It’s Friday night and we have a ten-game slate over on DraftKings tonight. Since it’s so late in the season, the most important thing to keep in mind when building out lineups is injury situations and whether or not a team has anything left to play for. As an example, the Sixers and Cavaliers are strong teams to attack tonight with both neck and neck in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Also, young teams with injuries such as the Suns and Grizzlies will be strong teams to attack as well.
With these points in mind, I have focused on identifying my two favorite plays, at each position with an emphasis on finding strong tournament plays that are in a position to excel.
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Guards
Ben Simmons (PHI): $9,700 vs. CLE
Simmons has been priced at a premium recently, but he has been in excellent form and this is arguably the biggest game the Sixers have played all season. The Cavaliers are battling for position near the top of the Eastern Conference and it would be quite a story if they are able to pass them in the standings. Without Embiid in the lineup, Simmons has been leading the charge for the Sixers’ offense and he gets a matchup against a Cavaliers defense that ranks 27th in DK points allowed to PGs this season. In this same matchup in early-March, Simmons put up 46.25 DK points and he should have similar success here tonight. He is a solid play at the top of the board.
It’s Friday night and we have a ten-game slate over on DraftKings tonight. Since it’s so late in the season, the most important thing to keep in mind when building out lineups is injury situations and whether or not a team has anything left to play for. As an example, the Sixers and Cavaliers are strong teams to attack tonight with both neck and neck in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. Also, young teams with injuries such as the Suns and Grizzlies will be strong teams to attack as well.
With these points in mind, I have focused on identifying my two favorite plays, at each position with an emphasis on finding strong tournament plays that are in a position to excel.
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Guards
Ben Simmons (PHI): $9,700 vs. CLE
Simmons has been priced at a premium recently, but he has been in excellent form and this is arguably the biggest game the Sixers have played all season. The Cavaliers are battling for position near the top of the Eastern Conference and it would be quite a story if they are able to pass them in the standings. Without Embiid in the lineup, Simmons has been leading the charge for the Sixers’ offense and he gets a matchup against a Cavaliers defense that ranks 27th in DK points allowed to PGs this season. In this same matchup in early-March, Simmons put up 46.25 DK points and he should have similar success here tonight. He is a solid play at the top of the board.
Tyler Ulis (PHX): $5,900 vs. NOP
Ulis has been on a complete tear over the past couple of weeks, averaging 35.75 DK points per game. The Suns are expected be without Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, and Elfrid Payton again for tonight’s game. With these players out of the lineup, Ulis should continue to thrive. In terms of the matchup, the Pelicans rank 21st in DK points allowed to PGs and Rajon Rondo ranks 70th out of 102 PGs in DRPM this season. As long as the Suns continue to sit their star players, Ulis should continue to thrive in a starting role. With the Suns and Pelicans ranking first and second in pace this season, this game should feature a ton of possessions. Ulis is in play at his elevated price tag.
Forwards
LeBron James (CLE): $11,500 at PHI
As I mentioned for Ben Simmons, the Sixers and Cavaliers are playing for playoff seeding which makes this one of the best games of the night. While Lebron hasn’t hit 5x on his salary in a couple of games, this is a great spot for him to have a massive performance. Robert Covington is known as an elite defender, but the Sixers actually rank 23rd in DK points allowed to SFs this season. This is a game where LeBron has a strong chance to hit 65-70 DK points. He will be a tough fade in cash games and tournaments for me.
John Collins (ATL): $5,400 at WAS
At this point in the season, I’m really just looking for upside players that have guaranteed minutes at a fair price tag. Collins checks all these boxes for me, as the Hawks have really turned him loose over the past few months. He has responded with some strong fantasy outings over this time and has put up 31.8 DK points per game over the past four contests. The Wizards rank 15th in defensive efficiency rating this season, but Collins has double-doubled in two of the past three games and should be considered a strong candidate to do it again in tonight’s matchup.
Centers
Nikola Vucevic (ORL): $7,700 vs. CHA
The Magic really don’t have much to play for at this point, but I think this is a good spot to play Vucevic after he sat out for rest on Wednesday night. If he is active on Friday, Vucevic will square off against a Hornets team that he has averaged 35.9 DK points against this season. Over the past five games, Vucevic has had a ton of success with an average of 42.8 DK points per game. He’s had some success against Dwight Howard in the past and his price tag is cheap enough to exploit. He should also be relatively low-owned in tournaments on a ten-game slate.
Ivan Rabb (MEM): $4,000 vs. SAC
The Grizzlies have had a laundry list of injuries for the better part of a month and a half now, so it really just comes down to who is active for them on any given night. Over the past couple of games, Rabb has played some solid basketball and averaged 22.8 DK points per game. The Kings are a favorable matchup for Rabb on paper, as they rank 27th in DK points allowed to PFs this season. If the Grizzlies frontcourt is banged up again for tonight’s game, Rabb offers some strong value as a PF/C eligible player.
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Jay Brancato is an NBA and PGA fantasy contributor for FantasyPros. You can follow him on Twitter @jay_brancato.