Point Guard
Top Tier: Ben Simmons- NOBODY plays Ben Simmons when Embiid is playing, but you can make a solid case tonight. The Pistons are one of the worst teams, bottom-three, in FG% allowed at the rim this season which is HUGE for someone like Simmons who doesn’t shoot. If he is aggressive tonight, he should easily be able to score tonight and I love his ceiling at his price point.
Mid Tier: De’Aaron Fox- Fox is the definition of a strong GPP play tonight, priced up, but in a stellar matchup with the Chicago Bulls. He has flashed his ceiling many times this season, and nobody on Chicago will be able to slow him down tonight.
Low Tier: Tomas Satoranksy/Terry Rozier- Let’s get this value started! We have no Kyrie or Hayward for Boston, and no John Wall for the Wizards. On FanDuel, the most logical route is to plug in these two for cash games and move on and I think that’s a viable strategy on DK as well, for tournaments, spending up at point guard is the move for me.
Shooting Guard
Top Tier: Jrue Holiday- If you spend up at shooting guard today, it has to be Jrue Holiday. He continues to boast one of the highest floors at his position, and with Anthony Davis questionable to play he could get a sizable bump up prior to lock.
Mid Tier: Jaylen Brown/Marcus Smart- With Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward both out for tonight’s game, Boston becomes the value focus. I prefer Brown, but given that he costs more Smart is going to draw a bit more ownership. Both are great cash game plays tonight, and are player’s to build around on this massive 11 game slate.
Low Tier: Austin Rivers- If you though the Boston value was it, you were mistaken! John Wall is out for the Wizards, which means Austin Rivers enters our lives once again. On FanDuel, I’m simply locking in Rivers with one of the Celtics guards.
Small Forward
Top Tier: LeBron James- You can certainly make the case for Giannis here, but LeBron at a $1,000 discount with the narrative of his last game against Dwayne Wade looming, we are going with the King. He’s done what he’s done his whole career, put up incredible numbers but it somehow seems to be going overlooked now that he is in LA. He’s my top overall spend-up on this slate, dead even with Joel Embiid.
Mid Tier: Kevin Durant- KD vs Paul George is a very interesting decision on this slate, given all of the value we are going to be locking in two of the top four SF’s for cash games on FanDuel. Since we have the money, I’m going to side with Durant who is in one of the best games of the night, a 229 O/U and with it being the last game of the night it could end up being somewhat overlooked.
Low Tier: Juancho Hernangomez- We are clearly spending up at SF on FanDuel tonight, which leaves Juancho Hernangomez as the premier value option. He’s locked into big minutes with no Barton/Millsap, topping 36 in his last three games, and the Grizzlies grade out as one of the worst rebounding teams on this 11 game slate.
Power Forward
Top Tier: Jayson Tatum- As I’ve mentioned a few times, this slate was thrown for a huge whirl when all these Boston injuries were announced. I still actually prefer Bam slightly, but Tatum will undoubtedly be higher-owned and he has to be tagged as a fantastic cash game play. I’m assuming that Anthony Davis isn’t playing in this game, and while we need to monitor that up until lock, I’m comfortable avoiding the upper tier of PF for Tatum/Bam.
Mid Tier: Bam Adebayo- The Heat will be healthier tonight against the Lakers, but they are still set to be without Hassan Whiteside giving another big bump up to Adebayo. He ended their last game with 0 points at half-time, and still finished with over 30 fantasy points and while his price has been bumped up he still possesses a great floor/ceiling combo at his salary.
Low Tier: Trey Lyles (DraftKings)/Daniel Theis- I’m completely avoiding Trey Lyles on FanDuel given his huge price increase, but on DraftKings where he is under $4,000 he is a stone cold lock for me with Paul Millsap still out. On both sites, we have another Daniel Theis night with Al Horford doubtful and Aron Baynes out.
Center
Top Tier: Joel Embiid- Joel Embiid is in his own class at center tonight for me, should he play. This is a massive narrative spot for Embiid, coming off some comments stating he doesn’t like how he is being used and in a game against Andre Drummond, who he absolutely owns. He’s posted 60+ in both meetings with Drummond this season, oh and he’s his lowest price in months.
Mid Tier: Julius Randle- Like I said above, I’m assuming that AD is going to sit tonight, but regardless Randle is the number two center play on this slate. He’s been on a tear recently going for 48+ in four straight games, and his minutes are still secure regardless of if AD plays or not. I’m looking to pair him with Embiid on DK.
Low Tier: Willie Cauley-Stein- I don’t see any value at center that I’m overly excited about, so I’m focused on WCS against the Bulls at $6,900. This game may go over-looked, but the Bulls frontcourt defense has been a disaster and this is the exact type of matchup Cauley-Stein can exploit given his skill set.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
