What’s up everyone and welcome to Ben’s Building Blocks! If you’ve never read my content before, welcome. To those that have, welcome back. I truly appreciate everyone that reads and supports during NBA season. This article is designed for me to highlight the top plays of the day. Obviously, things can change rapidly in the NBA with injury news close to lock, so I would be sure to subscribe to our premium package for access to our Final Thoughts cheat sheet, our premium discord channel and my core plays. Our Core Plays product gives you the ability to tail all of our analysts in your contests each night. We do the work for you, and you simply plug and play with our premium Core Plays. With that being said, let’s hop into the plays…
Building Blocks
Anthony Edwards
I feel that you can make the case for several of the higher-dollar options on this slate, but if Rudy Gobert is out I will be locking in Edwards and building around him on both sites. Toronto hasn’t shown the same defense as the last few seasons, and Edwards will continue to see a larger role for this team. He’s averaging over 1.4 fantasy points per minute with Gobert and KAT off the floor this season — and there’s a reason we have him as one of the highest projected plays on Thursday night. I like the idea of pairing him and Naz Reid with Fred VanVleet in GPPs.
Naz Reid
Gobert missed last night’s game, and we are currently assuming him as out once again tonight. Despite being on a back-to-back, if ruled out, Naz Reid once again gets thrust into must-play territory. He’s averaging over 1.1 fantasy points per minute this season and sees a much more secure minutes role when starting. I think that we could potentially pivot to Luka Garza in GPPs given that B2B, but Reid would be a must-roster in cash games if we get word that Rudy will be sidelined.
Value Plays
Saben Lee + Suns
Phoenix is super banged up once again, and will be without Chris Paul, Devin Booker, Landry Shamet and Cam Payne tonight. Damion Lee gets the biggest usage rate bump with all those guys out — but it’s clear that a lot of minutes are going to be available tonight. Duane Washington didn’t even play in their last game, Phoenix went to Saben Lee and he is likely to start at PG tonight. I think he is one of the top values on the slate as long as he’s confirmed starting — and you can use Lee, Washington and other Suns pieces as well. 2+ Suns players will be a popular build path on Thursday night.
OwnersBox Top Play
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Kyrie Irving
It’s clear Irving will be one of the top options on tonight’s slate, as he will once again be playing without Kevin Durant. He puts up around a 35% usage rate with Durant off the floor and the Suns defense has been crumbling with all of their stars out. He is priced up around the industry, but won’t be an issue to fit in with the roster flexibility on OwnersBox.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
