Injuries! Roster construction and player recommendations will be shaped greatly by the news we hear throughout the day on Monday for the eight-game slate. There are many key players that are questionable for Monday night including a trio of Warriors, Victor Oladipo and Ben Simmons. My FanDuel lineup advice below makes assumptions that most of the questionable players sit out but watch closely how these situations shake out and adjust accordingly.
Note that some of the stats referenced in this article are my custom DvP calculations that combine both season and last five games data along with blending similar positions production allowed together.
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Point Guard
Darren Collison (IND): $6,400 vs ORL
Collison has finally started to string together some consistently good production over his last six games, topping 27 FanDuel points in each contest. He can be used as a value PG option whether Oladipo plays or not but he does get a slight usage bump (+2.7%) when Oladipo is off the court. The matchup is right also going against the Magic who have allowed the fourth most FanDuel points to opposing PGs this season.
Injuries! Roster construction and player recommendations will be shaped greatly by the news we hear throughout the day on Monday for the eight-game slate. There are many key players that are questionable for Monday night including a trio of Warriors, Victor Oladipo and Ben Simmons. My FanDuel lineup advice below makes assumptions that most of the questionable players sit out but watch closely how these situations shake out and adjust accordingly.
Note that some of the stats referenced in this article are my custom DvP calculations that combine both season and last five games data along with blending similar positions production allowed together.
Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Point Guard
Darren Collison (IND): $6,400 vs ORL
Collison has finally started to string together some consistently good production over his last six games, topping 27 FanDuel points in each contest. He can be used as a value PG option whether Oladipo plays or not but he does get a slight usage bump (+2.7%) when Oladipo is off the court. The matchup is right also going against the Magic who have allowed the fourth most FanDuel points to opposing PGs this season.
TJ McConnell (PHI): $5,400 vs CLE
McConnell is an okay option if Simmons is out but I would prefer to only use McConnell if Simmons misses the matchup with the Cavaliers on Monday night. With Simmons out on Saturday, McConnell stuffed the stat sheet with 15 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes of action against the Magic. The Cavaliers haven’t been quite as generous to opposing PGs as the Magic but they are not far off, allowing the ninth most FanDuel points per game to the position. There aren’t any similarly priced pivots in good matchups so if Simmons plays you might have to look to pay up at PG with Damian Lillard, Kyrie Irving or Stephen Curry if he plays and Kevin Durant sits out.
Shooting Guard
Klay Thompson (GS): $7,000 vs SAC
This spot depends on which of the questionable Warriors’ trio of Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green play or not. If two or more of them sit then Thompson should see a big spike in usage and fantasy production as one of the top two scoring options on the offense. If both Curry and Durant play then look to pivot off Thompson to C.J. McCollum.
Tim Hardaway Jr (NY): $6,500 vs POR
This is one spot that I’m willing to move up or down the salary chain with depending on how the injuries play out on Monday. Hardaway has shown a decent floor with big upside but I do not love his matchup against the Trail Blazers who only rank 17th in FanDuel points allowed to opposing SGs. Potential pivots are McCollum, Oladipo (if playing), Lou Williams, Dwyane Wade and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.
Small Forward
LeBron James (CLE): $12,000 @ PHI
James should be the first player you lock into your lineup. He doesn’t come with any question marks or contingency plans as he only brings solid fantasy production night-in and night-out. He should play his usual 35-plus minutes in what should be a close game with the up-and-coming Sixers forcing him to bring his “A” game. He brings a big salary with him but on a slate with some much uncertainty, I want a rock in the middle of my lineup.
Lance Stephenson (IND): $4,600 vs ORL
Stephenson is only an option if Oladipo misses the game. With Oladipo out on Saturday, Stephenson drew the start and played 36 minutes while posting a solid line of 16 points, eight rebounds and five assists on his way to 30.1 FanDuel points. While that was a tough matchup against the Celtics, he should have an easier time posting big numbers against the Magic who have allowed increased production in points (+14.7%), rebounds (+13.0%) and assists (+5.1%) to opposing SFs. If Oladipo plays then look to pivot to Stephenson’s teammate Bojan Bogdanovic or the Warriors’ Omri Casspi (if Durant sits).
Power Forward
Aaron Gordon (ORL): $7,400 @ IND
Gordon continues to be a little erratic as his fantasy points per game look like a roller coaster with all the ups and downs. I’d prefer to try to get up to Blake Griffin if possible but Gordon is a nice still a nice consolation prize at $2,300 less salary and almost as much upside as Griffin. Gordon has a solid matchup against the Pacers who have allowed a small uptick in production to opposing PFs in points, rebounds and assists this season.
Jordan Bell (GS): $3,400 vs SAC
If Draymond Green is out then Bell is a cheap plug-and-play option. Bell played 26 minutes and posted number across the board on his way to 43.2 FanDuel points. He would likely see similar minutes if Green is out on Monday. However, if Green plays then Bell is completely off the radar. If you want to pivot to another cheap PF option then consider Tarik Black who should get about 15 minutes as the backup center in Houston with Nene out and has averaged 17.8 FD points in four games Nene has missed this season.
Center
Clint Capela (PHI): $7,300 vs BKN
Speaking of the Rockets big men, Capela could be in for a huge game on Monday at home against the Nets. With Nene out, Capela should be locked into about 30 minutes and the Nets have allowed the fourth most FanDuel points to opposing centers this season. Capela has topped 40 FD points seven times this season in 19 games and number eight should be coming on Monday night.
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Brad Richter is a correspondent at FantasyPros and a contributor at DailyOverlay and GoingFor2. For more from Brad, you can view his archive or follow him @RotoPilot