The Core
Andre Drummond- Drummond absolutely SMASHED last night, and should be a top play once again today against a fast-paced Hawks team. I’m not worried about it being a back-to-back with him playing 40 minutes last night, because it seemed in the preseason like Drummond was fully aware he would be asked to play increased minutes this season and he said he prepared for it in the offseason. Like I mentioned last night, he averaged over 50 fantasy points per game sans Griffin in 2018, and even if we don’t get as good of a night from tonight, the per minute production he should provide is still more than enough for him to beat value — especially on DK.
Steph Curry- I’m very excited to watch Steph Curry this season, mainly because while Klay is out it’s pretty much 100% going to be his show and we are going to see some insane stat lines from him. He averaged over 1.5 fantasy points per minute if you take Klay, Boogie and KD off the floor last season, and even though they added D’Angelo Russell for 2019, he maintained over a 30% usage rate in the preseason alongside him.
James Harden- You guys will probably question why I have such obvious plays listed in the core section today, but check the note below before you judge! Some seem to be worried about Harden loosing some usage playing alongside Russell Westbrook this season, but I’m not going to spend my time overthinking that. His usage rate was still at nearly 38% this preseason, and he should definitely be over $10,000 on DK…seriously, he’s $9,700?
Note: This core section is more DraftKings specific today, because their pricing is just a joke once again. The studs are between $9,000 and $10,000 and there is a plethora of “too cheap” plays again that makes the stars and scrubs build almost too easy to achieve. I will be building around these three on my main team, while making sure to get some Giannis Antetokounmpo exposure in tournaments.
Value Plays
DeAndre Bembry- This feels so gross, but he is just above $3,000 on DraftKings and is eligible at both guard and forward. With a completely new team in Atlanta this season, Bembry should be locked in to anywhere from 23-26 minutes with Kevin Huerter limited to just 15 tonight. I don’t mind pivoting to guys like Jabari Parker or DeAndre Hunter in GPPs, but Bembry will be one of the highest-owned players on DK tonight as everyone jams in multiple stars.
Marquese Chriss- Chriss played so well in the preseason that he made the Warriors roster, although Kevon Looney is back, Chriss still is in line for 20 or so minutes tonight and is extremely cheap on both sites. Chriss is a very fantasy friendly player, if he stays out of foul trouble, with his ability to rack up peripherals — but it’s the exact same case as Bembry …I’m not locking him in because I think he is a smash play, it’s the price and price alone and he will be owned on Thursday night.
Pistons (again)- We have a situation where we have cheap Pistons once again tonight, but it’s also not exactly *as good* as last night. Luke Kennard EXPLODED last night, but he got a nice price hike and I don’t think I really want to chase that big game again tonight with Chriss/Bembry both being $1,000 cheaper. That being said, Markieff Morris is (sadly) in play again tonight with Blake Griffin being out. Morris didn’t play much in the second half of last night’s game, so there is definitely room for him to build off the disappointing game from Wednesday. He IS questionable, however, which could explain why he didn’t play down the stretch last night …if he is out, that would thrust Christian Wood into the conversation.
Tournament Plays
Montrezl Harrell- I expect Harrell to go relatively under-owned on this slate, and I don’t think his price has fully caught up what his role will be on this new Clippers team. Harrell is a PPM player, and saw a huge minutes increase in that game against the Lakers logging 38. It’s clear that he’s going to be much more heavily involved this season, and I will definitely take advantage of that early on in the season — especially when Drummond should be over 50% owned on FanDuel (where Harrell is also C).
John Collins/Trae Young- With everyone focusing on stars and scrubs, these two will both go under-owned in the mid-tier and I love using them to stack this game with guys like Andre Drummond and Derrick Rose on the other side in tournaments.
Eric Gordon- It seems like Gordon could see a lot of time away from Harden or Westbrook this season, which would definitely help his fantasy value if he’s playing with just one of them instead of both. He’s cheap on all sites, and I don’t mind him as a pivot or in a more balanced lineup.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
