Monday’s six-game NBA slate looks U-G-L-Y, ugly! Of the 12 teams playing eight of them rank in the top half in fewest opponents’ points allowed this season which results in the highest Vegas total coming in at just 215 points. There are three teams playing in the second game of a back-to-back (Suns, Sixers, Bucks), so we’ll need to carefully watch injury/rest news for those teams. There also isn’t too much star-power on the slate with only two players that have a salary over $10,000 and one of them is Dwight Howard. The lineup below might be the most boring lineup I have written about all season.
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
Kyrie Irving (BOS): $9,000 @ DEN
Kyrie Irving has been on fire during the Celtics West Coast road trip averaging 30.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the three games so far. He will stay on the road to visit the Nuggets in Denver. In his previous meeting with the Nuggets this season, Irving put up 33 points and seven assists on his way to 42 FanDuel points. The big 4-0 seems like Irving’s floor on Monday in a matchup with the Nuggets’ defense which has allowed the eighth most FD points to opposing PGs this season.
Monday’s six-game NBA slate looks U-G-L-Y, ugly! Of the 12 teams playing eight of them rank in the top half in fewest opponents’ points allowed this season which results in the highest Vegas total coming in at just 215 points. There are three teams playing in the second game of a back-to-back (Suns, Sixers, Bucks), so we’ll need to carefully watch injury/rest news for those teams. There also isn’t too much star-power on the slate with only two players that have a salary over $10,000 and one of them is Dwight Howard. The lineup below might be the most boring lineup I have written about all season.
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 FanDuel lineups using our DFS Lineup Optimizer tool
Point Guard
Kyrie Irving (BOS): $9,000 @ DEN
Kyrie Irving has been on fire during the Celtics West Coast road trip averaging 30.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 5.0 assists in the three games so far. He will stay on the road to visit the Nuggets in Denver. In his previous meeting with the Nuggets this season, Irving put up 33 points and seven assists on his way to 42 FanDuel points. The big 4-0 seems like Irving’s floor on Monday in a matchup with the Nuggets’ defense which has allowed the eighth most FD points to opposing PGs this season.
Mario Chalmers (MEM): $3,600 vs PHO
If there is one position where there could be some viable cheap options on Monday’s slate it is the PG position. With players like Tyreke Evans, Devin Booker and maybe even Jeff Teague iffy to play it could open the door for value PGs like Mario Chalmers, Tyler Ulis, Isaiah Canaan and Tyus Jones. Chalmers is my favorite of the bunch if Evans misses the game. Chalmers put up 17 points and 10 assists in his previous outing and faces a Suns’ defense that has allowed the second most FD points to opposing PGs this season.
Shooting Guard
Victor Oladipo (IND): $9,300 vs CHA
There is not much to choose from at SG on this slate. Victor Oladipo is the only high-priced option that appears to be fully healthy with Evans and Booker questionable. If they sit out, Oladipo should lap the competition at SG so I’m going to make sure to get exposure to him. He has a decent matchup against the Hornets who have given up increased production in points (+3.5%) and Oladipo has topped at least 38 FD points in six of his last seven games.
Wesley Matthews (DAL): $5,000 vs MIA
I told you there wasn’t much to choose at SG. The only other players I even considered were Khris Middleton, Andrew Wiggins, and Nicolas Batum but instead, I’ll save as much salary as I can where I still feel fairly safe with Wesley Matthews. Matthews will get his usual 30-plus minutes and will be at home where he has been more productive this season averaging more points, rebounds, steals, and three-pointers than on the road. His matchup against the Heat isn’t ideal but you are just looking to survive the position on this slate.
Small Forward
Jimmy Butler (MIN): $9,400 @ ATL
The options at SF might actually be worse than SG from top to bottom but at least there are a couple strong plays at the top. Paying up for both Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jimmy Butler is possible and might be the route I go if enough value opens up at PG. That said, if there is only one SF that I can pay up to get it will be Butler who offers over $2,000 of savings from Antetokounmpo and showed that he is over his injury by playing 35 minutes in his first game back. He also gets a very favorable matchup against the Hawks who have allowed the most FD points per game to opposing SFs this season.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (CHA): $4,900 @ IND
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist fits the same mold as Matthews does at SG. Kidd-Gilchrist is the least expensive SF that I’m comfortable with at the position to play close to 30 minutes and achieve at least four times his salary. Others to consider at SF include Lance Stephenson, Jaylen Brown and TJ Warren if you can find the extra salary.
Power Forward
Thaddeus Young (IND): $6,500 vs CHA
The PF position offers an opportunity to get a couple solid mid-priced options. The duo in Indiana, Young and Sabonis are both priced at $6,500 and have a favorable matchup against the Hornets who have allowed increased production in points (+5.4%) and rebounds (+9.7%) to opposing PFs. Sabonis could see a slight decrease in minutes if Myles Turner is able to suit up, so I’ll give the edge to Young who has averaged 16.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 steals over his last four games.
Jarell Martin (MEM): $5,200 vs PHO
With an injury-depleted roster including JaMychal Green, Jarell Martin should benefit with increased minutes and fantasy production. In 23 minutes during his last game, Martin put up 17 points and six rebounds against the Clippers and gets a very favorable matchup on Monday against a Suns’ team that has allowed the most FD points per game to opposing PFs this season.
Center
Al Horford (BOS): $7,100 @ DEN
The Celtics started my lineup and will finish it as well with Al Horford at center. Horford has been putting up big numbers in his last two games averaging 14.0 points, 12.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. He will face the Nuggets who are middle of the pack overall against opposing centers but have allowed them to score the fifth most points this season and second most over the last 30 days. Horford offers nice salary savings from the high-priced options at the position.
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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.