Welcome to the Tuesday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. The dust has finally settled from last week’s trade deadline, and tonight’s slate features five matchups to choose from. There are just three available players checking in at salaries of $10,000 or higher tonight, but five more priced at $9,000 or higher, so you’ll still have some high-end decisions to make. As of this writing, the highest projected game total is an appealing 236 points between the Hawks and Lakers, so you’d be wise to target plenty of players from Atlanta and Los Angeles tonight. On the flip side, you’ll probably want to avoid the Spurs and Grizzlies, as the game has the lowest projected total at a meager 209 points. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the better plays for tonight.
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Point Guard
Rajon Rondo (LAL): $6,200
The Lakers shook up their lineup and brought Rondo off the bench last time out against the 76ers, but hopefully, that was just a case of trying to match up with Ben Simmons. If he re-enters the starting five, Rondo should have no trouble paying off his $6,200 price tag. The Hawks give up the most FD points to opposing point guards, and Rondo’s averaged nearly 39 FD points the last three times he saw at least 35 minutes on the court. You’ll have to monitor the lineups, but since they play the first game of the slate, you’ll know whether or not he’s starting before the lock.
Welcome to the Tuesday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. The dust has finally settled from last week’s trade deadline, and tonight’s slate features five matchups to choose from. There are just three available players checking in at salaries of $10,000 or higher tonight, but five more priced at $9,000 or higher, so you’ll still have some high-end decisions to make. As of this writing, the highest projected game total is an appealing 236 points between the Hawks and Lakers, so you’d be wise to target plenty of players from Atlanta and Los Angeles tonight. On the flip side, you’ll probably want to avoid the Spurs and Grizzlies, as the game has the lowest projected total at a meager 209 points. With all that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the better plays for tonight.
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Point Guard
Rajon Rondo (LAL): $6,200
The Lakers shook up their lineup and brought Rondo off the bench last time out against the 76ers, but hopefully, that was just a case of trying to match up with Ben Simmons. If he re-enters the starting five, Rondo should have no trouble paying off his $6,200 price tag. The Hawks give up the most FD points to opposing point guards, and Rondo’s averaged nearly 39 FD points the last three times he saw at least 35 minutes on the court. You’ll have to monitor the lineups, but since they play the first game of the slate, you’ll know whether or not he’s starting before the lock.
Others to consider
Trae Young (ATL): $7,400 – With Jeremy Lin out of Atlanta, Young should get all the minutes he can handle. It’s always a sound strategy to target a high usage point guard in a high scoring game.
Patty Mills (SA): $4,400 – Mills has averaged just over 22 FD points in the four games since Derrick White was injured, which is right on 5X value for his price. He’s one of the few players on the Spurs I’m willing to play tonight, strictly as a value play with a safe floor.
Shooting Guard
Terrence Ross (ORL): $6,000
Ross takes on the Pelicans tonight, who give up the eighth most FD points to shooting guards this season, and the second most of any team on tonight’s slate. He’s been one of the best scoring sixth men in the NBA this season and has been even better as of late. In his last four games, he’s averaged almost 23 real points per game. He should have plenty of chances to score and could get the hot hand in what should be a competitive game in New Orleans tonight.
Others to consider
Jrue Holiday (NO): $9,500 – Holiday comes with a high price tag but has one of the safest floors on the slate. He can fill up the stat sheet in every category and always has the potential to rack up a triple-double.
Jaylen Brown (BOS): $5,200 – With Kyrie Irving already ruled out there’s plenty of value to be found in the Celtics backcourt tonight. Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart are fine options, but I’m going with the cheapest option of Jaylen Brown. He’s averaged 32.2 FD points in the last three games that Irving’s sat.
Small Forward
Kevin Durant (GS): $9,900
Durant’s price tag has been slowly rising over the past two weeks, and after scoring over 50 FD points in two of his last three games it isn’t likely to stay under $10,000 much longer. With tonight’s four-game slate there’s a huge drop off at small forward after Durant; Kenrich Williams is the next highest priced at the position at $6,400. If you don’t pay up for LeBron or Durant you don’t stand much a chance.
Others to consider
LeBron James (LAL): $11,200 – As I just mentioned, you probably have to pay up for one of the small forwards. Durant is my preferred play at a $1,300 discount, but it wouldn’t shock anybody if James went off against the Hawks. If you’re playing multiple lineups make sure to mix in some LeBron.
Jonathan Isaac (ORL) $6,400 – Isaac has been a model of consistency lately, averaging nearly 34 FD points over his last eight games, and never posting fewer than 28 in that span. He’s in a good pace-up spot against the Pelicans tonight and is a good mid-range option on this slate.
Power Forward
Kyle Kuzma (LAL): $6,700
Kuzma has been on fire the last two games, and there’s no reason to fade him tonight. He’s finally seen over 30 minutes on the floor in each of the last two games, and he’s paid off with an average of 40 FD points in those two games. The Hawks are bad across the board on defense, but they give up the most FD points in the league to power forwards. At $6,700 Kuzma should easily pay off tonight and has the type of ceiling that can give you a huge advantage on this type of slate.
Others to consider
Anthony Davis (NO): $12,500 – After last weeks drama filled trade debacle, the NBA is reportedly mandating that New Orleans play their disgruntled superstar. That’s both good and bad news for the DFS world; you just can’t guarantee what kind of effort or playing time you’ll get from The Brow. He’s worth playing in tournaments, but you shouldn’t risk that kind of volatility in cash games.
Marcus Morris (BOS): $5,100 – Morris, like most of the Celtics, sees a usage rate bump when Kyrie Irving is out of the lineup. The last two games that Morris played without Irving he averaged just over 30 FD points. He doesn’t offer a huge ceiling but has an extremely safe floor, which could be vital on tonight’s slate.
Center
Nikola Vucevic (ORL): $9,900
Vucevic has 39 double-doubles this season, good for fourth best in the NBA and actually better than DFS studs Nikola Jokic and Karl-Anthony Towns. He should be able to rack up his 40th of the season tonight against New Orleans, who rank 23rd against centers, second-worst on tonight’s slate. He’s still just barely under $10,000, a considerable discount compared to Joel Embiid. Playing against the up-tempo Pelicans should give Vucevic more than enough opportunities to score, rebound, and ultimately pay off his price tag tonight.
Others to consider
Joel Embiid (PHI): $11,700
Embiid is always a player you can roll with if you find the salary space. He’s averaging 28.5 real points and 13 rebounds in two games against the Celtics this season, so his price tag is completely reasonable if you can find enough value elsewhere to afford him.
JaVale McGee (LAL): $6,300
McGee is coming off of a massive performance Sunday in which he double-doubled and put up 43.1 FD points. With Ivica Zuac no longer around to compete for minutes at center, McGee could put up big numbers again against the Hawks.
If you start your lineup tonight with my five featured players, you’ll have an average of $5,325 per player to spend on your remaining four roster spots, which means you’ll have to find some value. Your best bet for value is with the Celtics minus Irving or the high scoring Lakers-Hawks matchup. As usual, keep an eye on the latest news and injuries leading up to tipoff. Good luck out there!
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Aaron Larson is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.
