Point Guard
D’Angelo Russell ($4800, 22.2 USG) – After seeing what the Spurs did to the 76ers this week, it’s going to be hard to have faith in rostering anyone for this game. The Spurs are 15.5 point favorites tonight. I would be shocked if the Lakers somehow kept this close for more than a quarter. So we’re expecting garbage time, right? This could mean a nice bump in minutes for D’Angelo Russell since his move to the bench. Also, Jordan Clarkson is questionable for tonight making the case for Russell even more compelling if Clarkson is out. If all goes like I presume it goes (with JC out), Russell should get about 33 min and playing a bit of that time against the Spurs “B Team”. Tonight is a night that I’m going to try and roster 3 stud PG’s honestly (Lillard, Wall and Jackson) because all the cream is at the top for this slate. I’d recommend doing something similar
Shooting Guard
Allen Crabbe ($3600, 16.4 USG) – This seldom used 3rd year guard has finally carved out a role for himself on the bench for Portland. Crabbe has quietly averaged 28.4 minutes a game over his last 5, averaging 14.6 ppg in that span (49.1 FG%). He’s overtaking most of Moe Harkless’ playing time and running with it. Now this is Terry Scotts we’re trying to trust here, so it’s quite possible that Crabbe plays only 8 min tonight (I’m kidding, but maybe I’m not?). I love this matchup against Phoenix (3rd highest over/under on the night), so this would be a nice way to get some cheap exposure to it.
Small Forward
Mirza Teletovic ($4300, 18.4 USG) – How has his price not shot up by now? Mirza has put together a nice stretch of fantasy production and Draft Kings still has him priced as low as T.J. Warren, Luol Deng and Jared Dudley. I don’t care what happens with Tyson Chandler (whether he plays tonight or not), Teletovic is here to stay in this Suns rotation. With the exception to the game against Washington on Dec 4 (only played 7 minutes), he’s been crushing value over the last 2 weeks while playing solid minutes. As mentioned above about Crabbe, Mirza provides a cheap way to get some exposure to one of the highest expected scoring games of the night
Power Forward
Luis Scola ($4500. 20.1 USG) – Just like I do when looking at point guards facing New Orleans (Hellooooo John Wall) or shooting guards going up against Sacramento, I love picking on the Bucks defense against PF’s (gives up 48.3 DK points a game). This brings us to Scola. To be honest, Scola has disappointed me a bunch since Valenciunas’ injury. I thought he’d shoulder more of the offensive load down low and be playing more minutes but Dwane Casey has chosen to play a lot of small ball instead. But I think in this spot here, playing around 25-30 min is enough to warrant consideration considering how awful Milwaukee is defensively in the paint.
Center
Kelly Olynyk ($4200, 22.0 USG) – Olynyk has had a nice little stretch over his last four games scoring at least 15 points in 3 of them and averaging 27.58 DK points. The three games I’m trying to have most exposure to tonight are the Suns/Blazers, Wizards/Pelicans and Warriors/Celtics. This game has the highest over/under on the night at 216.5 and GS are only 6 point favorites so Vegas is expecting this one to stay pretty close throughout (If Klay Thompson sits for this one, it’s going to be really hard not to pay up for Curry). I think this is the kind of game that Olynyk becomes really useful in. Boston is going to have to keep up with GS and Olynyk’s shooting should keep him on the court as he creates much better spacing than Sullinger or Johnson.
Featured Image Credit: By photo taken by flickr user ReneS (flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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