The Core
Nikola Jokic- We have a small three game slate tonight, in which I plan on jamming in both Nikola Jokic and Kawhi Leonard with all of the value that seems to be present at this time. Joker posted his second triple double of the season in their last game against Dallas, and gets a much better spot tonight against the Pelicans. This is a big pace-up spot for the Nuggets as the Pels come in top-six in the NBA in pace, and they have struggled to rebound in the early goings of this season as well ranking bottom-three in rebound%. We know that Jokic as huge upside given his ability to stuff the stat sheet even when he’s not scoring, but with Derrick Favors doubtful. he should a lot of time against Jahlil Okafor and 19 year old Jaxson Hayes — scoring might not be that big of an issue for him tonight.
Kawhi Leonard- Leonard is not someone I typically play in DFS, even though he is a top-three or four player in the NBA, he doesn’t have the minutes upside that some other stars like James Harden do, making him a tough sell in DFS. That being said, tonight we have no Giannis or Harden on this slate, so making Kawhi a priority is much easier. He rested last night, so he should be good to go for his usual 30 ish minutes tonight and he has cruised to over a 30% usage rate in all of his game thus far with the Clippers. Overall, we have tons of places to go for value, so fitting in the top two players on the slate seems easy on both sites.
Value Plays
Hawks- The Hawks are the top place for value today with Trae Young sidelined, but deciding what exactly to do with their players when baking in ownership is the toughest part of this slate. I’ll start with my favorite play for them tonight, Jabari Parker, who is around the same price as the guards but typically sees a higher usage rate and will dominate the offense when he’s in the game. I 100% plan on playing him in all formats, and probably one other Hawks player as well. The decision comes down to DeAndre Bembry, Cam Reddish and Kevin Huerter — and I expect them to come in, in that order in terms of ownership. Bembry got the start at PG in the second half last game, he is not a willing scorer but he should be able to beat value if he is locked into a large minutes role. Huerter has higher upside to me than Reddish as of right now, but he will also play 5-6 minutes less given their minutes caps.
Pelicans- The next place to go for value will be the Pelicans, who are getting Jrue Holiday back but look to be without Derrick Favors tonight. Favors missed the last game, which resulted in Jahlil Okafor starting and looking downright horrible in his 12 minutes of play — though that did result in 15 fantasy points. I prefer Jaxson Hayes tonight, who balled out in his debut dropping 28 DK points in 24 minutes of play. Hayes is raw, but dominated the summer league and I expect that the Pels will need him tonight given how big the Nuggets typically play.
Nuggets- I highly doubt we know if Will Barton will play by lock time, if he is out, I would bump up Jerami Grant along with Gary Harris, and one of Malik Beasley / Torrey Craig would most likely come into play as well. Overall, Grant would be my top play there, should we get the news.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
