Point Guard
Jerian Grant (DK $3100, FD $3800, 19.0 USG) – You’ll notice a theme for the column today. If the dominoes fall like we’d expect and hope, you’re going to want to load up on Knicks players to be able to afford as many stars from the Rockets/Thunder game as you can. Last night, the Knicks sat Calderon (groin), Melo (knee) and Porzingis (illness) against the Raptors, which opened up tons of salary to fill out the rest of our rosters. You can only hope they do the same tonight, and I’d expect them to playing against the worst team currently in the league. I really see no reason to rush anyone back, going up against an injury riddled Suns team that have lost 8 out of their last 9 games. If Calderon sits, Jerian Grant should see about the same amount of playing time as he did last night (25 minutes) and is in a much more favorable position against PHO, who’s given up the second most fantasy points to PG’s on the year. Against the Raptors, he scored 13 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals for 30.5 DKPTS/28.8 FDPTS for (10 X’s value). As crazy as it sounds, that might be his floor against a much worse Suns team.
Worth noting on FD, Goodwin is still too cheap at $5000
Shooting Guard
Langston Galloway (DK $4000, FD $4100, 15.0 USG) – Galloway started for the injured Calderon last night ahead of Jerian Grant and played 31 minutes. In the start, he scored 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks for 23.8 FDPTS/24 DKPTS. Much like what was written above about Grant, Galloway will be in a much more favorable matchup against the Suns. I love the fact that he’s SG eligible playing PG, which is why we all fell in love with Archie Goodwin for so long before his price jumped to over 5K. But yeah, all the same reasons we love Jerian Grant apply to Galloway here and I wouldn’t be opposed to rostering both of them to be honest. Grant and Gallo costs you a $7100 combined on DK and $7900 on FD. You’re looking for about 35 to 40 fantasy points between them, which is likely in my opinion if Calderon sits.
Also with Kobe and Lou out tonight, Nick Young could see about 30 minutes, which intrigues me a bit.
Small Forward
Wesley Johnson (DK $3900, FD $4100, 16.1 USG) – So many reasons to love Wesley tonight. 1) Revenge game narrative going up against his former team 2) Amazing matchup against a Lakers team that gives up the 5th most fantasy points to SF’s 3) Potential for some serious garbage time 4) Still priced very cheap 5) Lastly, not a lot of value elsewhere at SF.
He really is in a great spot here, exceeding value in 3 out of his last 4 games. Seeing about 28 minutes lately since Clippers playing small ball and attempting lots of 3’s. You’re going to want to target some of the Clippers bench that could fill up the stat sheet in limited time. Lakers will get blown out in this one. Guys like Wesley Johnson and Cole Aldrich fit that description.
Power Forward
Kyle O’Quinn (DK $3000, FD $3500, 21.3 USG) – O’Quinn is Center eligible on FD, which makes him a bit harder to roster but on DK, bare minimum for a starting PF (If Porzingis is out) against the Suns (giving up 4th most fantasy points to PF’s over their last 10 games), I’ll have tons of exposure. O’Quinn actually had a pretty bad game last night and still finished with 25.5 DKPTS/24.7 FDPTS (over 8 X’s value). He was very active on the floor with 2 blocks, a steal and 13 field goal attempts, which is more than I can ask for at his salary (He led the team with a 33.6 USG%). He only played 19 minutes which kind of sucks but you see what he did with those minutes, so if he could get similar run against this awful Suns team, you’ll be more than satisfied with the results.
On FD, you really would have to go back to Derrick Williams at under 5K if Melo is out again
Center
Spencer Hawes (DK $4800, FD $4000, 17.0 USG) – Man, FD is just begging you to roster Hawes at 4K tonight. I don’t know why they’re being so stubborn with his pricing but you have to love the position he’s in. I’ve mentioned before in this column how much I don’t enjoy rostering Hawes, but he’s done more than enough with his newfound starting gig over the last week to consider him in matchups like this against the Blazers. Hawes has averaged .89 fantasy points per minute (playing 30.5 minutes) since starting (Jan 22), which ranks second on the team only behind Kemba Walker. Those numbers would have us project him for about 27 FP, but then you look at the matchup against the Blazers (giving up the 9th most fantasy points to centers), I’m expecting somewhere north of 30 FP. I’m really hoping people get turned off with his recent performance against the Jazz (17.5 FP’s), the worst of matchups for big men.
In closing, I’m going to do whatever I can to fit in Westbrook, Harden and Durant into my cash LU’s. I would highly recommend you try and do the same.
Featured Image Credit: By Chris Green (Chrisg21090 at en.wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
