Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. This week we have a massive 13 game slate to navigate with nearly every team in the association playing tonight. Six players come into tonight with salaries over $10,000, though the availability of many of these superstars will have to be monitored. Trae Young as already been ruled out, while Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all have injury notes worth monitoring as of this writing. With all that in mind, let’s dive into the positional recommendations.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Point Guard
Spencer Dinwiddie (BKN): $8,100 at HOU
The Nets starting point guard has been putting up impressive stat lines while Kyrie Irving remains sidelined. Over the past month, he’s averaging 27.5 points and 6.8 assists over 33.8 minutes per game, good enough to average 42.6 FD points. It’s fair to expect an even higher output tonight when Brooklyn heads to Houston in what is expected to be the highest-scoring game of the night, with the over-under set at a healthy 233.5.
Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. This week we have a massive 13 game slate to navigate with nearly every team in the association playing tonight. Six players come into tonight with salaries over $10,000, though the availability of many of these superstars will have to be monitored. Trae Young as already been ruled out, while Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis, and Giannis Antetokounmpo all have injury notes worth monitoring as of this writing. With all that in mind, let’s dive into the positional recommendations.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Point Guard
Spencer Dinwiddie (BKN): $8,100 at HOU
The Nets starting point guard has been putting up impressive stat lines while Kyrie Irving remains sidelined. Over the past month, he’s averaging 27.5 points and 6.8 assists over 33.8 minutes per game, good enough to average 42.6 FD points. It’s fair to expect an even higher output tonight when Brooklyn heads to Houston in what is expected to be the highest-scoring game of the night, with the over-under set at a healthy 233.5.
Others to consider:
Jeff Teague (MIN): $5,300 vs. CLE
The Cavaliers have given up the most FD points to point guards on the season, allowing an average of nearly 53 FD points to the position every game. That number jumps to nearly 59 over the past seven games, so it’s fair to assume that Teague will be a solid play tonight. His production has been up and down but his minutes have been relatively steady. 30 minutes on the court should be enough to get in done in this ideal matchup.
Cory Joseph (SAC): $3,600 vs. PHO
Joseph offers a nice combination of value and matchup tonight. He should re-enter the starting line up for Sacramento with De’Aaron Fox likely sidelined with a back injury. He stepped in for 39 minutes and racked up 32.7 FD points on Thursday after Fox exited less than two minutes into the game. It’s also a great matchup against the Suns, who’ve given up the fourth-most FD points to point guards over the last seven games.
Shooting Guard
Lou Williams (LAC): $4,900 vs. UTA
Williams’s price tag has bottomed out, dropping below $5,000 for the first time this season. He hasn’t been a model of consistency over the season, but the salary seems too low for a player that’s averaged over 28 FD points over his last three outings. The matchup against Utah has a respectable 220.5 expected scoring total, and Williams still has scoring upside as the Clippers sixth man.
Others to consider:
Bogdan Bogdanovic (SAC): $5,600 vs. PHO
Fresh off of a 41.4 FD point performance on Thursday, Bogdanovic’s salary jumped up by over $1,000. Don’t let that scare you away though; his usage rate has been roughly 3% higher this season when De’Aaron Fox is out, which as noted earlier, seems likely for tonight.
DeAndre’ Bembry (ATL): $3,500 at CHI
Trae Young has already been ruled out for tonight after a sprained ankle ended his night early on Friday. Bembry put up 44 FD points earlier this year in the only other game that Young missed. Allen Crabbe is also intriguing as a player that stepped up his involvement after Young left on Friday night. Both Bembry and Crabbe are minimum salary players, allowing you to spend up elsewhere if you slot either of them into your lineup.
Small Forward
Paul George (LAC): $7,600 vs. UTA
Like his teammate Lou Williams, George just seems underpriced for what he offers. He’s under $8,000 for the first time all season, just three games removed from putting up 58.3 FD points less than ten days ago. He’s still seeing his full allotment of minutes and at $7,600 I’m willing to take the chance and hope he busts out of his recent shooting slump.
Others to consider:
Jaylen Brown (MIL): $7,500 vs. TOR
Brown has been great lately, averaging 41 FD points over his last five outings, including the 40.2 he put up against this same Raptors team on Christmas day. Toronto is giving up the third-most FD points to small forwards on the season, so Brown has a good shot at topping 40 FD points again tonight.
Carmelo Anthony (POR): $5,700 vs. LAL
Anthony is coming off a rough 5-of-13 shooting performance on Thursday but that won’t stop the veteran from firing away again tonight. He’s also been grabbing enough rebounds, at least six in each of his last six games, to give him a relatively safe floor against a Lakers team that has given up the third-most FD points to small forwards over the last seven games.
Power Forward
John Collins (ATL): $8,300 at CHI
Collins has shown no signs of rust after sitting out his 25 game suspension. The third-year forward has averaged 44.6 FD points in his first two games back and now he gets to face Chicago, the team allowing the most points to power forwards on the season. Collins could see added usage tonight as well with Trae Young sidelined, giving him a huge upside.
Others to consider:
Julius Randle (NY): $7,800 at WAS
Randle just put up 50 FD points against this same Wizards team on Monday and it wouldn’t shock anybody if he repeated the performance. Washington is giving up the sixth-most FD points to power forwards on the season and will still be missing big men Thomas Bryant, Davis Bertans, and Rui Hachimura with injuries.
Richaun Holmes (SAC): $6,700 vs. PHO
Holmes has averaged 40.2 FD points over his last five games, including a huge 57.1 FD point outing Thursday against the Timberwolves. Teammate Marvin Bagley III is once again sidelined, which re-opens more opportunities for Holmes. He was only averaging 26.4 minutes with Bagley active over the past eight games, compared to 31.1 minutes in the previous 20 without him.
Center
Andre Drummond (DET): $9,600 at SA
Drummond only put up 26 FD points in his last outing Thursday, but he also only played 24 minutes as the Pistons completely blew out the Wizards by 30 points. The NBA’s leading rebounder should bounce back tonight against the Spurs in a game that is expected to be close, with San Antonio favored by just four points.
Others to consider:
Rudy Gobert (UTA): $8,700 at LAC
The Clippers are giving up the second-most FD points to centers over the last seven games and Gobert has put up 51+ in two of his last three. He could end up being a bargain at $8,700 tonight.
Gorgui Dieng (MIN): $5,800 vs. CLE
Dieng can only be played if Karl-Anthony Towns sits again, but if that’s the case he’s a great value play. Dieng as averaged 39.8 FD points over the last three with Towns sidelined.
Here’s an example of a lineup for tonight. In huge slates like tonight, variance makes it harder than usual to win in tournaments, so I prefer to play cash games. This lineup may not offer the highest ceiling but is filled with players that are highly unlikely to bust and tank your night. It also leaves you with $400 extra so you can adjust as needed leading up to lock.
PG: Spencer Dinwiddie – $8,100
PG: Cory Joseph – $3,600
SG: Bogdan Bogdanovic – $5,600
SG: Lou Williams – $4,900
SF: Paul George – $7,600
SF: Carmelo Anthony – $5,700
PF: Julius Randle – $7,800
PF: Richaun Holmes – $6,700
C: Andre Drummond – $9,600
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Aaron Larson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.