We had that lovely taste of NBA DFS returning to action last night and I hope you rode the Boban Train with me and smoked that Tyler J as a cheap, value play. Really digging this nine-game slate to end our work week though it’s an entirely different ballgame with less high-priced guys to work with (instead of Harden, Giannis, LeBron, Curry, Durant we have Russell Westbrook, Paul George, Karl-Anthony Towns and Nikola Jokic). Similar to my builds for Thursday’s five-game slate, I like the idea of building for more balance tonight as I love some of the options in the price tier below ($7k to $10k).
Without fail, we should see DFS’ers picking off pieces to use against the Hawks, which most likely means we’ll be rostering some Pistons tonight. The Timberwolves are another great team to target today with a fantastic matchup against a reeling Knicks squad. Our highest projected total game doesn’t surpass 230 and that’s the Wizards-Hornets, which has some fine pieces to target as well. Let’s dig in to the slate and build some lineups to smash with tonight. As is usually the case, this is a ‘values’ article, so I’m mostly looking for GPP plays who will provide us with over six times their salary.
Salaries listed for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo!.
GUARDS
Reggie Jackson, Pistons ($5,600, $5,700, $17) – Rookie Trae Young continues to be a defender to target in DFS. Though R-Jax is typically more viable in cash, the matchup and expected pace boosts him into the potential for a ceiling game. If you can believe it, Jackson has yet to dish out 10 assists in a game this season. Expect him to approach his season-high of nine and to take upwards of 15 shots. I’m looking for something close to 40 fantasy points out of him today.
Jeff Teague, Wolves ($5,900, $7,100, $22) – The matchup is also a fine one as the Knicks have been without Ntilikina (their only good backcourt defender) and have allowed nearly 50 DKP to opposing point guards this season. The pace is a fun one too and Teague has had some wicked efforts in his last two. How about 52 DKP in 38 minutes (9x) against the Rockets and 42.5 in 35 minutes (7.7x) against the Clippers. Lots to love with Teague – particularly on DK and Y! today. Major boost if Karl-Anthony Towns (questionable) sits.
Andrew Wiggins, Wolves ($6,500, $7,000, $25) – Over eight times his DK salary in his last two games and Wiggins’ latest effort was very impressive as he scored 23 points with 10 boards and 7 assists. Those peripheral stats are something we rarely see with Wiggins, but it’s been more prevalent with Jimmy Butler no longer in the mix. He was dealing with an illness but should be good to go in a fine matchup with the Knicks. Bombs away!
Kyle Lowry, Raptors ($7,200, $8,000, $31) – Don’t typically go this route, but without Derrick White, the Spurs have been abysmal against point guards, allowing a slate-worst 55 fantasy points. Lowry is cheaper than we’ve seen earlier this season. Though White may return, I’d still expect one of Lowry’s better efforts and a very good shot at approaching 6x return. Less viable on Yahoo! for the price based on alternatives in his range. The Spurs-Raptors is the second highest implied total (228.5) on the night.
Landry Shamet, Clippers ($4,000, $4,300, $10) – His name reminds me of this product I used to wax my car with. Shabaz, Shazaam, something like that. Either way, here’s some value that will go overlooked because of all the other options among the cheapos. Shamet should draw his second consecutive start tonight and perhaps see a usage rate north of 20 percent for the first time with his new club. Shamet could see anywhere between 22 to 35 minutes and hopefully approach the 27 and 28 DKP he produced in two road games with the Wolves and a tough Celtics defense. Don’t see a major ceiling with him, but I’m interested as a punt.
Delon Wright, Grizzlies ($3,700, $5,300, $11) – If Conley were out, we’d have ourselves a no-brainer lock-and-load play, But Conley is in, so we’d be considering Wright as a very low-percentage, against-the-grain option as the depleted Grizzlies’ best spark off the bench. Wright played 26 and 34 minutes in his last two. The latest one was him coming off the bench to drop 29 points on the Bulls (8.1x) and prior to that, 7.4x return in 34 minutes against the Spurs. He’s a cheapy I feel comfortable using in some GPP lineups tonight.
