Hope everyone is having a grand ole Monday! Very chilly here in Massachusetts with high of 27 degrees. Makes for a great time to stay inside and dive into this slate. While there is a lot to digest, it is looking like a pretty fun seven gamer. There are a couple games that look better to attack than others here, so let’s get into it!
Guards
Dejounte Murray seems to be a pretty safe bet tonight if you’re looking to spend up at point guard. At only 9700, he is too cheap for his pure upside. Donovan Mitchell also is a bit cheap here too at 9400. He gets a great matchup against a pitiful Pistons team. One of my favorite plays of the night is Rajon Rondo. At first look it might seem gross, but he is clearly filling into Ricky Rubio’s role on the Cavaliers. He is a great pivot off of a higher owned Ben Mclemore with the same upside if not more. Lonnie Walker has been forced into a bigger role with the injuries and protocols plaguing the Spurs right now. He went 9-20 (3-8 from the arc) last game and still put up 39.8 FP. If he shot is falling, the upside is absurd for a 4200 price tag. Other great options here are Lamelo Ball, Anfernee Simons, Josh Primo, and Bojan Bogdanovic.
Forwards
I think we are starting with Giannis Antetokounmpo here. The matchup is mouth watering as Charlotte is terrible against guarding power forwards. Add in that Jrue Holiday is still out and we are looking at over 1.3 FP per minute here. Furkan Korkmaz has taken on a much larger role with the injuries in Philly. Seth Curry is also questionable, which should make Furkan play even more minutes than he was going to be anyway. Expect 30-35 minutes for him tonight against a Houston Rockets defense that isn’t scary. Miles Bridges is still far too cheap (7400) for his pure upside here. I really like a game stack here with Giannis. Nassir Little has been somewhat unpredictable lately. That being said, he comes with plenty of upside with his shot falling. He can also add peripherals pretty quickly. Other players here I’m looking at are Royce O’neale, Tobias Harris, and David Nwaba.
Center
Center is probably the most appealing position on tonight’s slate. There are so many great options here that decisions are going to have to be made. Joel Embiid gets a fantastic matchup against the Rockets who rank in the bottom against defending centers. He should be a rebounding machine who can add tons of points and other peripherals at a very high rate. Another great option is Bobby Portis. As the Hornets are terrible against power forwards, they are just as terrible against centers. His price tag is about where it should be (6800) maybe a smidge too cheap for his pure upside. One of the more popular options has to be Hassan Whiteside. With no Rudy Gobert still, he should be locked into big minutes yet again. He’s projection for higher ownership as of right now (north of 40%) but for good reason. He isn’t super cheap anymore at 5200 but the upside is there as long as he can stay out of foul trouble. Jusuf Nurkic is also projecting for some higher ownership. In all fairness, its more than warranted. Nurkic has been stepping up big time with all the injuries and protocols attacking Portland right now. I don’t see that stopping tonight against a Nets team that isn’t great against centers. Some other great plays here tonight are Nic Claxton, Christian Wood, and Jarred Allen.
