Bryan Armetta makes his DraftKings NBA Pick6 selections before Tuesday’s opening night tips off.
The NBA is back, and fans will be treated to two premier matchups to kick things off. First, the New York Knicks travel to Beantown to take on the title-winning Boston Celtics, who are 5.5-point favorites. Then, the new-look Timberwolves head to Hollywood for a showdown with LeBron James and the Lakers. Los Angeles enters the contest as 1.5-point underdogs.
With exciting games such as these, there’s plenty of ways to get in on the action. Here are Tuesday’s DraftKings NBA Pick6 selections before the start of the 2024-25 season.
Arguably the biggest move of the offseason, Karl-Anthony Towns coming to the Knicks opens up Tom Thibodeau’s offense in ways that were almost unimaginable last season. Rather than the defensively-minded duo of Mitchell Robinson and Isaiah Hartenstein, KAT’s game is all about stretching the floor with elite three-point shooting ability.
Tuesday’s game with the Celtics is the perfect opportunity for Towns to showcase his elite offensive skills. Boston is missing All-Star big Kristaps Porzingis, which means some combo of Al Horford and Luke Kornet will be guarding the paint. While both are good role players, neither comes close to the kind of rim protection that KP offers. Towns should have ample opportunity to push past 20 points, whether it’s inside or from deep.
In case you haven’t heard, the other big Knicks acquisition, Mikal Bridges, is struggling from three-point land. In the preseason, he connected on just under 11% of his shots from beyond the arc. While I’d expect that number to change over the course of the regular season, shooting slumps are real. If the Knicks can’t get one of their talented wings going, they might turn to another in Anunoby.
When he did play, the former Raptor was the glue that held a gritty Knicks team together. Most impressive was his shooting from three, a solid 39% on 4.5 attempts per game (1.8 3PM) after being traded to New York. Considering OG is the fourth option on the court, it’s unlikely Boston focuses on defending him, which should lead to wide open kick-outs from Jalen Brunson. If someone on the Knicks other than their two stars is going to get hot, it’s probably Anunoby.
Although he was the rightful Finals MVP, there’s still no question that Jaylen Brown is an (overqualified) Robin to Jayson Tatum’s Batman. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it does make backing Brown’s prop bets a bit tricky. With so much production funneled towards his superstar teammate, JB can become a bit of a boom-or-bust option. To make matters worse, a game against the Knicks‘ stingy defense isn’t very enticing.
Last season, Brown failed to clear 23 points in four of his five games against New York, scoring just 19.0 on average. In four of those games, he didn’t even have to face Anunoby. Now, paired with another elite wing defender in Bridges, an already tough matchup becomes that much more difficult. It’s tough to envision both of the Jay’s flirting with 30 points against this level of competition.
As mentioned earlier, the Celtics are without Kristaps Porzingis. That means more minutes for Boston’s ‘other’ centers, including Kornet. The lanky big man put up a modest 5.1 points and 4.2 rebounds last season, but those numbers don’t tell the full story. If we look at Kornet’s per36 statistics, he averaged 12.2 points and 9.6 rebounds.
There’s almost no way Kornet doesn’t see a good chunk of minutes tonight given Boston’s thin front court. There’s even a scenario where head coach Joe Mazzulla sticks with the seven-footer to guard Towns instead of the shorter Horford. In thirteen games with over 20 minutes played last season, Kornet averaged 7.7 rebounds.
Gobert’s offensive limitations have always been a topic of conversation amongst NBA fans, but nobody can deny his skill on the glass. The Frenchman has averaged 11.8 boards in his career, and that number has jumped to 12.3 during his two seasons with the Timberwolves. That doesn’t make 13 rebounds a lock, but a date with the Lakers is the perfect opportunity to hit the mark.
As we’ve seen in the past from Rudy, it’s just as much about the matchup as it is his own ability. Los Angeles took the fewest three-pointers in basketball last season (31.1), so expect plenty of LeBron James and Anthony Davis drives to the rim. That play style should keep Gobert both involved and on the floor. Past precedent favors the defensive player of the year as well; since joining Minnesota, he’s averaged 14.7 rebounds in six games against LA.
It’s safe to say that we know what Hachimura is entering year six of his career: a solid, albeit unspectacular, jack of all trades. There’s plenty of real-world value in that, but he’s a frustrating player to bet on since he doesn’t really specialize in anything. Instead, the former Wizard makes more sense here as a fade.
Heading into a matchup against a big, physical T-Wolves squad, it’s hard to imagine Hachimura pulling down more rebounds than his average last season (4.8 TRB). In four appearances against Minnesota last year, he failed to clear five boards in all but one matchup. That 30-point, six-rebound performance last April came with LeBron sitting and Anthony Davis exiting the game in the first half due to injury. Long story short, Rui hasn’t had enough rebounding success in his career or against Minny to justify this number.
Pick6 is a peer-to-peer fantasy variant where you build a lineup (your “Pick Set”) of 2+ players and select whether or not you believe each will outperform their listed stat projection. Enter your Pick Set in Pick6 contests to compete against other users. Get enough picks correct and win a share of cash prizes.
Create a Pick Set by choosing 2+ players from the same sport and Pick Group (a set of picks available from a group of set competitions). For each player, simply select if you think they’ll have more or less than their listed stat projection. In each Pick Set, you can not pick the same player twice and you must pick players from at least two different teams.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is barmy) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
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