Easy Breezy: Chalk Stack
Sacramento Kings
The Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards will be playing in what should be the fastest paced game of the slate. These two teams currently rank second and eighth in the NBA in pace, respectively. Sacramento has struggled at times offensively, ranking 19th in the league in offensive rating. With that being said, Washington ranks only 27th in the NBA in defensive rating. The Kings are currently +2 point underdogs in a game set at 240.5 points, but they still feature an implied total of 119.3 points tonight.
The majority of the Sacramento team can be considered for this stack, but Bogdan Bogdanovic could feature the most ownership. He has cooled off recently, as he’s only averaging 10.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.0 steal (22.2 DK points) in 32.2 minutes per game over the last 10 days. Most importantly, he has consistently been seeing 30+ minutes per game, and it was only five games ago that he scored 58 DK points against the Milwaukee Bucks. Bogdanovic is a scorer, who can add peripherals, and the uptempo pace of this game will on help his fantasy outlook. Marvin Bagley has already been ruled out tonight, which means Harrison Barnes will be locked into big minutes once again. He’s averaging 18.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, and 1.5 assists (31.6 DK points) in 37.1 minutes per game over the last 10 days. Barnes has also scored 39+ DK points in three of his last five contests. He has faced off against Washington once this season, scoring 45.25 DK points in 31.2 minutes of action. While we should not be expecting to see that production again tonight, he simply doesn’t need nearly that much to hit value. I didn’t think I’d be writing up Nemanja Bjelica in cash after the All Star Break, but here we are. He has taken on a larger role with Bagley injured, and he has played 29 and 30 minutes in his last two games. While the struggled in one of the contests, scoring only 19.75 DK points against the Boston Celtics, he’s coming off of an elite 39 DK point performance against the New York Knicks. In his only matchup against Washington this season, Bjelica scored 53.5 DK points in 36.1 minutes. He’s extremely cheap at the moment, and he does come with some rotational risk, but he makes sense as a salary relief option in cash games tonight.
Wildcard GPP: Low Owned Stack
Washington Wizards
This game was outlined a bit above, and it will be the fastest paced game on the slate. The Washington Wizards has found some success on offense this season, as they currently rank 14th in the NBA in offensive rating. The Sacramento Kings haven’t quite been able to replicate that on defense, as they rank 17th in the league in defensive rating thus far. The Wizards are -2 point favorites in a game set at 240.5 points, giving them the highest implied total on the slate at 121.3 points.
Bradley Beal could feature some ownership tonight, but he’s the star of the show in Washington. Over the last 10 days, he’s averaging 26.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.6 assists, and 2.2 steals (54.1 DK points) in 39.5 minutes per game. He has scored 50+ DK points in eight of his last 10 games, including three games with 60+ DK points. Furthermore, he’s coming off of a near triple double, in which he scored 67 DK points against the Minnesota Wolves. Beal surprisingly struggled in his only matchup against Sacramento this season, but I expect him to get back on track tonight. Trevor Ariza is the Washington player that seemingly goes overlooked on a nightly basis, but still possesses tremendous upside. He’s only averaging 15.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.2 assists (28.3 DK points) in 33.5 minutes per game over the last 10 days. With that being said, he has scored 41.75, 35.5, 51, 39, and 45.75 DK points all within his last 10 games. He’s an athletic forward, who will benefit from the pace of this game, and he posted over 1.0 DK point per minute in his only matchup against the Kings this season. Ariza will be locked into big minutes for Washington tonight, and he adds upside for a reasonable price tag to this stack. Jabari Parker is another player that seemingly goes overlooked because of his inconsistencies. He has been playing well recently, though, averaging 16.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 2.6 assists (30.4 DK points) in only 25.6 minutes per game. He has also scored 30+ DK points in three of his last four games. Parker has also been a significantly better option at home, although in a limited sample size. This is an extremely risky stack, but also comes with tremendous upside.
Hidden Gem: Value Guard
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Gilgeous-Alexander has been heating up a bit recently, but his price tag doesn’t quite represent that. Over the last 10 days, he’s averaging 13.3 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists (23.4 DK points) in 27.5 minutes per game. He’s coming off of a rough performance against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but he had scored 20+ DK points in each of his four contests prior to that.
Gilgeous-Alexander is expected to find minutes in the mid-20s tonight again tonight, which have been enough for him to hit value at his current price tag. He gets somewhat of a tough matchup against the Boston Celtics, but he needed only 25.5 minutes to scored 30.5 DK points in his only matchup against them this season. SGA is too cheap for his recent role and production, and he’s a player that can be considered in all leagues.
Hidden Gem: Value Big
Nemanja Bjelica
I have already outlined Bjelica above, so I won’t go into too much detail here. He has been a dominant per minute player this season, as he’s averaging 1.0 DK point per minute through 61 games. He recently found himself out of the Kings rotation, but he was placed back in once Marvin Bagley was injured. He has now played 29 and 30 minutes in his last two games, and Bjelica can be considered in all leagues on this slate. Keep in mind, he’ll likely feature quite a bit of ownership.
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