We are going to mix things up here in the back half of the all-star break. Today’s lineup is going to be geared for GPP and satellite contest rather than cash games. There is just too much uncertainty regarding minutes to put together a cash game lineup I feel confident recommending. As always, make sure to monitor the late lineup movement before the slate locks. Great deals of money are won and lost by paying attention in the closing 30 minutes and making quality upgrades and/or lineup changes. With that said, here is where my favorite GPP lineup stands as of lunchtime.
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Point Guard
Austin Rivers (LAC): $5,600 @ PHO
Since he came back from an extended absence, Rivers has played 30+ minutes in all five games and posted 24.9 or more FanDuel points in four of those five contests. That trend should keep up tonight, and may even spike, considering the defensively inept Elfrid Payton and Phoenix Suns are waiting for him. The Clippers have a whopping 115.25 implied total tonight and Rivers will oddly be near the heart of it.
We are going to mix things up here in the back half of the all-star break. Today’s lineup is going to be geared for GPP and satellite contest rather than cash games. There is just too much uncertainty regarding minutes to put together a cash game lineup I feel confident recommending. As always, make sure to monitor the late lineup movement before the slate locks. Great deals of money are won and lost by paying attention in the closing 30 minutes and making quality upgrades and/or lineup changes. With that said, here is where my favorite GPP lineup stands as of lunchtime.
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Point Guard
Austin Rivers (LAC): $5,600 @ PHO
Since he came back from an extended absence, Rivers has played 30+ minutes in all five games and posted 24.9 or more FanDuel points in four of those five contests. That trend should keep up tonight, and may even spike, considering the defensively inept Elfrid Payton and Phoenix Suns are waiting for him. The Clippers have a whopping 115.25 implied total tonight and Rivers will oddly be near the heart of it.
Andrew Harrison (MEM): $5,500 vs CLE
You may see 17.7 FanDuel points per game on the season and the defending World Champs as his matchup. I see an opportunity to land 7x value at less than 5% ownership. Harrison has had a handful of explosive games since Conley was knocked out for the season. In fact, in two of his past three performances, the Grizzlies’ point guard has posted 35.9 and 40.2 FanDuel points.
Shooting Guard
Bradley Beal (WAS): $9,000 vs CHA
There is no beating around the bush, Beal has given fantasy owners so serious stinkers here and there with 16 FanDuel points versus the Spurs, 20 against Chicago and 21 versus the Pacers all in February. With that said, he has also completely taken over several games in the last month too. In the past month, he has reached 45 FanDuel points in 8 of 12 games including to of 64+. When you get to these more expensive players, 7x value is near impossible to come by, by Beal gives you that ceiling once in every six games of late.
Nicolas Batum (CHA): $6,100 @ WAS
Batum has been a trap nearly all season, which is why his ownership is finally low from night tonight. We can expect the same this evening and I’ll be looking forward to taking advantage of that. Batum has some serious miles on his legs and has taken a hit this season as a result, but we know he has triple-double upside in him. Coming off the all-star break, don’t be surprised if we see vintage Batum reappear, if only for one game.
Small Forward
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): $10,800 @ TOR
Over the past month, Giannis has more often than not proven a disappointment in DFS lineups. In fact, going into the all-star break, he put up a 25.4 spot versus the Spurs, so you’ll imagine recency bias might drop his ownership a fair amount. Remember though, he dropped 71.7 just a week ago on 36/11/13 versus Denver. He’s got 80+ point upside night in and night out, so I’ll gladly take a chance on an explosion in what should be a close fought game versus the Raptors.
Trevor Ariza (HOU): $4,400 vs MIN
Ariza has been dealing with a hamstring issue and hasn’t played in nearly a month as a result. He has been back at practice, however, and is expected to play tonight in a game where the Rockets are implied for 117.25 points. Now granted, there is always a chance he puts up just 15 FanDuel points as we’ve seen from time to time, but those 9x games are always right around the corner with Ariza too.
Power Forward
James Johnson (MIA): $5,100 @ NO
You may hate using players off the bench and I can’t blame you for cash games, but in GPP, we’ve got to take a chance on a guy who may see fewer than 20 minutes or may flirt with 8x value in 30 minutes. Johnson entered the break on a big 37.3 FanDuel points performance versus the 76ers and may just carry that potential back into action this evening.
Dragan Bender (PHO): $3,800 vs LAC
In case you need to be told, you should never—EVER—play Bender in a cash game. Even if he is coming off a 12x explosion like we saw three games ago, Bender occasionally dips below 10 points. While that won’t kill you at this price, it sure does make winning much more difficult. With all that said, tonight’s game has a 225.5 over/under versus the Clippers so his odds of having that massive game is higher than usual.
Center
Nikola Jokic (DEN): $9,700 vs SA
At times, it seems as though Jokic is in the elite tier of superstars. One of those moments was in last week’s incredible performance versus the Bucks. He became the fastest player ever to reach a triple-double in an NBA game then finished with 30 points, 15 rebounds and 17 assists. That wasn’t the first time that he put up 70+ FanDuel points in a game this month either. You may hate the idea of playing anyone against the Spurs, but superstars have superstar games against all teams so don’t be shocked when he proves to be the center worth owning this evening.
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