FORWARDS
Blake Griffin, Pistons ($8,900, $9,200, $38) – Lock the big man in and just fuggetaboutit! Griffin may arguably be the slate’s top scorer taking on a Hawks team that plays at the league’s fastest pace and allows the second-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards over the last month (51 DKP). It’s a ceiling game if there ever was one and I wouldn’t mind playing both Blake and fellow big man Andre Drummond in GPP lineups together.
Ivan Rabb, Grizzlies ($5,600, $3,800, $12) – With Jonas Valanciunas declared out, it’s Rabb’s time to shine, if not for just one evening. He will be completely off the radar following two horrendous efforts (under 10 FP in each but he played averaged just 10 minutes in those games). Rabb should be in the starting lineup again and will see closer to 30 minutes in this one. He produces nearly one fantasy point-per-minute and should have his way against a weak-guarding frontcourt of the Clippers (59.4 DKP to opposing centers is the league’s worst mark).
Wizards: Bobby Portis ($6,200, $6,700, $21) & Jabari Parker ($5,500, $5,600, $16) – Big fan of both these big boys who are enjoying actual playing time with their new team in D.C. Portis has hit between 6x and 9x in all but one of his last six games. As for Parker, he has produced 7.4x, 8.2x and 8.6x his DK salary in three of his last four. The most recent 40-point effort came against a tough defensive Raptors team. Consider both in game stacks today.
Dario Saric, Wolves ($4,800, $5,200, $21) – Super Dario should get his third straight start, and minutes is what we like to see for a guy who can shoot against a team that doesn’t do well defending said shots. Saric scored 29 and 37.5 in his last two and even saw 33 minutes on the court two games ago.
Taurean Prince, Hawks ($4,600, $5,100, $13) – Hinging on Kevin Huerter being out (he’s doubtful) which would mean more minutes for Prince, Kent Bazemore and DeAndre Bembry. Prince is the one in the starting lineup and he’s just oh so inexpensive across all three sites. Someone I wouldn’t mind having over 75 percent exposure to in my lineups today expecting somewhere around 33 to 38 fantasy points.
Paul Millsap, Nuggets ($4,600 DK) – We can’t always trust his minutes, but we can trust what he does with them. Millsap did see 31 minutes in the game prior to the All-Star break and dropped a whopping 52.25 points in that game against the Kings (11.1x). There’s no true Mavericks big man who can contain him and Nikola Jokic, so if we think he gets the minutes we may see major production. My guess is he plays just 27 minutes but drops 43 FDP. Let’s see how close I am.
Luke Kornet, Knicks ($3,500, $4,500, $10) – Kornet is going to be dicey chalk if he draws the start. If he doesn’t start, he’ll be off the radar completely. The rookie has had some struggles but has also had some big games where he was the team’s go-to guy on the court. On Valentine’s Day, starting at power forward, Kornet hit 8.2x value, getting the start and playing 31 minutes on nearly 24 percent usage. He may be last night’s Boban tonight.
CENTERS
Cody Zeller, Hornets ($5,200, $6,400, $13) – One of the best values on the board, Zeller has been a machine. Here are his DK game logs since returning to the lineup: 30.25 (6.3x), 32.75 (7.3x), 29 (6.9x), 28.25 (6.6x), 26.25 (6.6x). Prior to his injury, Zeller dropped 44.5 (9.9x) against the Nets. Price has steadily and rightfully creeped up but in this matchup against a Wizards team allowing a slate-high DKP to opposing centers (59.8), he’s the center I plan on locking in for most lineups.
Montrezl Harrell, Clippers ($6,900, $7,700, $25) – Harrell will be totally off the radar today because of his price and the fact that he hasn’t really been doing Trez Thangs for over a month now. He did drop 47 against the Wolves (7x) before the break though. The matchup is a solid one with Marc Gasol out of the picture and Jaren Jackson Jr. not a lock to play. Consider the contrarian spend-up here.
Julius Randle, Pelicans ($7,400, $7,800, $29) – He becomes a lock-him-in play if for some reason Anthony Davis sits or we even get the feeling that he’ll be on a low minutes count. Randle absolutely dominates without Davis on the court and should be quite effective even if he’s on it. He drew that start against the Thunder prior to the break and crushed it (60.25 DKP, 8.4x) in a tough matchup against the Thunder. His price is down on Yahoo where it was closer to $40 just one month ago. Definitely someone to consider for lineups tonight.
