Point Guard
Patty Mills ($4100, 18.5 USG) – Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge have both been ruled out for tonight’s game against the Jazz meaning Mills is likely to start again. His results on Monday against MIL were underwhelming but he still exceeded value with 19.8 DKPTS. The game against UTAH will be very low scoring as both teams are in the bottom 5 in pacing but I still like Mills in this matchup. The Jazz will still be without Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert and their defense has been lacking as of late. There should be more field goal attempts without Aldridge as well. You don’t want too many players from this game but one or two (see way below) isn’t a terrible idea.
Shooting Guard
Devin Booker ($4300, 17.3 USG) – Just throw the game against the Lakers out the window. That was one of the worst performances by a team all year. Everyone was benched for long periods of time. You look at the two games before (averaged 28.05 DKPTS) and notice the huge amount of minutes Booker had been playing, then you see that the Hornets have given up the 3rd most fantasy points to shooting guards and things start to look up. CHA are only 3 point favorites so don’t expect a blowout and expect Booker to continue with his fair share of playing time.
Small Forward
James Johnson ($3200, 15.8 USG) – Going up against LeBron James and the Cavs is one thing, going up against a Nets team who are 23rd in DEF EFF is another. James Johnson was thrown into the fire on Monday starting for the injured DeMarre Carroll (knee)and was very popular. He was 50% owned in 50/50 games and let all of us down who rostered him. Well, recency bias can either kill you or you can use it to your advantage. I’m usually on board with the latter. If Jimmy Johns is starting again against these Brooklyn Nets, the matchup is a very favorable one for him as the Nets are 20th in DvP against SF’s. For nearly the bare minimum, I’m very interested. Remember what this guy is capable of when starting. In 2 games starting a few weeks back against Miami and Sacramento a few weeks back, he averaged 32 minutes and 27.15 DKPTS.
Power Forward
Dwight Powell ($3600, 18.3 USG) – Ok so here’s the thing: The Dallas Mavericks are sitting nearly their entire team tonight. They’re going to be extremely thin against the Pelicans. They’ll be without Deron Williams, Wes Matthews, Dirk Nowitzky, Zaza Pachulia and Chandler Parsons is questionable. Yeah, this is going to be a very interesting game. The Pelicans are still single digit favorites despite this news so it’s something we shouldn’t be too afraid of in terms of it becoming an absolute mess. I think this game is the key to everything tonight. 3 guys produce more than a fantasy point per minute without all the resting Mavericks: J.J. Barea (1.18.), JaVale McGee (1.31) and Dwight Powell (1.13). Those three are the ones I’m most likely to be on and if anything, this makes Anthony Davis almost as exciting to roster as Russell Westbrook if Durant sits.
Center
Jeff Withey ($4600, 15.2 USG) – This maybe the last time I can recommend using Withey with the looming return of Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert. It’s not the greatest matchup but DraftKings is still severely undervaluing him. This guy is producing like a $6200 player and priced under 5K. He’s averaging 32.48 DKPTS over his last 5 games and getting plenty of run doing so. He’s playing 30+ minutes in blowouts if that was to a concern of yours. The Spurs will be without Tony Parker and LaMarcus Aldridge so maybe there’s a chance the Jazz keep this one close till the end. As mentioned above, I’d do my best to avoid rostering too many players from this game but Withey has just been too good to pass up lately.
Featured Image Credit: By photo taken by flickr user ReneS (flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
