Welcome to Tristan’s NBA Game Theory (12/29)! 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 |
| M. Monk | N. Little | N. Vucevic | CHI/ATL |
| D. Booker | C. Johnson | I. Zubac | CHA/IND |
| J. Ingles | J. Smith | M. Plumlee | LAL/MEM |
| P. Pritchard | K. Porzingis | J. McGee | LAC/BOS |
| D. Bane | C. Anthony | L. Garza | OKC/PHX |
*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 almost New Year!!! A ton of news to get through tonight in a 8 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.
HEAT vs SPURS GOT POSTPONED!
Guards
Cash
First guard I’m looking at for both cash games and GPPs is Malik Monk. Since he’s re-joined the team, he has taken on a huger responsibility scoring wise and collects more peripherals than his season averages. He also plays defense and can accumulate those defensive stonks as well. He hopped right in the starting line-up and played 35 and 40 minutes one after the other. Of course, Wayne Ellington comes back tonight but I don’t think that changes much for his role besides a few less minutes. He still will be needed to score and has looked like a threat on “both sides of the floor” – word to Fizdale. 4k is so cheap for a player that can put up 30 in this spot against a Memphis defense that gives up at least 10th most to SGs. High floor, high ceiling.
Devin Booker is someone I’m looking at in a cash standpoint because of his bump in usage and his role without DeAndre Ayton present. He has to take on more of a scoring role for this team and gets a very easy matchup against the Thunder who are on a b2b and are missing a few as well. Blowout does scare me here but I don’t believe the game will get out of hand to the point where starters won’t play the 4th. OKC gives up a ton of points to SG as well.
GPP
Joe Ingles goes from a 13.5 usage rate to a 17.7 usage rate which is more than a 4% increase in usage. Not only that, but without Donovan this season he averages 18 pts from 8.1 as well. He is more relied on being a scorer with Donovan out, and it shows because of his increase in 3PA as well. He plays 30 minutes without Donovan and gets inserted into the starting line-up. If he’s able to put up more of a complete game, you can see 30 from him at 4k.
Forward
Cash
Nassir Little is on my radar tonight once again as he is going to play HUGE minutes with a huge usage bump because they are missing so many guys. He had 48 DKP last game against Dallas in a high scoring affair, and we could see the same here as they are still at home and playing against a UTA team missing their best player in Donovan Mitchell. I do see Utah winning this and there potentially being a blowout here, but Portland is at home and Dame has been looking really nice as of late, so it should stay competitive. He puts up more shots than ever with all these players being out, stonks are basically ever game, and he rebounds really well. Larry might have his handful with Gobert so he will be counted on to rebound more.
Without DeAndre Ayton in the line-up as well as Jae Crowder, we have seen Cam Johnson been inputted into the starting line-up. He started off with a terrible 0-5 1st Q but bounced back nicely, ending on 6-13 shooting going 4-10 from 3. This is important because of the 3PA, which as we all know on DK there’s a boost for 3 pt makes. He rebounds the ball well and also has the chance to pick up stonks which further pushes his upside. Playing 36 minutes last game is very promising as well. Love him here for 4.6k, high floor high ceiling.
GPP
Jalen Smith is who I’m looking at for a low priced player that can get you 25 in a nice spot against a bad team. He will play blowout or not, and to be honest a blowout helps his situation. I don’t believe McGee will be playing in a blowout, and even so McGee looks bad at times so they instantly sub in Green. He can hit the 3 which helps in DK scoring, and can rebound the ball well. He presents a good amount of upside in this matchup without DeAndre Ayton, and can hit a super ceiling game if he shoots really well and puts up his stonks.
Center
Cash
I am looking at Ivica Zubac in this match-up against two Boston bigs where one of them stays on the floor at all times. Isaiah Hartenstein will be out, which most likely solidifies Zubac’s minutes on the floor. His time got cut short last game because his match-up vs Claxton wasn’t ideal for them as well as the blowout. They played Ibaka instead, which they still can do but it’ll be tough to only run Ibaka against 2 bigs. He put up 33.5 DKP against them last time as well. In this case, he will have more usage.
GPP
Mason Plumlee without PJ Washington is very nice to see. He doesn’t have to compete with PJ for his minutes which puts him on the floor for longer. He can do it all from pass, rebound, and score if he’s in the paint. In his past, he was a near triple double type of guy just falling short many times on a 3×2. In this role for the Hornets, he doesn’t pass as much because they have a few ball handlers, but he can still rebound well. He will be needed against the two bigs of Sabonis and Turner against Indiana, so I believe he will see around 28-30 minutes at a minimum. His price tag of 4.5k is nice as well, leaving it up to him to produce in the minutes he will have.
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