This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.
PREGAME UPDATES
- Efes' Vasilije Micic will return to action Friday, but Bryant Dunston and Dogus Balbay remain sidelined.
- Real Madrid's Carlos Alocen will not play Friday due to a back injury.
- UNICS' Viacheslav Zaitcev remains out for Round 7.
STATS AND INFO.
THE SLATE
Status Check: Anthony Randolph (RMB), Trey Thompkins (RMB), Nigel Williams-Goss (RMB), Viacheslav Zaitcev (UNK)
Best Bets for Success: Arguably the best option on the entire board, Madrid's Edy Tavares, will play in the first game of the day. Tavares did not play in Round 5 and recorded his fewest DraftKings points of the season in Round 6, but prior to that he put up at least 33.5 points on that website three times over four Rounds. He will be in position to hit the 30-point mark on DraftKings on Friday against a UNICS team that has been one of the friendliest to opposing centers, and he will cost you only a season-low $9,500. Thomas Heurtel also looks like one of the safer options, as he's a lock to play at least 20 minutes with Williams-Goss out and has only needed that many minutes to put up some quality numbers this season. UNICS has had plenty of trouble with opposing guards, so the matchup will firmly be in Heurtel's favor as well. No one among UNICS' top trio of Mario Hezonja, Lorenzo Brown and Isaiah Canaan came through in Round 6, and Hezonja will have a tough time bouncing back against a Real Madrid team putting the clamps on opposing forwards. As such, consider Brown and Canaan the Russian team's best options for Round 7.
DFS Darlings: The Spanish team has been stout against frontcourt players in general, and only UNICS has been better against forwards than Madrid has been, so don't expect a whole lot from frontcourt players in this one. Madrid's Carlos Alocen and Fabien Causeur -- listed as a forward but playing as a guard -- could capitalize on UNICS' struggles with guards however. O.J. Mayo did a bit more last week than he did in his debut, and if he sees a bump in minutes, he will at least have a shot to return 3x value on DraftKings at $5,300.
Bitci Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at 
Zenit Saint Petersburg
Status Check: Rokas Giedraitis (BKN), Alec Peters (BKN), Shabazz Napier (ZEN)
Best Bets for Success: Simone Fontecchio and Jayson Granger both seemed like quality options in Round 6 with Giedraitis out, but both were held in check by UNICS. Giedraitis is still out, so someone else will have to occupy Baskonia's top spot again, and we'll bank on a Fontecchio bounceback. As evidenced in the breakdown above, Fontecchio had about as poor a matchup as possible in the previous Round, and that won't be the case this time around. Zenit's Jordan Loyd did not have his best game his last time out, but no one on his squad threatens his placement here as of now.
DFS Darlings: The players who did step up for Baskonia on Wednesday were Wade Baldwin, Tadas Sedekerskis and Matt Costello, and all will be appealing on DraftKings. Baldwin is plenty capable of a repeat performance, Sedekerskis has been trending upwards as his playing time has ticked up, and Costello checks in at a meager $7,100. On the Zenit side, it's all about bargains, and Jordan Mickey's upside makes him a tantalizing target at $7,900. Mateusz Ponitka's $7,600 price tag also stands out, and Conner Frankamp looks pretty good at $5,800. The over/under on this game is notably lower than the rest on the games on the board, so be careful not to go with too many players in this one, though.
Zalgiris Kaunas at 
Anadolu Efes Istanbul
Status Check: Emmanuel Mudiay (ZAL), Joffrey Lauvergne (ZAL), Vasilije Micic (EFS), Bryant Dunston (EFS), James Anderson (EFS), Dogus Balbay (EFS)
Best Bets for Success: It's unclear if Micic will play Friday, but it will be tough to roster him even if he does suit up, as it appeared he would play Wednesday but did not step on the court despite being in uniform. As such, among Efes' top players, Shane Larkin remains the team's safest option for another Round. Larkin averaged just 8.5 ppg over the past two Rounds, but you can only hold him down for so long, and it seems like a big game could be in store with a struggling Efes squad needing to make a statement. Josh Nebo remains the man for Zalgiris, and although he's getting a bit pricey on DraftKings, it is warranted, as he was four rebounds away from averaging a double-double over the past four Rounds.
DFS Darlings: Efes will have a couple of the best value options on the board in Elijah Bryant and Krunoslav Simon -- particularly if Micic sits -- as Zalgiris has not been great against opposing guards. It has taken Bryant no time at all to assume a key role for the Turkish team, and Simon at full speed is worth well more than the $7,000 he checks in at. With Mudiay out for Zalgiris, Janis Strelnieks and Mantas Kalnietis both look good in the low $7,000 range.
Status Check: Nikola Milutinov (CSK), Tornike Shengelia (CSK), Marius Grigonis (CSK), Will Thomas (ASM), Leo Westermann (ASM), Brock Motum (ASM)
Best Bets for Success: The most intriguing matchup of the day will be this one, as Monaco's Mike James will take on CSKA for the first time since unceremoniously parting ways with the club late last season. James and Dimitris Itoudis, CSKA's head coach, got into several disagreements last season, and James -- who was leading the EuroLeague in scoring at the time -- was ultimately suspended by the coach. James is not scoring as much this season as he did during previous campaigns, but there's no doubt he will be motivated Friday, and he will take on a CSKA team that is allowing opposing guards to do plenty of scoring. You can bet the Russian team will be fired up for this one as well, but James could put up points in bunches if he is on top of his game. The Russian team will again be without the services of the three players above, so Will Clyburn will remain the team's top pick. He still got 12 shots up Wednesday despite scoring just five points, and he scored at least 16 points in four straight games prior to that.
DFS Darlings: Monaco made a big addition earlier this week, bringing in Dwayne Bacon, who spent last season in the NBA. Bacon has not been with his new club for long, but he is at least worth considering on DraftKings at an affordable $7,800. Thomas and Westermann will sit this one out for the French team, and Donta Hall will be playing through a broken nose, so Donatas Motiejunas and Danilo Andjusic will get a boost. There isn't a lot to like among CSKA's affordable players, but Johannes Voigtmann is back down to a reasonable $9,000 on DraftKings and Alexey Shved checks in at a season-low $9,500, and both are plenty capable of stuffing the stat sheet like the players listed ahead of them.
LDLC ASVEL Villeurbanne at 
Panathinaikos OPAP Athens
Status Check: Kostas Antetokounmpo (ASV), Raymar Morgan (ASV), Jehyve Floyd (PAN)
Best Bets for Success: The visitors continue to get a lot from Elie Okobo and Chris Jones, who despite being held below their scoring averages in Round 6, remain top-10 in the league in scoring. Okobo does seem to be separating himself from Jones a bit, outscoring him on DraftKings in four straight Rounds. Panathinaikos has a number of players who qualify for this spot, but we have to start with Daryl Macon, because his huge night Wednesday left him second in the league in points per game. Georgios Papagiannis is also rolling for the Greek team and should get as many minutes as he can handle Friday with Floyd sidelined.
DFS Darlings: Panathinaikos has been one of the worst against opposing centers, so it could be another big night for Youssoupha Fall, provided he gets the chance to do so. Given the matchup, James Gist will also have some appeal at a measly $5,600. It does not appear there will be much value to be had on the Panathinaikos side with their best players dominating the box score, but Howard Sant-Roos looks like a pretty good option on DraftKings at just $6,900.
