NBA DFS: DraftKings Picks for November 2, 2026

Victor Wembanyama is our preferred pay-up on Monday. LaMelo Ball and Franz Wagner are the other two players we want to build around, with Onyeka Okongwu offering a less expensive route at center. The strongest salary relief comes with real volatility, so this is not a slate to mistake a cheap price for a dependable floor.

These DraftKings NBA DFS picks cover the 11-game November 2, 2026 slate beginning at 7 p.m. ET. The pool runs through the 8:30 p.m. games. The later Portland-Denver, Miami-Lakers, Phoenix-Golden State and Toronto-Clippers games are not included.

Our favorite plays at a glance

Player	Salary	Where we want him
Victor Wembanyama	$11,100	Preferred spend-up
Franz Wagner	$8,300	Primary creator
LaMelo Ball	$8,200	Upside guard
Onyeka Okongwu	$6,400	Midrange center
Ayo Dosunmu	$6,200	Expanded-opportunity GPP play
OG Anunoby	$6,100	Balanced builds
Tristan da Silva	$4,800	Scoring-driven salary relief
Mikal Bridges	$4,800	Rebound candidate
Kenrich Williams	$4,300	Injury-created value
Sam Merrill	$4,000	High-variance shooting value

The slate starts with opportunity, not the last box score

Minnesota and Oklahoma City have substantial absences, while Orlando is working around injuries to two important creators. Those situations deserve attention, but their beneficiaries are not interchangeable. Ball can create his own offense. Dosunmu can collect minutes and peripheral stats. Kenrich Williams is a cheaper way into a thin rotation, not a substitute for a high-usage star.

Our preferred construction is one premium ceiling player, two or three midrange contributors and selective salary relief. Chasing every inexpensive player who just had a big game leaves too much of the lineup dependent on hot shooting. A balanced build with Wagner and Okongwu is a reasonable alternative to forcing Wembanyama into every lineup.

Core plays

Victor Wembanyama, $11,100: His October 31 line was 43 points, seven rebounds, four assists and six blocks in 33 minutes. He also posted 36 points, 14 rebounds and five assists against Utah on October 28, although that game included overtime. Utah is without Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic. The appeal is the combination of scoring, rebounding and defensive-event upside. The objection is roster cost: paying five figures here pushes us toward weaker minute floors elsewhere. NBA game log.

Franz Wagner, $8,300: He finished Sunday with 14 points, six rebounds and a career-high 12 assists despite shooting 5-for-20. That is the draw: he can remain involved when his shot is not falling. With Paolo Banchero and Jalen Suggs sidelined, Wagner is an attractive centerpiece against Washington rather than merely a scorer we hope gets hot. The back-to-back and the defensive attention on him are the counterarguments. Magic recap.

LaMelo Ball, $8,200: Anthony Edwards and Donte DiVincenzo are out. Ball had 24 points, four rebounds, seven assists and two steals on October 30, then fouled out after 20 minutes the following night. His last five minute totals were 20, 29, 28, 31 and 17. The opportunity is appealing, but calling him a guaranteed 35-minute play would overstate the case. We prefer his creation upside for tournaments against Milwaukee. NBA game log.

Onyeka Okongwu, $6,400: He followed a 29-point, 12-rebound game with six points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes while picking up five fouls. Jock Landale is out, which supports Okongwu’s role at center. We like the price against Indiana without pretending the previous ceiling game is the expectation. Jalen Johnson remains questionable, not out; Okongwu’s case does not require assigning him all of Johnson’s offense. NBA game log.

Midrange options and tournament pivots

Ayo Dosunmu, $6,200: Saturday brought 27 points, nine rebounds, three assists and three steals in 38 minutes. Edwards and DiVincenzo being unavailable gives him a meaningful opening. Still, Ball fouled out of that game, so we are not treating those 38 minutes as a fixed role. A Ball-Dosunmu pairing captures different ways Minnesota can replace production, but it also concentrates the lineup in one backcourt. NBA player page.

OG Anunoby, $6,100: His last five games produced 34, 31, 36, 35 and 34 minutes. The scoring has swung, including nine points in the latest game and 23 one game earlier. He is a useful alternative when the lineup needs a forward with a steadier recent workload rather than another cheap shooter. Against Brooklyn, we prefer him in balanced builds; he is not our first choice when chasing the slate’s highest individual ceiling. NBA game log.

Salary relief and high-risk, high-reward plays

Tristan da Silva, $4,800: Sunday’s 35 minutes yielded 23 points, 10 rebounds and five made threes. The previous game was eight points in 23 minutes. That contrast matters. He is a bench scorer benefiting from Orlando’s missing offense, not a newly established star with a guaranteed workload. We like the salary and forward eligibility, but another five-three game is not the premise of the play. NBA game log.

Mikal Bridges, $4,800: His latest outing produced 12 points, five rebounds, two assists and three steals in 30 minutes. The season scoring average entering Monday is only 6.2, and his previous game lasted 13 minutes. This is a tournament bet on a better performance at a discounted price, not an assertion that his early struggles are solved. He fits the Wembanyama construction better than a cash-style lineup. NBA game log.

Kenrich Williams, $4,300: He started Saturday and supplied 11 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes. Oklahoma City’s absences create room, but that was still a limited workload. We want the inexpensive multi-category path, not an imaginary 30-minute guarantee. He is a useful final forward when paying for ceiling elsewhere. NBA game log.

Sam Merrill, $4,000: His last two games were six points in 19 minutes and 16 points in 27 minutes. That is a shooting-dependent punt with a modest workload, not a secure core piece. We would rather use him in a tournament lineup that already has multiple strong creators than ask him to rescue a thin balanced build. NBA player page.

Injury news shaping the slate

The NBA’s 8:15 a.m. ET report lists Edwards and DiVincenzo out for Minnesota. Oklahoma City is without Alex Caruso, Chet Holmgren, Thomas Sorber, Nikola Topic, Cason Wallace and Jalen Williams. Atlanta is missing Landale, with Jalen Johnson questionable.

Joel Embiid, Kyrie Irving, Zach LaVine and Alex Sarr remain questionable. Nic Claxton and Santi Aldama are doubtful. Jalen Smith and Trey Murphy III are probable. Indiana, Brooklyn, Orlando and Boston had not yet submitted Monday reports. Those designations are not permission to treat questionable players as absent.

Orlando’s earlier announcements remain important: Suggs has a right-knee bone bruise with a two-week reevaluation, and Banchero suffered a high ankle sprain. The recommendations above reflect those missing creators without assigning a new return date to Banchero.

A $49,800 tournament construction

This example prioritizes Wembanyama’s ceiling and Minnesota’s available opportunity. The price is a volatile supporting cast. Bridges, da Silva, Williams and Merrill make it a GPP construction, not our recommendation for a low-variance contest.

Slot	Player	Salary
PG	LaMelo Ball	$8,200
SG	Ayo Dosunmu	$6,200
SF	Mikal Bridges	$4,800
PF	Tristan da Silva	$4,800
C	Victor Wembanyama	$11,100
G	Sam Merrill	$4,000
F	Kenrich Williams	$4,300
UTIL	Onyeka Okongwu	$6,400
Total		$49,800
Remaining		$200

The biggest decision is Wembanyama versus a more balanced roster. We favor Wembanyama’s ceiling, but prefer Wagner and Anunoby as building blocks when the cheap-player combination feels too fragile. There is no need to force every recommended play into the same eight slots.