The Core
Karl-Anthony Towns- Towns is once again my favorite player on the slate in a smash matchup with the Golden State Warriors. He has maintained a near 2.0 fantasy point per minute production rate this season, and that number has a chance to slightly increase without Jeff Teague. I pointed out on Wednesday that Towns actually rank third on the Wolves in assist% behind Teague and Shabazz Napier, and it seems like both of those players will be out again tonight. Though he managed just two dimes in that game, there is obvious potential for more and the Wolves currently boast the highest implied team total on tonight’s slate.
Malcolm Brogdon- Broggy continues to have a monster season in the absence of Victor Oladipo, he still owns a usage rate north of 25% with an assist rate of 44% and gets another big bump tonight with Jeremy Lamb out. We saw this exact situation on Wednesday where Brogdon posted 38 DK points despite shooting just 3-14 from the field. If his shot is falling there is 50+ point upside in the bag here and he still remains under $9,000 across the industry.
Hassan Whiteside (DK)- On FanDuel I am going to do my best to jam in Towns, but on DraftKings we have the ability to roster two centers thanks to the UTIL spot. That second center will be Hassan Whiteside for me tonight, who is priced at $6,500 despite a matchup with the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets have been crushed by big men once again this season, and even if you are worried about the minutes for Whiteside on a back-to-back, he has posted elite per minute production for his price this season at 1.3. Even if you project him conservatively for 25 minutes, he should beat value and there is upside for way more in this matchup…I think he will walk his way to a double-double tonight.
Value Plays
Raul Neto- Unfortunately, Raul Neto is going to be one of the highest-owned players on this slate and I don’t really see how we can avoid him. Josh Richardson is going to handle the ball a ton tonight for the 76ers, similar to what he would do in Miami when guys were out, but Neto is pretty much all they have right now in terms of a pure point guard with Ben Simmons out, so we can confidently project him for at least 25 minutes. He’s nearly min-priced on both sites, and despite a tough matchup with the Denver Nuggets I will have probably 100% of him tonight, even if he doesn’t do much it won’t matter because he is so cheap. I will note that Aaron Holiday got a price hike, but not high enough in my opinion. He should start again in place of Jeremy Lamb and makes for an excellent pivot off of Neto.
Jarrett Culver (FD)- Culver is a good play on DK at $5,000, but he is an exceptional play on FanDuel who refused to price him up even after his 30+ fantasy point outburst. He should draw another start with Jeff Teague out and Shabazz Napier doubtful and he was able to top 20% usage and 30% assists in his first NBA start. He will be one of the highest-owned players on the slate on FD and locking him in alongside his teammated Josh Okogie seems like a solid route in optimal builds.
Evan Fournier- I don’t really feel great about this, but I want to know why he is so cheap. He hasn’t been amazing this season, but he is still playing upper 20’s in minutes and now gets a huge pace-up spot against the Memphis Grizzlies. His usage rate still sits at 23% this season and if there is ever a time to bet on Evan Fournier, it’s while he is this cheap.
Note: With DeAndre Jordan out, we can add Jarrett Allen as a near cash game lock in both sites.
Tournament Play
Pascal Siakam- Siakam is one of my favorite leverage plays on this slate, and I don’t anticipate him seeing much ownership on an 11 game slate. He posted over 60 DraftKings points against this Pelicans team on opening night, and that shouldn’t come as that big of a surprise. This is an elite matchup for him given that the Pelicans play so fast, and they feature a pretty soft interior defense. He’s still priced below the $9K mark on DK despite a 30% usage rate and a 1.2 fantasy points per minute mark.
Some other players I like for GPPs especially tonight include Josh Richardson, Julius Randle and Kyrie Irving.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
