My Core
Lou Williams + Montrezl Harrell- In typical NBA fashion, we have an injury packed 12 game slate that is forcing our interest to certain teams, starting with the Los Angeles Clippers. Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Pat Beverley are all out tonight, leaving some tremendous value in Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. These two players dominate the usage with those guys off the floor — both come in with over 30% usage across more than 300 minutes in the sample. They also get a fantastic matchup with the Atlanta Hawks who rank bottom-five in defensive efficiency. Williams in particular gets to square off individually with Trae Young, who we know is one of the worst defensive players in the entire NBA. I will 100% be starting my cash game build with these two on Wednesday night.
Jayson Tatum + Gordon Hayward- The other situation we will be focused on is the Boston Celtics playing without Jaylen Brown. The Celtics are currently tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the highest-implied team total on the slate at 119. This is also a massive pace-up spot as the rank 17th in pace compared to the Grizzlies at third. The biggest winners with Brown off the floor are Tatum and Walker, who come in at 1.29 and 1.27 fantasy points per minute respectively. Both usage rates sit at 29%+, and it’s clear that they will dominate the offense in addition to Gordon Hayward. I don’t like to spread myself so thin on a big slate like this, but the balanced build with Clippers/Celtics seems optimal.
Value Plays
Landry Shamet- This isn’t the type of play I normally consider in cash games, but due to the injury situation I will be on Shamet tonight. He should in for an increase of minutes against a fast-paced, poor defensive team, and his price is in the basement. His strength is shooting the ball, and if he is able to get hot from three he can destroy this price tag.
Monte Morris- Morris has been a big disappointment in recent games topping 20 DraftKings points just one time in his last four, but he is thrust into consideration again tonight with Jamal Murray out. If you dig into his recent games, the minutes have been steady with 26, 29 and 36 over the games Murray has missed. The issue has been his shot not falling, going 3-9, 1-7 and 4-12 from the field. Eventually, you would think he will catch a night where he gets hot shooting the ball, and the price has been kept down due to those poor performances, I’m going back to the well tonight against the Rockets.
Dewayne Dedmon (risky)- I’m really torn on this one, and am not sure what I will end up doing as of now. Both Richaun Holmes and Marvin Bagley are expected to be out for the Kings tonight, which you would think would benefit Dedmon. However, the Kings have just not been inclined to give him many minutes this season, and now they have Anthony Tolliver to soak up some frontcourt minutes as well. If you think Dedmon can get you over 20 minutes of action, he is a near lock at his price of $3,100…but there is a definite chance he just doesn’t get the minutes. I will update my thoughts here in my cash game core plays — posted for subscribers on the website.
Trae Young and Andre Drummond are both listed as questionable to play tonight, and either of them being out could present us with more value. Young missing would boost both Jeff Teague and Cam Reddish, while Drummond being sidelined would help the trio of Markieff Morris, Christian Wood and Sekou Doumbouya.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
