Point Guard
Mario Chalmers (DK $4300, FD $4600, 22.6 USG)
It was just two days ago when these teams met in Memphis that I had suggested a plethora of Memphis value plays. Most of them failed to come through for us and I’m sorry for that but the reasoning was spot on and I don’t let one bad outing dictate what I do in future contests. Truth be told, I don’t see myself going this cheap at PG tonight but Chalmers can still provide solid value given the matchup against the Lakers. You can spend $900 more for D’Angelo Russell, who has a solidified role now and we saw what he just did to Memphis. The two things that concern me most about Chalmers is back to back games playing under 20 minutes and only attempting 3 field goal attempts against the Lakers on Wednesday. Sure, the assists were there but Chalmers’ fantasy production is usually dependent on his scoring. He came into that game scoring in double figures 5 games straight (also had a USG% of 47.6 in the game before against TOR). Those are the trends we’re usually looking for with these values and so when a guy like that gets a juicy matchup against the Lakers, we tend to jump all over it … for the right reasons. If he puts up a dud, so be it but at least it was an educated call. In DFS, you have to learn to trust the process.
Shooting Guard
Wesley Matthews (DK $4500, FD $4200, 17.5 USG)
Like the PG position, I’m likely to spend up just a little more here for maybe one of the Clippers SG’s but Matthews has the minutes and matchup going for him tonight. We love targeting the Denver backcourt as they’re 27th in DvP against SG’s and 25th against PG’s. It’s obvious that he doesn’t possess the upside that Chandler Parsons, Deron Williams or Dirk brings on offense, but we’ve seen him take advantage of favorable matchups before and he’s actually played pretty well as of late, scoring at least 23.5 DKPTS in 3 out of his last 4 games. I don’t mind the play at all, but just think some guys priced right above him are a bit safer on a night where SG is pretty thinned out.
On FD, E’Twaun Moore is my favorite SG to roster at only $4600.
Small Forward
Mike Dunleavy Jr (DK $3600, FD $3700, 16.5 USG)
As long as Derrick Rose and Jimmy Butler are out, MDJ is in play. He might honestly be in play even if Rose were to play tonight with how he’s looked as of late. His minutes have jumped up in 4 straight games to the point where he’s playing nearly 30 now. You have to remember that Dunleavy is playing his way back from back surgery, which is always a major thing, so the Bulls had to be cautious with his return. His first 4 games, he was slowed in, averaging 14.5 minutes a game. Now over his last 3, he’s averaging 25.33. The Bulls desperately need him and his shooting during this stretch run without guys like Butler, Mirotic and most recently Rose. As long as he has no setbacks, they’ll continue to ride him. The Hawks wing defense is something I’ve taken advantage of all year, without DeMarre Carroll there anymore so the matchup is decent. He’s still priced as a guy playing limited minutes so there’s no better time to take advantage than now, especially if Rose sits tonight.
Power Forward
JaMychal Green (DK $4200, FD $4200, 17.8 USG)
One value play from Memphis that didn’t disappoint us on Wednesday was JaMychal Green. Replacing Marc Gasol, Green has played perfectly fine over his last 4 starts. He’s getting about 24 minutes a game and now gets to face the same Lakers team he had success against on Wed. In that game, he was one rebound away from a the double-double bonus, for 25.8 DKPTS/24.8 FDPTS. We know how friendly the Lakers are to centers and you’re lucky enough to still get him at a pretty cheap price, so there’s no reason to back off now. If you wanna go a bit cheaper, Brandon Wright is back in the mix and costs $500 less. Wright has played at least 20 minutes in back to back games now since returning from injury and also had himself a game against the Lakers on Wed with 27 FPTS (15 pts, 6 rebounds and 2 blocks). It might not even be bad idea to stack both of them together. Together, they’ll cost you $7900. With that stack, you’re looking for about 40 FPTS combined to reach value. They totaled 52.8 on Wed. Just something to think about.
Center
Ian Mahinmi (DK $5000, FD $5000, 14.9 USG)
Mahinmi sits right at $5000 on both FD and DK tonight, so really no reason to look any lower. This guy has been underpriced all year if you ask me. He’s played over 30 minutes in every game since the all-star break, which is something we were hoping for all season. He has nice upside (45.3 DKPTS vs OKC, 40.0 DKPTS vs NO) and a pretty reliable floor. The matchup against Cody Zeller doesn’t intimidate me one bit. In the game before the all-star break, these two teams met as Mahinmi was still rounding back into from coming back from injury. He played 26 minutes and scored us 24 DKPTS/23.1 FDPTS. A couple more rebounds and a basket, he woulda had his double-double. Now if playing over 30 minutes in the same matchup, you’re looking at potentially 30+ FPTS which would return 6 X’s value. I think lots of people are going to be rostering Gortat tonight, which is totally fine and preferred but I really believe you can save yourself $1700 ($2000 on FD) on Mahinmi and get similar results. Especially if that game in Philly turns into a blowout (WAS -8.5).
Featured Image By Chris Green (Chrisg21090 at en.wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
