Point Guard
Ish Smith ($4800, 23.49 USG) – Yes, I’m aware Ish was my value play last night at PG. I wrote about him with the hope that Jrue Holiday would be sitting. Holliday ended up playing and Ish still scored 43.4 DK points (17 points, 12 assists, 3 rebounds, a steal and a block) in only 27 minutes. Well tonight, we’re going to have a little more certainty of the play. Anthony Davis (hip contusion) and Jrue Holiday (rest) are both doubtful against the Hawks. Smith and Ryan Anderson are going to be very popular picks tonight. Only concern here is a blowout with Atlanta being favored by 11 but both should still log big minutes with all the injuries the Pelicans are dealing with.
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Shooting Guard
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson ($3200, 11.14 USG) – Ever since being inserted into the starting lineup, Hollis-Jefferson has not disappointed. He’s scored 24.3 DK points (8X value) in both games and his price has yet to catch up to him. Wanna know a little secret? The Nets are kinda obsessed with RHJ. They had him pegged as a lottery pick and he kept falling to the point where they felt the need to make a trade for him with the 23rd overall pick. It’s starting to pay off.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Lopez are the #Nets best two-man lineup. +23 in 69 mins. 12 pts better on O per 100 poss, 18 pts better on D
The #Nets are -23.5 when RHJ is off the court, by far the worst mark. He is also the only Net with a positive +/- when on the floor, +5.6.
Everything I love in a value pick is here: Near minimum salary, favorable matchup (HOU 23rd against SG’s), starting with minutes trending up. Easy call if you ask me.
Small Forward
Jerami Grant ($4100, 17.82 USG) – I don’t want to seem too repetitive or else I’d probably be writing about James Johnson again. One of my favorite ways to free up salary today is playing both Johnson and Grant in the SF and F slots. Nerlens Noel has already been ruled out for tonight, so Grant should get an uptick in minutes. He played 29 min (most of the year) against CHI on Monday when Noel sat and should see near the same against TOR. He’s a jack of all trades but a master of one . . . blocks. Grant is averaging 2.5 blocks over his last 4 contests. He’s the leader amongst all SF’s and does it in only 25 min a game. Both Johnson and Grant will be going up against one another today making the combo play even more fun to watch.
Power Forward
J.J. Hickson ($4200, 23.06 USG) – Congrats if you played Hickson against Portland on Mon. You likely won some money. In 30 min, he put up a monster double/double (19 points, 13 rebounds, 3 blocks) scoring 44.3 DK points. Joffrey Lauvergne (back) has already been ruled out for tonights game against MIL likely sliding Hickson back into the starting lineup. There’s so much value on tonight’s slate that I don’t want to call anyone a must play but he’s pretty dang close.  I know most of the DFS world will be on Ryan Anderson with Anthony Davis being out so this could be a great way to be contrarian. Anderson burned a lot of us last year every time Davis sat, so he’s not a crazy fade at all. Hickson is averaging 20.2 points, 11.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per 36. If he gets the minutes we’d expect him to get, you’re looking at a huge return on investment.
Center
Dewayne Dedmon ($4800, 12.25 USG) – Personally, the hardest decision of the night for me to make. I still have no idea what to do at center. I wanna pay for both Drummond AND Boogie. With Nerlens Noel out, I wanna play Okafor. I love the DeAndre Jordan narrative of him coming back to Dallas. All of these choices are so appealing, but Dedmon makes the most sense. Vucevic (knee) is doubtful for tonights contest against the Lakers.Â
Los Angeles ranks near the bottom (27 out of 30) in defense vs. position against opposing centers with an average of 50.95 fantasy points per game. It makes your night so much easier whenever the Lakers play. Just scroll until you see who’s playing against them. Only thing that ever worries me with Dedmon is foul trouble. Roy Hibbert is not the type of guy that will draw fouls so you should be safe. I think ultimately, I’ll end up using Dedmon at C and pairing him with Boogie in my UTL spot.
Featured Image Credit: By photo taken by flickr user ReneS (flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
