We start off the work week with a nine-game NBA slate on Monday. The slate includes a nice mix of games that should be close, games that should be high-scoring and a couple of games that should be both. Also, as always, watch for late-breaking news leading up to tipoff including the status of Steph Curry, which could open up some different players and usage for the Warriors.
Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool 
Point Guard
Lonzo Ball (LAL): $7,600 @ PHO
Ball put it all together on Saturday against the Bucks, becoming the youngest player to put up a triple-double with 19 points (shooting over 50%), 13 assists and 12 rebounds. He will have an opportunity to post a similar stat line on Monday against the Suns who have allowed the fifth most FanDuel points to opposing PGs this season.
Mike James (PHO): $5,300 vs LAL
The Suns point guard situation is another one to watch on Monday, as Tyler Ulis drew the start in the previous game and played more minutes than James. If Ulis draws the start again, look to pivot to him at $4,000 and open up more salary for another position. Whichever Suns’ PG draws the start is a strong option against a Lakers’ team that has allowed the second most FD points to opposing PGs this season.
We start off the work week with a nine-game NBA slate on Monday. The slate includes a nice mix of games that should be close, games that should be high-scoring and a couple of games that should be both. Also, as always, watch for late-breaking news leading up to tipoff including the status of Steph Curry, which could open up some different players and usage for the Warriors.
Create Optimal DraftKings lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Point Guard
Lonzo Ball (LAL): $7,600 @ PHO
Ball put it all together on Saturday against the Bucks, becoming the youngest player to put up a triple-double with 19 points (shooting over 50%), 13 assists and 12 rebounds. He will have an opportunity to post a similar stat line on Monday against the Suns who have allowed the fifth most FanDuel points to opposing PGs this season.
Mike James (PHO): $5,300 vs LAL
The Suns point guard situation is another one to watch on Monday, as Tyler Ulis drew the start in the previous game and played more minutes than James. If Ulis draws the start again, look to pivot to him at $4,000 and open up more salary for another position. Whichever Suns’ PG draws the start is a strong option against a Lakers’ team that has allowed the second most FD points to opposing PGs this season.
Shooting Guard
Tim Hardaway Jr. (NYK): $6,000 vs CLE
The last time that Hardaway Jr. took the court against the Cavaliers he broke out of his early-season slump to score 34 points with eight assists on his way to 55.8 FanDuel points. The Cavaliers haven’t fixed their defense since that game either allowing at least 117 points in five of their last six games. Outside of Hardaway’s dud in his last outing, he had topped 27 FanDuel points in seven straight games. There are a lot of solid SG options in this salary range including Will Barton ($6,100) and Donovan Mitchell ($5,800).
Lou Williams (LAC): $5,500 vs PHI
Another decision to make at SG comes with the Clippers’ duo, Williams and Austin Rivers ($5,400), who will both continue to see an increase in minutes with Patrick Beverley still expected to be out on Monday against the Sixers. Both players should exceed five times value on their salary but I’ll give a slight edge to Williams who is averaging has higher upside due to his scoring ability as he showed when he posted 35 points on Friday.
Small Forward
Jimmy Butler (MIN): $7,100 @ UTH
Butler has been a little bit more erratic in his first season with the Timberwolves as he finds his way with his new team. The one thing that is consistent is the minutes he plays with over 30 in every game this season. He matched a season-high 25 points in his last game and while he doesn’t have a good matchup against the Jazz, he is still a pretty safe bet to reach at least five times his reasonable salary. This is one spot where you can consider paying up from Butler to one of the high-priced studs or down to someone like Brandon Ingram.
Thabo Sefolosha (UTH): $4,100 vs MIN
The Rudy Gobert injury impact has not affected the pricing for the Jazz players too much yet. Sefolosha is one player that could see his salary rise with the increased playing time he will get. Sefolosha started at PF on Saturday and played a season-high 32 minutes on his way to 35.3 FanDuel points. He should get similar minutes against the Timberwolves on Monday. The matchup isn’t as good which could limit his upside but for just $4,100 he doesn’t need to do much to at least reach five times his salary.
Power Forward
Anthony Davis (NO): $11,400 vs ATL
On a night of many high-priced stud players to choose from, Davis lead the way for my money. Davis is capable of posting a monster game in points and rebounds against anyone and gets a Hawks’ team on Monday that has also been generous in the secondary categories such as steals (eighth-most allowed) and blocks (seventh-most allowed) to PFs.
Derrick Favors (UTH): $5,400 vs MIN
The other primary beneficiary of the Gobert injury in the Jazz rotation is Favors saw a big boost in minutes and usage without Gobert on Saturday. While his line of 24 points and 12 rebounds was somewhat helped by a very favorable matchup against the Nets, he should still be able to outperform his low salary against the Timberwolves who have allowed the 10th most FanDuel points to opposing centers, which is where Favors is playing now.
Center
Marc Gasol (MEM): $7,600 @ MIL
While Gasol hasn’t topped 40 FanDuel points in seven straight games that should change on Monday with the Grizzlies traveling to Milwaukee to face the Bucks. The Bucks have had trouble with opposing big men this season giving up increased production in points (+15.2%), rebounds (+7.2%) and assists (+13.0%). Gasol should feast down low and on the perimeter.
Check out today’s $1 Million NBA Tipoff Special at DraftKings
Brad Richter is a featured writer at FantasyPros and a contributor at DailyOverlay and GoingFor2. For more from Brad, you can view his archive or follow him @RotoPilot.
