There isn’t a ton to love in this eight-game slate, as there are a number of solid defensive teams going tonight. There are a number of stars worth rostering, but we will have to dig deep to find enough value to slot them all into our lineup. Let me show you how I managed it for tonight’s contests.
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Point Guard
Quinn Cook (GS): $3,500 @ DET
With Steph Curry and Patrick McCaw out along with Shaun Livingston on a minutes-limit, the Warriors turned to Cook, who dominated the D-League with 25 points per game and over 8 assists per game. Golden State trusted him with 22 minutes Wednesday and have been gushing about him since the contest, so expect his role to expand beginning this evening. He should have no trouble hitting the 17.5 points he needs for 5x value.
Frank Mason (SAC): $3,900 @ NO
The Kings have not been using Mason as their starter, but he has seen an uptick in minutes with De’Aaron Fox and George Hill both struggling. As a result, he has posted 20+ points 5 times in his last 8 games including a 27.4 point outing for near 7x value Wednesday at Cleveland. This game also figures to be high-tempo with a 121.5 over/under, which should help Mason plenty.
There isn’t a ton to love in this eight-game slate, as there are a number of solid defensive teams going tonight. There are a number of stars worth rostering, but we will have to dig deep to find enough value to slot them all into our lineup. Let me show you how I managed it for tonight’s contests.
Play in our Friday freeroll for a chance to win a yearly FantasyPros subscription
Point Guard
Quinn Cook (GS): $3,500 @ DET
With Steph Curry and Patrick McCaw out along with Shaun Livingston on a minutes-limit, the Warriors turned to Cook, who dominated the D-League with 25 points per game and over 8 assists per game. Golden State trusted him with 22 minutes Wednesday and have been gushing about him since the contest, so expect his role to expand beginning this evening. He should have no trouble hitting the 17.5 points he needs for 5x value.
Frank Mason (SAC): $3,900 @ NO
The Kings have not been using Mason as their starter, but he has seen an uptick in minutes with De’Aaron Fox and George Hill both struggling. As a result, he has posted 20+ points 5 times in his last 8 games including a 27.4 point outing for near 7x value Wednesday at Cleveland. This game also figures to be high-tempo with a 121.5 over/under, which should help Mason plenty.
Shooting Guard
Victor Oladipo (IND): $9,300 vs CLE
We aren’t looking at the safest play of the night here, as Oladipo has missed even 4x value 3 times in his past 10 games, but with only half the league going, you can’t find reliability at every position. If I’m going to take a chance, it will be on the guy who despite a few bummer games, is still averaging over 5x value in that time, which is quite a rare find. The Pacers have been revolving their offense around him and seeing that he has what may be the best individual matchup on the slate at any position, I like his chance of going bonkers again.
Jrue Holiday (NO): $7,500 vs SAC
Speaking of easy matchups, Holiday draws the Kings, who couldn’t defend shooting guards to save their lives. Yes, Anthony Davis has been upgraded to questionable, so that would cut down on his recently high usage-rate, but even before the star went out, Holiday still posted several 40 point games in a row. He has been averaging 38 minute per game over the last two weeks and should hit value in the high-scoring contest.
Small Forward
Kevin Durant (GS): $11,100 @ DET
With Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James on the slate, you might be surprised to see Durant here, but I’d argue he is the obvious play, as his usage rate has been up around 35% with Steph Curry out, plus his salary is $1,000 and $1,400 lower than the other two stars tonight. This isn’t expected to be a blowout either, which means Durant should see 35+ minutes again. When he does that this season, he is averaging over 52 FanDuel points per game, and five of those seven contests were with Curry taking many of the shots.
Rudy Gay (SA): $6,300 vs BOS
Kawhi Leonard is still out and now Kyle Anderson is sidelined with a knee injury, so the Spurs have been letting Gay run for 31 and 32 minutes the past two games. As a result, he posted 36.9 and 36 FanDuel points. He has always been among the most consistent fantasy performers, and with that type of playing time, we can expect 5x value, especially considering the fact that Boston has struggled to guard small forwards this season.
Power Forward
Serge Ibaka (TOR): $5,100 @ MEM
Memphis has crushed power forwards this season, but they are also playing the worst basketball of any team in the league not named the Bulls right now. Ibaka, meanwhile, has been playing terrific basketball, hitting 20+ FanDuel points in 12 of his last 13 contests including a 39 pointer Tuesday against the Suns. He’s got a nice ceiling this evening and perhaps the highest floor of any player on the slate.
Maxi Kleber (DAL): $3,600 @ MIL
Dallas has been affording Kleber a chance to prove himself in the starting lineup lately and he has given fantasy owners 22.4 FanDuel points per game over his last four. What’s more, and perhaps most important, is that he has been seeing his minutes steadily increase, so 30 is within question tonight. Anytime you can find a super cheap player seeing those kind of minutes, you’ve got to give them your attention, especially when they have the kind of scoring a blocks upside that Kleber clearly possesses.
Center
Andre Drummond (DET): $9,600 vs GS
Center is a desolate wasteland tonight, and while Golden State isn’t exactly the best matchup for a center, it should prove sufficient for the hottest center in basketball. Drummond has been going nuts lately with 54.5 FanDuel points over his last six contests thanks to 92 rebounds and 34 assists in that timeframe. Unless he somehow ends up in foul trouble against the finesse, you can virtually lock him in for 50+ tonight.
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