This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
Game 2 of the NBA Finals tips off at 8:00 p.m. EDT, and I've got you covered with my favorite selections for FanDuel's single-game format. FanDuel now features 1.5x salary increases to correspond with the 1.5x point multiplier for your MVP selection, so keep that in mind moving forward.
SLATE OVERVIEW
Before we begin, let's take a look at the winning lineup from one of FanDuel's most popular multi-entry contests for Game 1.
MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander 83.25
UTIL Tyrese Haliburton 35
UTIL Pascal Siakam 37.5
UTIL Luguentz Dort 39.5
UTIL Alex Caruso 35.2
UTIL Obi Toppin 23
I quadrupled up with my lineup, though I deviated with a Jalen Williams multiplier and opted for Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard instead of Caruso and Toppin. Implementing SGA as the MVP made going lower a necessity for the winning roster. But in this case, the discounts worked out. Nesmith matched Toppin while coming at a higher cost, and our biggest whiff was omitting Caruso after exceeding his projections by a significant margin.
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MVP CANDIDATES
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (MVP $24,300, UTIL $16,200)
Jalen Williams (MVP $18,300, UTIL $12,200)
Pascal Siakam (MVP $16,500, UTIL $11,000)
Alex Caruso (MVP $7,200, UTIL $4,800)
SGA is a near-lock as Sunday's top scorer, yet his salary continues to rise to make it difficult to fit him into a balanced build. Taking him would only leave you with $7,140 per slot, and that will require some massive sacrifices at UTIL. Mid-range plays are almost impossible to make without bargain hunting. Despite the struggle, SGA's $8,100 salary increase was worth 27.75 additional FDFPs in the multiplier. Though there's a gap at that range in the player pool, you'd be pleased with that total from selections that are at or near that salary point. Since his multiplier value has a shot at equaling the output of two players, it's still worthwhile to construct a build with him at the top. If you have a strong belief in mid-range options, I think Siakam and Williams are still perfectly reasonable. I've cashed with them at the top throughout the playoffs, which has given me the luxury of fielding SGA and Tyrese Haliburton in utility builds.
The contrarian option here is Caruso. The opener showed us the Thunder are fine with letting their big three run the show, but going small without Isaiah Hartenstein up front continues to be a thing. Caruso and Hartenstein frequently shared the floor without much negative correlation, yet I believe Cason Wallace's early struggles could warrant more usage for Caruso without Hartenstein's input. They may occupy different positions, but there wasn't much separation in their rebound totals and Caruso is set to grab a few more boards if Hartenstein's minutes continue to decrease.
UTILITY CANDIDATES
Tyrese Haliburton ($13,200)
Myles Turner ($7,500)
Andrew Nembhard ($5,800)
Aaron Nesmith ($4,600)
Luguentz Dort ($3,800)
Obi Toppin ($2,600)
T.J. McConnell ($2,200)
The MVP candidates who don't make the cut are obviously viable for utility consideration. Our choices will be limited if SGA is our MVP, but it isn't as dire as you might think. I could headline with Toppin and McConnell and still get Haliburton and Siakam involved with $900 left to spare. That remainder could get you Dort over Toppin or Williams over Siakam, depending on he rest of the build. Andrew Nembhard made plays all over the court during the second half on Thursday and showed impressive hustle on defense, so he's a utility I'll once again run with. Dort's numbers continued to be solid after closing out the Minnesota series with 25.3 FDFPs and a playoff-high 39.3 in Game 1 against the Pacers. He's as streaky as they come, though the small-ball variation for OKC favors his skill set. A lot can change if you decide to omit Haliburton. Adding Williams or Siakam becomes much easier, and you can also think about Turner as he showed signs of life after two mediocre totals against the Knicks.
After some mixing and matching, here are a couple of projected builds I favor.
SGA/Williams/Holmgren/Nembhard/Dort/Nesmith
SGA/Willams/Siakam/Nembhard/Dort/Toppin
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ALTERNATE BUILDS
There's some merit to taking a stab with Myles Turner or Chet Holmgren as contrarian MVP candidates. It occasionally makes sense to give players who don't fit in the utility a 1.5 salary bump, but you'd have to depend on SGA's 0.5 percent point increase to hit below his Thursday result to consider them seriously. If you went with Turner, you'd find a combo that could include SGA and any three-player combination of Williams, Siakam, Haliburton or Holmgren. Who you selected would vary your picks at the bottom, yet you'd likely be able to get Caruso and Nembhard involved. Here are two sample builds using that method:
Turner/SGA/Siakam/Holmgren/Nembhard/Caruso
OR
Turner/SGA/Haliburton/Holmgren/Nembhard/Dort
