Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. We have a relatively small five-game slate to navigate today. It doesn’t feature much start power, as no player on the slate commands a five-figure salary. The most expensive player, Trae Young, is questionable after missing last night’s game with an illness and there are several other injuries to monitor throughout the day. Let’s dive in.
Note: All FanDuel points vs. Defense stats are from FantasyPros DFS Tools
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Point Guard
Collin Sexton (CLE): $6,700 vs. DEN
The point guard is easily the deepest position on tonight’s slate with at least eight viable options that I counted as in play but Sexton stands out among all of them. He’s been a ball hog all season and with Darius Garland and Kevin Porter sidelined there’s nobody in the backcourt to share the ball with even if he wanted to. He’s seen a 30.2% usage rate over the last two games and put up over 50 FanDuel (FD) points in each of them. His salary jumped $1,000 but it still doesn’t feel like enough.
Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. We have a relatively small five-game slate to navigate today. It doesn’t feature much start power, as no player on the slate commands a five-figure salary. The most expensive player, Trae Young, is questionable after missing last night’s game with an illness and there are several other injuries to monitor throughout the day. Let’s dive in.
Note: All FanDuel points vs. Defense stats are from FantasyPros DFS Tools
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Point Guard
Collin Sexton (CLE): $6,700 vs. DEN
The point guard is easily the deepest position on tonight’s slate with at least eight viable options that I counted as in play but Sexton stands out among all of them. He’s been a ball hog all season and with Darius Garland and Kevin Porter sidelined there’s nobody in the backcourt to share the ball with even if he wanted to. He’s seen a 30.2% usage rate over the last two games and put up over 50 FanDuel (FD) points in each of them. His salary jumped $1,000 but it still doesn’t feel like enough.
Others to consider:
Jamal Murray (DEN): $6,500 at CLE
It’s been nearly a month since Murray’s blown up for a huge game but he’s in the perfect spot to tonight in Cleveland. The Cavs have the second-worst defensive rating in the NBA and have given up the most FD points to point guards on average this season. Murray should play enough minutes in this ideal matchup for some big-time fantasy production.
De’Aaron Fox (SAC): $7,900 at POR
Fox has averaged 40.4 FD points over his last four games and should have no problem hitting that mark tonight. As of this writing, this game has the highest expected point total and is a pace-up spot for him against Portland, who gives up the fifth-most points to the position on average this season.
Shooting Guard
Kevin Huerter (ATL): $5,300 at MEM
Atlanta and Memphis both rank top-ten in pace and are both playing in the second half of back-to-back games. It might get sloppy defensively, but there are certainly going to be plenty of fantasy points to go around. Huerter’s a lock for 30+ minutes and has averaged 39.2 FD points over his last three games; he should have no problem hitting value tonight.
Others to consider:
Buddy Hield (SAC): $5,700 at POR
Hield has been just fine lately, averaging 27.7 FD points over his last six games, and it’s easy to forget that he’s the kind of shooter that could go off at any time. He’s put up over 45 FD points in seven different games this year and, while it’s no sure thing, tonight is as good of a spot as any against the Trail Blazers in what should be a high-paced, high-scoring matchup.
Alec Burks (PHI): $4,500 at GS
Burks’ production has been a bit unpredictable since joining the 76ers but he’s in a good spot tonight against the team he spent most of the season with. The game against Golden State is expected to be high-scoring and should be the perfect environment for Burks to put up points, especially while Philadelphia is so short-handed with Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Josh Richardson all remaining sidelined.
Small Forward
Tobias Harris (PHI): $7,300 at GS
Harris is the only star left standing for the 76ers and should be leaned on in Golden State tonight. His usage rate is at 27% and he gets a 7.9 FD point bump when Simmons, Embiid, and Richardson are all off the court, which they will be again tonight. It’s a great spot for Harris as the Warriors give up the third-most FD points to small forwards and allow the second-most three-pointers to the position over the last 15 games.
Others to consider:
Cam Reddish (ATL): $4,400 at MEM
Reddish didn’t look to have any problems last night after missing a game earlier in the week with a minor back injury. He’s the cheapest of the Hawks wings and should be able to produce in what should be a great fantasy game environment in Memphis tonight. Give him an additional boost if Trae Young is forced to miss again.
Glenn Robinson (PHI): $3,700 at GS
I’ve already mentioned all of the injuries for Philly, which explains why Robinson has averaged 28.5 minutes on the court over the last two games. He’s had mixed results in those two games but at just $3,700 at least the risk is minimized, especially on such a small slate.
Power Forward
John Collins (ATL): $8,400 at MEM
Collins was dreadful against Memphis earlier in the week but don’t let that scare you off of him tonight. If you disregard that blowout loss where none of the Hawks showed up, he’s averaging 48.4 FD points over his last five games. Now that Dewayne Dedmon is back Collins can play more at his true position of power forward instead of center, allowing him to get a much better matchup with Kyle Anderson and avoiding Jonas Valunciunas.
Others to consider:
Christian Wood (DET): $7,900 vs. UTA
The Pistons are probably rolling out the worst lineup in the NBA right now, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t fantasy value to be had. Wood is playing huge minutes, is the only Piston in the frontcourt that can consistently score, and is rebounding at a ridiculous rate. Even considering the tough matchup with Utah he’s just too needed by Detroit to avoid.
Mike Scott (PHI): $4,300 at GS
The power forward position gets thin quickly on tonight’s slate. Scott has averaged 26 minutes and 26.6 FD points over the last three games. Given Philadelphia’s litany of injuries, he should be in line for a similar output tonight, making him a solid value play on this slate.
Center
Jonas Valanciunas (MEM): 7,100 vs. ATL
Valanciunas has the ideal matchup for the position tonight against Atlanta, who gives up the most FD points to the position on average this season at 58.9. That number spikes up to 68.7 over the last seven games. Valanciunas has put up plenty of big games this season, topping 44 FD points 14 times and even eclipsing 60 FD points twice. That type of performance is in play tonight and could separate your lineup from the field.
Others to consider:
Nikola Jokic (DEN): $9,700 at CLE
Jokic has almost as good of a matchup as Valanciunas, as the Cavs have given up the second-most FD points to centers over the last seven games at 63.6. I especially like the idea of stacking him with Jamal Murray, as the two are capable of assisting each other and racking up FD points together
Here’s a lineup you can roll out tonight. It maxes out the $60,000 salary and features the Murray-Jokic stack against Cleveland tonight. You could easily swap in Valanciunas and save some serious salary to spend elsewhere if you prefer. As usual, make sure to pay attention to the news of the day and adjust accordingly. Good luck!
PG: Collin Sexton – $6,700
PG: Jamal Murray – $6,500
SG: Kevin Huerter – $5,300
SG: Alec Burks – $4,500
SF: Tobias Harris – $7,300
SF: Glenn Robinson – $3,700
PF: John Collins – $8,400
PF: Christian Wood – $7,900
C: Nikola Jokic – $9,700
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Aaron Larson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.