Welcome to Tristan’s NBA Game Theory (12/15)! In this article, I’ll outline my favorite cash game and GPP options at each of the positions. I’ll utilize our Projections Portal when making decisions about what types of leagues specific players are best suited for. You can get all of my Core Plays along with our Cheat Sheets, projections, and Premium Discord channels with our Premium NBA Package.
| Guards | Forwards |
Centers | Game Stacks |
| J. Holiday | PJ Tucker | M. Bamba | MEM/POR |
| G. Vincent | K. Williams | B. Portis | CHA/SAS |
| C. Anthony | L. Nance | J. Valanciunas | IND/MIL |
| B. Hield | A. Sengun | K. Love | NOP/OKC |
| D. Robinson | D. Vassell | Drummond/Allen | ATL/ORL |
*If you don’t already play 3 max entry contests daily, try using the teams provided in the stacks above to maximize upside and correlation in your NBA lineups.
Happy Mid-December!!! A ton of news to get through tonight in an 11 game slate so please please please, don’t forget to check for updates either on Twitter or in our discord channel where news updates are posted and in our premium channel, breakdown of the news! With that out of the way, let’s get to it.
Guards
Cash
First guard I’m looking at for both cash games and GPPs is Cole Anthony. We’re going back to the well here and I believe he has a high upside being a “stud” at his position. He has the potential to go for 40-50 a night if he hits his shots because he gets a good amount of peripherals already. He’s now going to be matched up against a bad defense and an above average pace team in Atlanta. They have also been struggling this season, and give up a ton of points to PGs this season. Cole Anthony is in a prime bounceback spot in a game that shouldn’t garner too much ownership % especially with his recent performances. I love this price and this match-up for him as Jalen Suggs continues to be out. Also as a note, they played earlier this season had Anthony scored 29 real points.
I am also looking at Jrue Holiday tonight, with a big usage bump coming from Giannis Antetokoumpo being out. Khris Middleton is also questionable for tonight’s game, which would boost Holiday’s minutes/usage even more. He’s going to be fairly popular in cash games tonight, and though fadeable in GPPs, he has a high upside. I would only consider fading if Middleton plays.
BONUS: Gabe Vincent
GPP
Buddy Hield is one guy I’m watching for GPPs as he’s playing a Washington team that hasn’t been playing as good of defense as they were at the beginning of the season. Sacramento will be at home which helps because they have been playing badly as well, but one guy who has been seeing 25+ mins in the last 3 games is this guy right here Buddy. He isn’t shy shooting the ball, putting up 10 3PA in each game, and even with Harrison Barnes back he still sees good floor time. You’re asking for an explosion in 3PT here if you’re playing Buddy tonight.
Duncan Robinson‘s shooting splits from home/away are distinctly different. He shoots better on the road, shooting 38.3% from 3 compared to 26.8% at home. They will be down about 7? 8? bodies tonight, specifically Tyler Herro, who has been his main blocker for the past 2 years. I say that fantasy wise, Herro fits well on that team and I think they make a good duo..but Herro has limited his upside. Not tonight though, Herro is out and Duncan should see 30+ minutes unless his defensive ability makes him a liability.
BONUS: Max Strus
Forward
Cash
Shout out to Spike (one of our NBA analysts in the discord) for nailing this guy on a ceiling game last game. PJ Tucker has seen a ton of usage in the recent games with all the injuries that the Heat are dealing with. Putting up 15 shots last game which I believe is a season high, he will only see more with Tyler Herro out. PHI has not played great as of late, opening the way for Miami to attack. This game scares me a little bit because of how things can turn around fast, but Tucker is rebounding very well, shooting a ton, and still playing very well defensively which gives him upside.
We will wait to see who starts here for OKC, but I have my eye on Kenrich Williams tonight who should be in for a good amount of minutes with Lu Dort being out. They are playing the Pelicans who recently have been looking decent, but historically this season have been bad. OKC will be at home as well, giving them more of a reason to be competitively conjoined with them playing BETTER at home. Kenrich has the ability to put up a ton of peripheral stats while shooting the 3 AND playing defense. I believe his upside is high here, this game needs to stay close..but at a 3.5k price tag, he won’t kill ya unless he drops single digits.
Bonus: Daniel Theis, Larry Nance
GPP
Alpren Sengun will be one I have heavily on watch tonight for GPPs. Christian Wood is labeled unlikely to play, which usually means he’s will be out. I believe in this match-up they start Daniel Theis to counter the big in Jarrett Allen, leaving Sengun as the only big off the bench in a match-up that could blow out, leading to even MORE playing time. His upside is very high, and he will be seeing minutes regardless here. My only gripe is his inability to stay out of foul trouble. He fouls a TON which can limit his upside.
Darius Bazley is my other GPP option tonight, with again Lu Dort being out. His minutes have been secure the last 4 games, even the ones after the huge Memphis blowout that shouldn’t even count as a game. Over 20 minutes before that and after that blowout, over 25 minutes a game. He’s been producing really well and SGA has been finding him in the PnR a bit more than before. This match-up is going to be a bump up for OKC, and the usage bump from Lu Dort being out helps him as well.
Bonus: Marvin Bagley III, Devin Vassell
Center
Cash
Mo Bamba has a good match-up here against a team that is below average in defense against Cs, giving him a path to a good game. Clint Capela isn’t great at closing out on 3s so if Mo wants to launch 3s like he’s done in prior games, this would be the one. He is averaging over 2 blocks in his last 10 games adding on a floor of around 25 FP when the game doesn’t blow out. One thing of concern here is that he left last game with a sprained ankle, but was feeling well enough to play in tonight’s game. Be wary with him if you like to avoid prior hurt players.
Bonus: Andre Drummond if Embiid is ruled out, Jarrett Allen if Evan Mobley is ruled out
GPP
Considering this game stays close, I like me some Jonas Valanciunas who will be going against one of the worst C defenses in the game right now. He will have no one to stop him defensively besides Derrick Favors, but the Thunder like to start Robinson-Earl who in no way can stop Valanciunas. Favors is still not a great defender so Jonas could have his way with him as well. 10+ RPG, 15+ PPG, 3 APG over his last 5. 45-50 point upside here.
BONUS: Daniel Theis, Kevin Love, Mason Plumlee
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