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Daily fantasy basketball building blocks and fades for Thursday

Fantasy NBA, Fantasy, NBA

Which players should you build around and which players should you fade in DFS as we tip off Thursday's NBA action? Our experts have the answers.

Building blocks

Patrick Beverley, LA Clippers

He might share the minutes with Milos Teodosic, who actually costs more in DraftKings, but each of these Clippers point guards get to face a raw rookie in his very first game. The Clippers should score many points and Beverley does a lot of things. We'd all love more scoring, but he passes, rebounds, steals and hits threes. -- Eric Karabell

Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors

This one is a math equation in my book. On DraftKings, Russell Westbrook is priced 39.2 percent higher than Lowry. That may not seem like much, considering that he outscored the Raps point guard by more than 60 percent per game last season, but it wouldn't take much regression at all to make Lowry the better value. How little regression are we talking? If he goes for 28-9-9 with his 3-point numbers being sustained (I'm not betting on that, but I'll give it to him here), he is less than 38 percent more value than 2016 Lowry -- and that's a pretty good night. Basically nothing has changed for Lowry while Westbrook is playing with a new core. Lowry has to be the better investment tonight. -- Kyle Soppe

Blake Griffin, LA Clippers

I would expect a unanimous vote for Griffin in this space today, as he is not only far and away the best PF option, he has experienced higher usage and efficiency in Chris Paul's absence in the past. Patrick Beverley is a capable ball handler, and will also be good in transition, creating additional possessions for Griffin, and to a lesser extent, Danilo Gallinari and DeAndre Jordan to use. The Lakers have ranked near last in defensive efficiency for years, something that isn't going to change substantially in the near future. Given Griffin's ability to contribute in multiple categories, he should be worth the high salary tonight in all formats. -- Renee Miller

Players to fade

Carmelo Anthony, Oklahoma City Thunder

I refuse to pay the premium for a big name, even on a short slate. Could Melo come out hot and fade with time? Sure, but at this price point, you're paying for his ceiling, not the reasonable expectation. I think the Thunder will look a lot like their 2015-2016 squad from a statistical perspective. Enes Kanter was the third scoring option that season and he averaged 12.7 points a night. I'm not saying Anthony' production nose dives to that level, but under 20 PPG for the first time in his career wouldn't shock me and he doesn't have the versatile skill set that will allow him to achieve value without high-end scoring. I'd much rather pay up for Paul George or even go cheap with Justin Holiday tonight. -- Kyle Soppe

Lonzo Ball, Los Angeles Lakers

I don't want to act like I'm totally against the rookie, and he should become a special player for real life and fantasy, but as stated numerous times his shooting leaves much to be desired and I think Beverley will more than hold his own defensively in the opener. Ball has triple-doubles in his future but for his first game, expectations are so high and so is the price, so I'll pass. -- Eric Karabell

This fade comes down mainly to price. Ball is just too expensive relative to his experience and matchup with Beverley and the Clippers. The Lakers play fast and should be an increasingly fun team to watch, and Ball is definitely part of that. Tonight, however, I'm trying to fit Russell Westbrook and Griffin into lineups and am using my second PG/G slot on a less expensive player with a similar range of outcomes. -- Renee Miller

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