Point Guard
Dennis Schroder ($4700) – “German Chocolate” wants to start and the case that he’s making is loud.
“My goal is the starting spot. If it does not go forward next season, you have to talk to people and look for other opportunities,” Schröder said.
Those are the kind of quotes that you’re looking for as a DFS player. A guy that feels disrespected and will do whatever it takes to make the world feel otherwise.
[Play The $250K NBA Sharpshooter Tournament Tonight!]
Schroder scored a team-high 20 points off the bench in the Hawks season opener that most certainly raised some eyebrows around the league. Most DFS value plays are minutes dependent which always hampers cheap options like Schroder but at this point, I don’t care. He looked superior to All-Star PG Jeff Teague, getting to the rim at will. The matchup against NY is certainly a plus. I wouldn’t be surprised if he outscored Teague again, who costs $2200 more.
Shooting Guard
Rodney Stuckey ($4000) – Let me preface this by saying, Stuckey is a tourney play. I wouldn’t dare touch him in 50/50’s. Rodney finished with 16 points in 24 minutes off the bench on Wednesday. And this was with his shot being OFF. Vegas expects this game to be low scoring (O/U 186.5), so you have to take game flow into account but with smaller slates like these on our dashboards, we’re forced to gamble just a bit more than we’d like to. No better gamble than SG’s who always have the green light whether it’s a close game or not.
Small Forward
Derrick Williams ($3200) – The Knicks are assets waiting to be. They’re a high profiled franchise that’s been expected to win but have been poorly managed. When you’re in that state of mind as a team, you gamble. Not just for the sake of hitting the lottery, but for the sake of selling your fan base on finally being the team that gets the most out of promising young talents like Derrick Williams. We’re less than 4 years removed from Derrick Williams being selected 2nd overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Trust me when I say this, I use that stance in almost every argument I get into regarding highly drafted players. I’ll give you an example:
Friend: Why the hell are you so excited about _______?
Me: He was a top 5 overall pick! There must be some talent that goes along with that.
Friend: But he’s been in the league for 4 years and hasn’t done a thing to prove he belongs
Me: But he was a top 5 overall pick!
It’s irrational, I get it. But that’s the Knicks state of mind. This is why they go after guys like Andreas Bargnani. Having said that, they’ll play their guys because there’s no one else to play.
Williams scored 24 points in only 21 minutes of play on Wednesday. He’s gonna get his minutes and when he does, only Melo will be the guy in his way of taking opportunistic shots whenever he pleases. And at only $3200, you’ll gladly take that risk with his floor being so low.
Power Forward
Kristaps Porzingis ($4300) – Imagine an Andres Nocioni on adderall. I was watching this game on repeat tonight and thought to myself, “This guy is doing nothing well out there but he sure wants to let you know he’s out there. That’s what Nocioni was to the Bulls. A guy that would miss the open shot, commit a dumb foul and then argue anytime a foul was called, whether it was on him or a fellow teammate. As hilarious as those players are to watch, they actually provide some useful fantasy value. Porzingis made 9 out of 12 attempted free throws in only 25 minutes. If he’s going to continue to draw fouls at that rate, he might make value alone just on free throw makes. The best part is, NY doesn’t care. He had a terrible preseason and still got a starting gig on opening night. I could go on about the Knicks but I don’t have enough sugar in house to keep this column rolling.
Center
Ian Mahinmi ($3900) – Quick story about Mahinmi: Any time I had found out Roy Hibbert was out last year, the first thing I would do was check out how cheap Ian Mahinmi’s price was.
I’m trying to figure out a way to draw out Mahinm’s talents on paper and this is the best I can come up with: Rememeber that one awesome year Roy Hibbert had with the Pacers about 3 years ago? Okay, now imagine THAT Hibbert with Andre Drummond’s fouling tendencies.
This is the kind of game script to expect if you’re rostering Mahinmi:
11:45 Mahinmi gets offensive rebound
11:38 _____ makes 3 point shot. Mahinmi with the assist
11:22 Mahinmi blocks ______
11:18 Mahinmi gets defensive rebound
10:30 Mahinmi blocks shot
10:24 Mahinmi commits shooting foul
10:23 Mahinmi gets defensive rebound
10:20 Mahinmi gets called for offensive foul
So within the first two minutes, you’re looking at your lineups and getting excited because this guy you only spent $3900 on already has 3 rebounds, 2 blocks and an assist. Then you check back every 5 minutes and realize that he hasn’t done squat since because he’s been on the bench for the last quarter and a half sitting out with foul trouble.
It’s not pretty, but the point I’m trying to make here is it that with no Roy Hibbert, he can have a huge role moving forward as long as he stays out of foul trouble. Once again, on smaller slates like these, you have to take that risk once in a while
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