Point Guard
Top Tier: Steph Curry- This slate opened up a ton with Jeff Teague and Jimmy Butler being ruled out, and while there is a ton of value at the Guard position if you have the money to spend up I;m looking at Curry. His price has come down to under $10,000, which increases his ability to easier hit value and he has shown how big his floor actually is this season. In their last game against the Bulls, he played just 24 minutes while Klay Thompson was busy putting up 50 real points…and he still topped 50 fantasy points!
Mid Tier: Derrick Rose– As I just mentioned, Jeff Teague and Jimmy Butler are both out tonight for the Timberwolves, so you will see that they are pretty much the theme of this article. Rose has actually played really well this season fantasy-wise, and will now have secure minutes.
Low Tier: Tyus Jones/Elie Okobo- I’m in love with the value at guard today, as Tyus Jones will finally get solid run with Teague out and Elie Okobo should be thrust into play should Isaiah Caanan miss. Jones is arguably the Wolves second best player, but he’s buried behind Teague and Rose but will be locked into minutes tonight regardless of what the score is. Okobo flashed in the preseason, and he dominated the ball after Caanan exited injured on Sunday.
Shooting Guard
Top Tier: Zach LaVine- LaVine has been doing his best Kemba Walker impression this season, ranking top-five in the NBA in usage rate thus far this season and doing it all for this young Bulls squad. I don’t expect the Bulls to get run out of the gym as quickly as they did against the Warriors tonight, and LaVine has topped 30 fantasy points in every game except one, the outlier being a 25 minute/27 fantasy point performance against Charlotte.
Mid Tier: Luka Doncic (FanDuel)- Doncic continues to be PG-only on DraftKings for whatever reason, but at shooting guard on FanDuel he is once again a strong play against the Lakers. This is probably my favorite overall game of the night with a 235 O/U, and Doncic has topped 34 minutes in every game this season except the first one, where he played 31.
Low Tier: Josh Okogie- He’s been really good for the Wolves this season after a lot of people questioned him after the draft. He plays hard, and that fits perfectly into FanDuel’s +3 steal scoring. The minutes are locked in without Teague/Butler and all this kid has done is produce.
Small Forward
Top Tier: LeBron James- You can easily put Kevin Durant here as well, especially with the savings you get from dropping to him, but with all of this quality value we are going to be able to spend up today. LeBron hasn’t had the same type of ownership this season with his new role on the Lakers, but he is still LeBron and he is still putting up huge numbers. He already has been getting testy with the LA media, and it’s only a matter of time before we have a classic LeBron take over game especially with how bad they need wins.
Mid Tier: Rudy Gay- Gay has taken on a new role with the Spurs this season, and with some of their losses and injuries it’s really him, Derozan and LMA for the offense to run through. He’s coming off back-to-back 40+ fantasy point games and he should be in line for another 30+ minutes against the Suns.
Low Tier: Andrew Wiggins- I hate playing this guy, but with Butler off the floor you have to consider it. It’s not a good matchup which is the one reason I would consider moving away from him, but he sees over a 5% usage increase with Butler off the floor…you just need him to score.
Power Forward
Top Tier: Blake Griffin- Per Mark Stein, Blake is leading the NBA in touches per game and he has an exceptional matchup with the Nets frontcourt that we have been attacking all season. He put up 43 fantasy points in 34 minutes against this team earlier this season. If Anthony Davis gets ruled in before lock, you can slot him into the top slot and bump Blake down to the mid tier play.
Mid Tier: Draymond Green (DraftKings)- This is a DraftKings only play for me where Draymond finds himself all the way down at $6,700. He had a really rough start to 2018, but he’s topped 30 fantasy points in five of his last seven games, and is now priced much more affordably. Paul Millsap is also under-priced, and you could easily list him alongside Dray.
Low Tier: Josh Jackson- Another guy I hate playing, but he was moved up to probably for tonight and we are going to need to keep considering him as long as Devin Booker is out. He will eventually start putting the ball in the bucket and when he does he will destroy his price tag.
Center
Top Tier: Andre Drummond- As I noted with Blake, this has been my bread and butter matchup this season and Drummond already decimated them for a 24-20 double-double earlier this season. Jarrett Allen is actuyally good defensively, but you really can’t defend Drummond given how he plays and he is going to be on the glass all night long.
Mid Tier: DeAndre Jordan- DJ has been nothing short of incredible this season, but doesn’t seem to be getting any credit for it. He’s topped 30+ fantasy points in every game, and that’s come with 30+ minutes as well. I already pointed out how much I like this game, and DJ should have no issues taking advantage of the Lakers on the glass.
Low Tier: Javale McGee- McGee is finally back down to a viable salary, at least on DraftKings, and the Lakers are going to need his size to combat DeAndre Jordan. Even with Ingram/Rondo back, he put up 31 fantasy points in 30 minutes in their last game.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
