The Locks
Andre Iguodala- We kick off tonight’s slate with some value, first with former Finals MVP Andre Iguodala. Iggy routinely sees a minutes bump against the Rockets who like to play small, averaging over 27 minutes per game against them over the last two seasons. That number could trend more towards 30 with Kevin Durant also out for the Warriors tonight, and at under $4,500 on both sites he is playable in all formats.
DJ Augustin- Sticking with the value, we have a similarly priced DJ Augustin at only $4,300 on both FanDuel and DraftKings. Augustin has seen secure minutes since the All-Star break given that his backup, Isaiah Briscoe, has been injured and the fact that the Magic have shortened their rotation in hopes of making the playoffs. The matchup couldn’t get better as the Wizards rank third-worst in defensive rating over the last 15 games, and at this price we have to consider DJA in all formats.
Jerami Grant (IF Markieff Morris out)- If Morris ends up missing for the Thunder tonight, another value option we can look at is Jerami Grant. Grant would see a 3-4 minute increase with Morris sidelined, and the matchup is above-average as the Nets rank bottom-three in defensive efficiency against power forwards this season.
Steph Curry- Now that we have locked in some value, we have room to spend up and I’m prioritizing Steph Curry in cash games. Curry sees a near 5% usage bump with Kevin Durant out this season, and if you take the one game that Durant missed and Boogie Cousins was active, he posted a near 40% usage rate albeit a very small minutes sample. The Rockets are three point favorites tonight in a 228 O/U so we should expect a full workload for Curry and company.
Nikola Vucevic- Vuc is my next jam in for cash given the salary savings we will be taking, and it comes in a supreme matchup with the Washington Wizards. We have attacked the Wizards with bigs a ton recently given how under-sized their frontcourt is leading to some pretty abysmal rebounding numbers. Not only is Vuc playing the best basketball of his career, his minutes have trended more towards 33-34 per game over the last week compared to 29-30 given that the Magic are fighting for the playoffs.
GPP Plays
PG: Mike Conley, Tyler Johnson
SG: Evan Fournier, D’Angelo Russell
SF: Jonathan Isaac, Joe Harris
PF: Bobby Portis, Aaron Gordon
C: Boogie Cousins, Joakim Noah, DeAndre Ayton (DraftKings)
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
