My Core
Devin Booker- Booker burned me bad on Wednesday when I chose him over Jimmy Butler on DraftKings, but that won’t stop me from going back to the well tonight. The Suns are going to be without Kelly Oubre for an extended period of time, which leaves more for their big three of Booker, Ricjy Rubio and DeAndre Ayton. He put up just 29 DraftKings points in their last game, but we need to dig in a bit further. The biggest issue with his last game was that he shot an abysmal 5-19 from the floor including an ice-cold 1-8 from deep. The underlying metrics are still positive, however, he sported a 26% usage rate and is at 1.1 fantasy points per minute with Oubre off the floor. I do think that Rubio cuts into his ceiling, but at only $7,800 we aren’t being asked to pay for it.
DeAndre Ayton- The next player I’m locking in happens to be Booker’s teammate, DeAndre Ayton, who is just $8,100. Ayton doesn’t see a massive boost with Oubre off the floor, but he actually led the team in usage rate in their last game at 32%. He’s been on a tear averaging 46 DraftKings points over his last eight games, and the Pistons have struggled to contain big men at times — though that has improved with the departure of Andre Drummond. Overall, I think this price tag is a little on the short side and I will be stacking the teammates together in cash games.
Christian Wood- I have no clue why Dwane Casey pulled Wood from the starting lineup a few games ago, but it seems like he has come to his senses after he was re-inserted in their last game. This move resulted in a 34 minute, 37.5 DraftKings point performance. Wood has been a double-double machine when starting this season, and since I’m locking in two Suns players it only makes sense to run it back right? Wood should get the nod at Power Forward again with John Henson manning Center, and I honestly love both of them given their price tags. Dario Saric has been starting at Power Forward for Phoenix without Oubre, and he has not been good defensively this season — -0.19 DRPM. It doesn’t feel great to be this overweight to a Suns/Pistons game on a 10 game slate, but I just can’t pass up these price tags.
Value Plays
Mike Conley- Conley was pulled, then re-inserted into the starting lineup within a few hours before Wednesday’s game, and that may be why he sits at just $5,100. Despite almost being benched, he ended up logging 33 minutes against the Celtics and put up a respectable 28 fantasy points. He’s now topped 28+ DK points in five of his last six games. This is one of the best matchups for him as the Washington Wizards rank bottom-three in defensive efficiency against Point Guards. If he is able to eclipse 30 minutes of action again, I think he smashes his salary-based expectations.
Dennis Schroder- Schroder is someone that I expect to go over-looked tonight, especially if one or two of the “questionable” stars are unable to suit up and things get crazy close to lock. It’s certainly a tough matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, but people might underrate how important it is that Danilo Gallinari is out for the Thunder tonight. On the season, Schroder gets the biggest usage rate bump on the team with Gallo off the floor — a 4% spike up to a team-leading 31%.
Note: There are a lot of big question marks on this slate, including the availability of Luka Doncic, Trae Young and Serge Ibaka. Be sure to check our Premium Player Pool/Final Thoughts cheat sheet (FREE ON FRIDAY’S) and my core plays ($) for my updated thoughts closer to lock for my final decisions.
Written by Ben Hossler (Follow @BenHossler on Twitter)
