Point Guard
Top Tier: Russell Westbrook- In an expected close game against the Blazers, Russ stands out as the clear top PG in all formats. Much has been made of his shooting woes, and trust me, I know he has been BAD, but he is coming off a game where he put up almost 60 FanDuel points while making just THREE shots. His floor cannot be overstated, especially if this one stays close.
Mid Tier: Lonzo Ball- Lonzo has steadily declined since his first game without LeBron James, putting up FD point totals of 33, 22 and 25 over the last three games, though the matchup with OKC I can understand. He will never be a high-usage player, but the offense flows through him more without James on the court and his assist numbers rise to well over 30%. If we got a situation where Kyle Kuzma (Q) was out, Ball would be an even stronger play.
Low Tier: Dante Exum- Here we have a situation where Ricky Rubio is questionable to play, and it looks unlikely to me that he will be able to go tonight. This pushes Exum into chalk territory, and makes him a lock in cash games for me across all sites. Should we get confirmation that he is out, you could even look to stack both Exum and Raul Neto on FanDuel where you are protected by the low score drop scoring.
Shooting Guard
Top Tier: Devin Booker- Booker edges out Bradley Beal for me tonight, especially when you factor in the near $1,000 discount. This is a great pace-up spot for the Suns, as you can tell by the 233.5 O/U in Vegas. The Clippers defense has been egregious as of late, ranking bottom-three in the entire NBA over the last month and a half. Booker certainly has a ceiling at this price, and I love getting the perfect storm of bad defense + pace-up.
Mid Tier: CJ McCollum-McCollum is rarely a must-own commodity in DFS, but at only $6,400 in a home tilt with the Oklahoma City Thunder, it’s hard for me to pass him up tonight. The matchup individually is not great, but with this being a one point spread we should expect 35+ minutes from McCollum and that elevates him to playable in all formats.
Low Tier: Josh Okogie- We know that Jeff Teague is set to play tonight, but even after his dud in the Wolves last game we have to consider Okogie should Derrick Rose miss this game. 30+ minutes is still 100% in the fold, and while the floor is low, that really doesn’t matter on FanDuel where your low score gets booted anyways.
Small Forward
Top Tier: Paul George- I am not ever someone that worries about potential blowouts in DFS, but it’s really hard for me to justify Giannis in a game against Atlanta over Paul George in a one point spread for cash games. PG continues to average career-high numbers across the board, and it’s time to get used to the big-time floor he has developed this season.
Mid Tier: Brandon Ingram- I’m tagging Ingram as a cash game play regardless, but as I mentioned above, Kyle Kuzma is listed as questionable for tonight and he missed shootaround…so we have a scenario where Ingram could become one of the top plays overall on the slate after lineups lock. I don’t anticipate us knowing if he will play by the time FanDuel locks, which is why I think he is playable anyways but we definitely will want to take advantage of late-swap on DraftKings tonight.
Low Tier: TJ Warren- Warren isn’t typically someone we target in DFS when the Suns are fully-healthy, but his price has fallen to almost $6,000 on FanDuel and we can take advantage of the bad defense + pace-up spot I mentioned above. I do expect Warren to feature decent ownership in cash games, which is why I like Ingram so much on FanDuel as a pivot.
Power Forward
Top Tier: Kyle Kuzma- As I’ve noted a few times, we really have no idea if Kuz is going to play with him missing shootaround, so that makes him a very, very risky play on FanDuel. IF he is announced in, he will become very chalky, but on DK you can roster him regardless as a building block since we have the ability to pivot should we need to.
Mid Tier: Jayson Tatum- Tatum put up a dud in his last game against the Timberwolves, but topped 30+ fantasy points in each of the games prior to that with Kyrie Irving out. He’s pretty much a lock for 30+ minutes, and he is playable in all formats at only $6,100 on FanDuel.
Low Tier: Montrezl Harrell- Since we are interested in so many Suns, I feel inclined to run it back with a Clippers player and that’s going to be Montrezl. Yes, I know he is more expensive than both of the players above him, but in terms of my interest, he is third which is why he is in the low tier. He usually plays better against faster-paced teams, but he does have one pretty huge game against Phoenix already this season, and I don’t think anyone will be on him at price.
Center
Top Tier: Karl-Anthony Towns- Jeff Teague was announced in, and Derrick Rose was moved up to questionable while Robert Covington was confirmed out for tonight’s game. While it’s not as good as it would be if they all three were out, KAT is still far and away the top center option for me, especially on DraftKings where he remains under $10,000. He still sees a usage spike playing without Jimmy Butler, and the matchup with the Orlando Magic is certainly one that Towns can find success in.
Mid Tier: DeAndre Ayton- Ayton continues to put up numbers that a normal rookie should not be capable of, and I love picking on this Clippers frontcourt. His usage rate has actually spiked around 3-4% since Devin Booker returned to the lineup, and Ayton sticks out to me as the potential cash game center choice for FanDuel, with KAT being my guy on DK.
Low Tier: Javale McGee- The minutes haven’t been there recently for McGee, but the per minute production has been with him putting up 31+ fantasy points in back-to-back games while topping out at 23 minutes. He’s taking double digit shots in his time on the floor without LeBron, and anyone that reads my content knows I love to attack this weak Knicks defense. In tournaments, McGee makes a ton of sense on Friday night.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
