What’s up everyone and welcome to Ben’s Building Blocks! If you’ve never read my content before, welcome. To those that have, welcome back. I truly appreciate everyone that reads and supports during NBA season. This article is designed for me to highlight the top plays of the day. Obviously, things can change rapidly in the NBA with injury news close to lock, so I would be sure to subscribe to our premium package for access to our Final Thoughts cheat sheet, our premium discord channel and my core plays. Our Core Plays product gives you the ability to tail all of our analysts in your contests each night. We do the work for you, and you simply plug and play with our premium Core Plays. With that being said, let’s hop into the plays…

Building Blocks

Jordan Clarkson

I still can’t believe that this Jazz team isn’t at the bottom of the standings, but they continue to be a DFS gold mine. This game carries a massive 239.5 O/U, the highest mark on the slate, and it’s clear we are going to want pieces from this game. Utah is still without Mike Conley, which is a nice boost for Clarkson. His per minute numbers rise above 1.1 with Conley off the floor, and he continues to lead this team in usage rate with a 26% number. Indiana is an above-average match-up for him, and there’s a reason he is grading out as a top-three value in our Projections Portal. That number comes with a high projected-ownership mark as well, but I think it’s warranted as long as Conley remains out. He’s one of the top plays in all formats tonight, and will be the first player in my builds.

Evan Mobley

Mobley is my favorite option on both sites tonight, and it’s tough for me to build a lineup without him. Cleveland will once again be without Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love, paving the way for a monster Mobley night. He’s averaging nearly 40 DK points per game over his last three games, but is priced like these two players are still playing. It’s actually a pretty tough match-up against Bol Bol and the other big men, but the price is too cheap for his projection/ceiling. We have him projected for north of 25% ownership tonight and DraftKings, and I think he’s viable in all formats on Friday night.

Value Plays

Naji Marshall

There isn’t a ton of standout value currently, but with several players listed questionable to play, certainly some will be opening. For now, though, we have Marshall projected to be one of the highest-owned players on tonight’s slate. Our Projections Portal has him around 25% owned tonight, playing with both Brandon Ingram and Herb Jones out for the Pelicans. He isn’t a huge per minute producer, but that also doesn’t matter much when you’re just $300 off the minimum salary. We have him projected for nearly 30 minutes tonight, making him the top-graded value on DraftKings.

OwnersBox Play

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Dejounte Murray

I’m going to write up Murray here because there’s a very good chance he becomes one of the top plays on the slate. Trae Young was downgraded from healthy to questionable mid-day on Friday, which is never a good sign. Murray is averaging a 25% usage rate and 1.16 fantasy points per minute with Young on the floor this season. Those numbers sky-rocket with Young off the floor — including a usage bump to over 31%. Denver is bottom-three in defensive efficiency to opposing point guards, and they’ve been absolutely carved up by ball dominant guards this season. If Young misses, this will put the ball in Murray’s hands even more and make him potentially the number-one overall play. Monitor this news up until lock, even if Young is in I like both he and Murray — but if he misses…I will be locking in Murray on all sites.

Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)