The Core
James Harden- We are absolutely loaded with studs on this slate — Steph Curry, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns, Russell Westbrook…but I think I’m locking in Harden first and foremost on this slate. He has shot extremely bad this season, going 2-13, 8-29 and 8-21 through three games. His usage rate is down playing alongside Westbrook, but even with the drop it sits at 37% and it’s only a matter of time before his shooting picks up. He’s still been able to top 50 fantasy points in two of three games, even with the shooting woes, so we know that the 60+ game is still in the bag once his shot stops falling. There looks to be enough value to fit two studs in tonight again should you want, and I’m making sure one of them is the Beard.
Buddy Hield- Another player that appears mis-priced to me tonight is Buddy Hield, who is only priced where he is because of a bad two games shooting. Similar to Harden, he isn’t going to shoot this poorly forever, and I like to take the savings on guys like this before they post the huge games. He’s at home against a bad defense, and has a ceiling that is much higher than his current price tag.
#3- I originally had Pascal Siakam all typed up here, but as I was about to post this article, Jaylen Brown was ruled out due to an injury. I still think Siakam is too cheap on all sites given his monster 31% usage rate, but now both Jayson Tatum or Marcus Smart could occupy this spot. Ultimately, I think all three are cash game options, and I wouldn’t rule out locking them in alongside the above two players and going from there with the value plays. Be sure to check my Core Plays if you are a subscriber to see where I end up after I finalize my lineups!
Value Plays
Bogdan Bogdanovic- There seems to be a lot of value on this slate, but none that feels super safe as of right now — barring any late news we get. That has me considering both Bogdan Bogdanovic and Dario Saric on both sites. Bogdanovic is always a risk because of his role off of the bench, but he has shown fantasy upside before and he has topped 22 minutes in all but one game — and has shoot really poorly in the bulk of his minutes. This is a great matchup with the Charlotte Hornets, and at under $4,000 on DraftKings he is in play for me in cash games.
Blazers- The Blazers present us with some solid value once again on Wednesday night with Zach Collins still out. Anthony Tolliver drew the start in his place on Monday, posting over 20 fantasy points, while the chalk special, Mario Hezonja, was able to eclipse 20 as well. It’s pretty clear that Stotts has more confidence in both Tolliver and Hezonja than Skal Labissiere at this point, and both of them are in my value pool in all formats for tonight’s slate.
Note: Steven Adams remains questionable, if he is ruled out, Nerlens Noel will become *arguably* the best value option on the slate.
Note #2: Outside of Moe Harkless on FanDuel, I don’t see enough of a bump from anyone from the Clippers to consider in cash builds.
Tournament Plays
Things are still up in the air for me on this slate, as I am awaiting the news on Steven Adams. If I don’t end up getting up to Karl-Anthony Towns in cash games, I definitely plan on being overweight in tournaments. Giannis Antetokounmpo is another player who could come in under-owned relative to his ceiling, and I will be building around him in GPPs.
Another player I love tonight is RJ Barrett, the sites have been really aggressive with his pricing off the bat this season, but the price hike has been warranted and if anything it could help keep his ownership down. Barrett has been running the show for the Knicks this season sporting a 24% usage rate, and he should continue to dominate the ball on offense with both Elfrid Payton and Dennis Smith Jr out tonight.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
