together, but I do think one could have a quality night and be relied upon to score more agasinst a club that plays good team defense.
Valuable Values
Jordan Loyd, AS Monaco ($7,500)
I'm only interested if he starts, but the guard spots are weak, and if Loyd does open on the court he could get you 3x value and send you on your way.
Isaiah Canaan, Olympiacos Piraeus ($7,300)
He's a cheap starter who is shooting-reliant but could see some more shots with the other spot-up shooter, Papanikolaou, out for Game 1.
Tyler Dorsey, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($5,600)
Extremely volatile but he's going to start and he's below $6,000.
Giannoulis Larentzakis, Olympiacos Piraeus ($5,000)
This is a very particular play. If Olympiacos decides to go with three-guard lineups in certain spots, Larentzakis could find himself with a lot of open looks. He's a microwave scorer who is a threat late in games.
Frontcourt in Focus
Players listed in order of confidence
Preferred Plays
Nigel Hayes-Davis, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($10,100)
I will be saying this a lot, but once again this is not the best matchup for Hayes-Davis. Still, he's about the only forward on the slate who has the potential to put up at least 35.0 DraftKings points, and that garners him consideration in stars-and-scrubs builds.
Alec Peters, Olympiacos Piraeus ($8,000)
Really hoping he can avoid the 1-1 coverage of Nikola Kalinic, who's a very good defender, but regardless I think Peters will be asked to put up double digit shot attempts here without Papanikolaou. He could see minutes in the mid-30s as well.
Jan Vesely, FC Barcelona ($9,500)
Olympiacos has all their centers back, so they will have plenty of options to throw at Vesely. Still, he has a solid floor if he's hitting jumpers off pick-and-pops.
Alpha Diallo, AS Monaco ($8,500)
This is an absolute wild card, as Diallo can either break the slate or finish below 2x value. So with this volatility I'm probably only sliding him into lineups where I fade James.
Valuable Values
Sertac Sanli, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($5,300)
Johnathan Motley, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($7,400)
So this really comes down to how you interpret the Motley injury. If you think he's fine, I love the price for a playoff game and its importance. Sanli will start, though, and is much cheaper.
Filip Petrusev, Olympiacos Piraeus ($5,800)
I'm thinking we could see Petrusev start for Papanikolaou and despite the matchup I love his talent at this price.
John Brown, AS Monaco ($6,100)
He's out there for his defense but did have a great game against Fenerbahce in the last matchup. If he avoids fouls he should see 30 minutes.
Dyshawn Pierre, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($6,500)
Tarik Biberovic, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($6,300)
The two stretch forwards Fenerbahce can both get hot from deep but have low-floor/high-ceiling combinations.
Nikola Kalinic, FC Barcelona ($7,200)
This is a gut call here. I think they monitored his minutes down stretch to save him for the Playoffs. He's their best wing defender and I think his minutes go back into the upper 20s.
