Welcome to another edition of Bales’ Top GPP plays. In this article, I will outline my favorite NBA GPP plays for today’s games. If you want all of my core plays along with our staff’s Final Thoughts articles and access to our Discord, click here.
Guards
Dante Exum
Exum’s struggled to consistently produce in limited minutes throughout his career. That’s been the case early this season, as well. He’s averaging 4.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 3.0 assists (14.8 fantasy points) in 20.1 minutes per game. Exum struggled in bigger minutes in his last game, recording only 14 fantasy points in 28 minutes.
He gets an elite matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, who ranked fifth in the NBA in pace and 28th in defensive efficiency last season. Exum’s usage is only expected to sit around 14%, although he’s expected to find minutes in the high-20s due to injuries once again tonight. He isn’t going to be a major part of the offense, but he possesses the ability to contribute in multiple categories when given the playing time. Exum’s averaging 7.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.3 assists, and 1.3 steals on a per-36 minute basis early this season. He’s flashed at times in the past, including a 37.25 fantasy point performance in only 24 minutes against the Minnesota Wolves last season. He’s likely to go overlooked after struggling in his last game, making him a great boom or bust salary relief option in GPPs.
Bigs
Tobias Harris
Harris’ looked outstanding early this season. He’s averaging 17.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 1.0 steal (37.2 fantasy points) in 30.5 minutes per game. Harris specifically caught first over his last 3 games, averaging 44.6 fantasy points in 31.0 minutes per game. He played full minutes (38) in only one of those games, scoring 53.75 fantasy points against the Toronto Raptors.
Harris gets an interesting matchup against the Charlotte Hornets tonight. They ranked last in the league in pace last season, although they also ranked 23rd in defensive efficiency. Harris is expected to continue to see a usage rating around 25%, as he’s one of the focal points of the Philadelphia 76ers offense. He’s also expected to see minutes in the mid-30s in this game. The spread is near double-digits, but Harris is a player that has produced in blowouts because of his role in the offense. Quite frankly, Charlotte doesn’t feature anyone on defense that will be able to slow Harris down, and I expect him to continue his recent string of success tonight. He’s still a bit too cheap for his upside, and he’s a player to be overweight on tonight.
Bismack Biyombo
Biyombo’s been thrust into a larger role with an early injury to Cody Zeller. The former is averaging 10.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.2 blocks (25.4 fantasy points) in 28.3 minutes per game. He’s coming off of his best game of the season, as well, scoring 37.5 fantasy points in 28 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies. Biyombo’s also posted 22+ fantasy points in each of his 4 games without Zeller.
Biyombo gets a tough matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers tonight. Last season, Philadelphia ranked 19th in the NBA in pace and seventh in defensive efficiency. Biyombi isn’t a major part of the offense, but he boasts double-double potential with the ability to add blocks and assists each night. He comes with risk against Joel Embiid, who consistently draws fouls throughout the game. With that being said, Biyombo hasn’t truly struggled with fouls, suggesting he’ll be able to play his full 30+ minutes tonight, as Charlotte tries to match the size of Embiid. Biyombo’s still a bit too cheap, and he’ll feature low ownership in a tough matchup.
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