Point Guard
Top Tier: Steph Curry- I don’t see myself having much Curry tonight, but with Kemba Walker priced up after a 40 point opening night and on the road, and Russell Westbrook still working his way back, he is the top overall Point Guard option by a wide margin. The matchup looks tough on paper against the Jazz in terms of pace, but the upside is still there with Curry and we can note that De’Aaron Fox put up 40+ fantasy points against this Jazz team on Wednesday.
Mid Tier: Trae Young- Yes, this matchup with Mike Conley and the Grizzlies is tough, no I do not care. Say what you want about Young’s defense and real-life ability this season, but he has one of the most fantasy friendly games in the NBA and I will 100% take advantage of this price while I can. He can pass exceptionally, and he is going to chuck up as many shots as he wants for the time being. You can also include De”Aaron Fox (FanDuel) and Kyrie Irving (DraftKings) in this tier, but I prefer Young in all formats.
Low Tier: Fred VanVleet- This is my preferred punt punt point guard with Delon Wright out. FVV played 25 minutes in their first game against the Cavs and I think we should expect around the same in this matchup with the Celtics. He doesn’t have the highest ceiling for this price tier given the matchup with the Celtics defene, but we don’t need a massive ceiling at his price when it allows us to fit in an extra stud.
Shooting Guard
Top Tier: Jrue Holiday- This is the play I absolutely love on this slate, specifically on DraftKings where he is severely under-priced. This is a cheaper way to get exposure to the Pelicans 121 implied team total if you can’t jam in Anthony Davis, and I love taking these Pels players at home where they notoriously pick up extra stats given their generous New Orleans scorekeeper. Much like our value pick in at this position, the pace of this game and how the Pelicans play this season is going to benefit Holiday all season, starting tonight.
Mid Tier: Dennis Schroder- I expect this to be one of the most popular plays on the slate, as Schroder will continue to start with Westy side-lined and with him having such a good game in their season opener. Schroder posted a 29% usage rate even playing alongside Paul George, and he has routinely shown fantasy point per minute ability throughout his career with Atlanta.
Low Tier: Buddy Hield- With all of the focus on the Pelicans and De’Aaron Fox in this matchup, I do expect Buddy Hield to go a bit over-looked, which I absolutely love in tournaments. Hield surprisingly played 32 minutes in the opener against the Jazz, and he will greatly benefit from the pace of this game with the Pels. Also, can I get a shot of #revenge?
Small Forward
Top Tier: Giannis Antetokounmpo- Giannis started off on fire on Wednesday night before foul trouble plagued him in the second half. He posted a monster 40% usage rate, and he will continue to feature a higher ceiling if his new found outside shooting ability sticks for the entirety of the season. I don’t think I really need to explain why Giannis is a good play, it just comes down to if you can jam in his salary or not. For me, he’s a good $1,000+ cheaper on FanDuel than Anthoony Davis so I prefer him there, while I like AD more at the similar price on DraftKings.
Mid Tier: Paul George- PG was extremely popular on opening night, and I expect the same tonight with Russell Westbrook out for the Thunder once again. He posted a respectable 26% usage rate in their first game, and he will continue to be the go-to guy for the Thunder without Russ in the lineup. I would ideally like to fit in Giannis on FanDuel, but if I like my roster construction with George better I have no issues dropping down.
Low Tier: DeAndre Bembry- This would classify as a potential FanDuel, low-score dropper as Bembry comes in under $4,000. He posted just 16.8 FanDuel points in the first game, but that was on the back of a 12% usage rate compared to the near 20% he posted a season ago. Using Bembry allows you to spend up for Giannis/PG and that’s the key to the slate on FD for me.
Power Forward
Top Tier: Anthony Davis- Anthony Davis was my top overall play on the big Wednesday slate, yet he still came in lower-owned than James Harden. Davis has a legitimate chance at MVP this season, and averaged just under 1.70 fantasy points per minute last season without Boogie Cousins on the floor. FanDuel was super-aggressive with his pricing, and rightfully so, bumping him to over $13,000 while he sits in the low-$11,000 range on DraftKings. My initial lean is to lean ABC on FanDuel (pricing) and build around AD on DraftKings.
Mid Tier: Kevin Love- I love this spot for Love tonight, as he looks to exploit the same exact matchup that LaMarcus Aldridge wrecked on Wednesday. Stretch fours against the Timberwolves have been my bread and butter dating back to last season, and we also get a tiny pinch of #revenge. This game owns a sneaky-solid 223.5 O/U in Vegas. Love actually may be lower-owned given his game one performance, but fear not, he posted a 35% usage rate.
Low Tier: Jaren Jackson Jr- This is the most viable cheap option at PF for me, narrowly edging out Jerami Grant. JJJ will continue to come off the bench for the Grizzlies, but he gets a huge match-up boost going against the Atlanta Hawks defense and given his style of play he can really smash him price tag if he gets going. He is much better on DraftKings where we still get the discount on him, and if he can shoot a little bit better from the field tonight we should see the fire emoji on our lineup page.
Center
Top Tier: Karl-Anthony Towns- I wold find it hard to get away from Enes Kanter in cash games on FanDuel, but there is value in taking KAT in GPPs at the high-price. He will come in low-owned with some of the other expensive plays on the slate, and this Cavs team is going to struggle defensively all season. He should be able to easily over-match Tristan Thompson, and as I pointed out with love, this is a sneaky-fantastic DFS game given the expected Vegas total.
Mid Tier: Enes Kanter- Hmmmmm, so Andre Drummond was my top tier Center on Wednesday night against this Brooklyn Nets team, and now I’m going to the Enes Kanter well. Kanter went 20-20 against this Nets team in the preseason, and while that’s not something we should “expect”, it’s definitely in the range of outcomes. He should be able to feast on the glass, and he will benefit from the pace in this game.
Low Tier: Boban Marjanovic- I’m so excited for Boban SZN, as it looks like the perennial point-per-minute monster has finally cracked the Clippers rotation. I don’t anticipate him seeing 17 minutes again, but as weird as it sounds we will gladly accept 12-13 minutes from Boban when he has 1.5 FPPM ability. It would be tough for me to go there on FanDuel where you can only roster one center, but he is a viable punt on DK.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
