Point Guard
Patrick Beverley (DK $4500, FD $4800, 15.7 USG)
With the buyout of Ty Lawson, the Rockets have firmly put their fate in Patrick Beverley’s hands. Jason Terry can not play significant minutes at his age. In the Rocket’s last game against Milwaukee, Beverley played the second most minutes he’s played all year (37:50). The only game he played more minutes in went to OT against the Pacers. So this maybe a sign of things to come or maybe it’s just a fluke but either way, the Rockets get to face off against New Orleans tonight, a team that really struggles to defend guards (17th in DvP, 10th most points against). Now, obviously Harden is the guy with the ball in his hands most of the time but you’re still getting a starting PG, likely playing 30+ minutes in a game that has a beautiful 219 over/under for under 5K. Also in his favor is that he’s showed us already this season that he plays well against NO, averaging 25.77 DKPTS against them in 3 games. The ceiling certainly isn’t as high as we’d like it to be but he’s as safe as it gets in the lower tier. I’d also consider Jerryd Bayless against IND if Michael Carter Williams is ruled out.
Shooting Guard
Mario Hezonja (DK $3700, FD $3700, 17.4 USG)
If you follow me on Twitter, I mentioned that once Steph Curry and Andre Igoudala were ruled out, you were better off spending the $3500 on Livingston rather than Hezonja. I really hope took that advice because Hezonja was horrible against the Mavs, scoring only 5.5 DKPTS in 15 minutes. The Magic team as whole got Skile’d last night and should be low owned going into tonight’s contests so this is a matter of just trusting the process. Mario still has a lot of things going for him tonight. He’s still starting with Fournier doubtful again. He’s still incredibly cheap across the board. And lastly, the matchup is very favorable against a Bulls team that is reeling, awful at defending the SF position (23rd in DvP) and give up the 9th most threes in the league. This maybe the best time to actually roster him to be honest because of the dud he put up last night. If you’ve seen the way the Bulls have been playing defense as of late, you should consider this whole Magic lineup.
Small Forward
Jerami Grant (DK $4700, FD $5100, 17.1 USG)
This pick hinges on the availability of Noel or Okafor. No breaking news or anything but Philly is obviously tanking this season and have often rested Noel and/or Okafor on one end of back to back sets as of late. If one of them sits tonight, we go back to the Grant well one more time against Charlotte. Grant is really playing his ass off when he’s on the court and has now played back to back games over 30 minutes and killing value. He owns a ridiculous 4.8 block percentage against the Hornets, who get blocked 5.6 times a game (6th worst in the league). He’ll also be very popular after his last two outings, so if he has a huge game and you didn’t roster him, you’re gonna be behind the 8-ball early.
Power Forward
Bobby Portis (DK $4800, FD $4400, 21.8 USG)
Here’s a situation where you just eat the chalk and move along. With Taj Gibson doubtful against the Magic tonight, Bobby Portis will finally be freed and be unbelievably high owned. We’re going to finally see what Portis is capable of doing in 30+ minutes of action. Just for fun, we’ll look at his per 36 number to give us an idea of what to kinda expect. With averages of 15.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks, that would total 35.40 DKPTS/32.01 FDPTS. Also an added bonus, the Magic give up the 4th most DKPTS to PF on the year. This is as easy as it gets and if you’re not rostering Portis tonight, you’re doing it all wrong.
Center
Al Jefferson (DK $4800, FD $5300, 24.5 USG)
The reason he’s priced so cheap is because of the minutes, let’s just get that outta the way. I’m aware that his minutes are capped at around 25 lately. But even with those limited minutes, Jefferson should be able to feast on this Sixers front court. In the one game he faced Philly this season, he had a monster double double of 26 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks and that was in just 30 minutes (54.5 DKPTS). Even if you gave him only 22 minutes in this game, I believe it should be more than enough to reach value, considering the price tag. No one ever roster him anymore and it’s definitely not a cute play by any means so if you’re up to it, I wouldn’t hate it at all.
Featured Image Credit: By photo taken by flickr user ReneS (flickr) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
