Point Guard
Zach LaVine ($3900, 27.00 USG) – LaVine is only in play if Rubio (hamstring) sits again. It’s a situation worth monitoring because LaVine always starts and excels in Rubio’s place when given the opportunity. LaVine had an off night on Thursday (13 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assists) against the Warriors and still managed to reach value. On Tuesday night against the Hornets, LaVine scored 38.8 DK points (20 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists) in the start, so you can see the upside here. The Wolves have a low team total of 94.8 so most of their higher priced guys are risky options but on a night where Russell Westbrook is the chalk at $11,600, you just have to love players this cheap that have a chance to go off.
Honorable Mentions: Cory Joseph, Shabazz Napier
Shooting Guard
Marco Belinelli ($4200, 18.8 USG) – Maybe my favorite value play of the day. Whenever one gets burned by a player, it’s so hard to trust him again . . yet alone the next game. Belinelli was popular cash saver on Wednesday night against the Pistons. He was coming off of back to back stellar games (30.3, 25.8 DK points) getting a huge boost in minutes (33.5) due to injuries to Darren Collison and Seth Curry (both likely out again). The following night, he put up a dud scoring only 9 points and not a single assist, rebound, steal or block in 28 minutes. Well tonight, he’s going up against a Nets team who are ranked 29th in the NBA against opposing shooting guards allowing 38.6 fantasy points per game. The Kings themselves have a healthy team total of 106.3 so you know the points are there to be had. Everyone will be off him making this a great GPP pick but also a fine cash play.
Honorable Mentions: Nik Stauskas, C.J. Miles
Small Forward
James Johnson ($3700, 11.6 USG) – Just slot him in and move on. Never a sexy pick but always a reliable one. As mentioned above, you’re gonna need so find a few of these low priced guys to play when rostering Westbrook and a couple other studs of your liking. I’d be completely shocked if DeMarre Carroll plays (plantar fasciitis). Terrance Ross (thumb/wrist) will likely be out another 2 weeks meaning James Johnson will continue get big minutes. I’ve mentioned him nearly every game since the Carroll news broke and there’s really no reason to stop when still being priced under $4000. A lock in all my cash games.
Honorable Mentions: Omri Casspi, Bojan Bogdanovic (if starting)
Power Forward
Ed Davis ($4100, 11.9 USG) – Ed Davis is listed as the starting PF with Myers Leonard (shoulder) already being ruled out for tonight’s contest against the Grizzlies. As encouraging as that looks on paper, Terry Slotts has already hinted he might use a committee approach to replace Leonard’s minutes. I could easily see a scenario where Al-Farouq Aminu is used as a stretch 4 at times but you still can’t deny the extra minutes to be had for everyone and most notably, the listed starter (going up against his former team). Averaging .90 fantasy points per minute, he’s a solid bet to reach and even exceed value.
Honorable Mentions: Channing Frye (starting), J.J. Hickson
Center
Roy Hibbert ($4800, 13.9 USG) – I’m not a fan of going this cheap at the center position tonight. I’d recommend trying to fit in guys who are a tad more expensive like Kanter, Pachulia or even M. Gasol (only $6700!). Hibbert gets the nod here mainly because of opponent and recent production. Having scored 31 and 39 DK points in 2 out of his last 3 games, he draws a matchup against a Dallas team that gives up an average of 42.19 fantasy points per game to opposing centers. It doesn’t hurt as well that this game has the second highest over/under on the night at 211.
Honorable Mentions: Ian Mahinmi, Steven Adams
Featured Image Credit: By photo taken by flickr user ReneS (flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
