Point Guard
Norris Cole (DK $5000, FD $5100, 21.6 USG), Toney Douglas (DK $3200, FD $3500, 17.5 USG)
This is the contest that offers the most fantasy goodness on the night. As of now, I have 4 or 5 guys from this game in a majority of my lineups. The story to monitor closely is the availability of Norris Cole. He’s currently listed as a game-time decision. So here’s how to go about it: If he’s playing, he provides great value for this depleted Pelicans backcourt at only 5K against a Kings team that gives up the 3rd most fantasy points to opposing PG’s. If he’s out, just lock and load Toney Douglas for nearly the bare minimum, as he should draw the start. This game owns the the highest over/under on the night at 220 so as many pieces you can fit in, the better.
Shooting Guard
J.J. Redick (DK $4900, FD $4700, 22.3 USG)
This is simply a play based on salary relief. I don’t like any of the SG options under the 5K range tonight to be honest. I’d much rather spend up just a bit more for someone like Fournier in a much better position. The thing with Redick though is that his price has just really come down across the industry. He was just in the mid 5K range a couple weeks ago but a few so so performances in great matchups has soured people from rostering him lately, hence the price drop. He’s still playing minutes in the 30’s, continues to shoot a decent amount of shots and is playing in a game with a 210 over/under. The thing to watch closely though is the other side of the ball. Dallas is playing their second end of a back to back after a tough overtime loss to Denver. We’ve seen Rick Carlisle rest veterans in this spot before so Redick might be seeing Raymond Felton defense for all we know. Speaking of Felton defense, if he’s starting for a rested player tonight, he’d be someone to consider as well.
Small Forward
Jeff Green (DK $4700, FD $5100, 19.0 USG)
With Mbah a Moute out again tonight, Jeff Green should continue to draw the start and is still priced as a bench player. Green has had 3 starts with the Clippers this season. He scored 30.3 DKPTS against ATL, 31.3 DKPTS against SAC and only 5 DKPTS against OKC. The game he had against the Thunder was just brutal. He was 0-7 from the field and only had 2 rebounds, 2 assists. Wesley Johnson was the far superior player on the night so Doc Rivers rode the hot hand. Personally, I’d throw that game out the window and focus on the other 2 starts to get a better idea of what to expect. I don’t particularly like the matchup (Dallas is 10th in DvP) but this is a play based on price and opportunity and again, if Dallas rest some guys, this matchup might actually be one to exploit.
Power Forward
JaMychal Green (DK $3700, FD $3700, 18.1 USG)
I really don’t think Coach Joerger likes Green much. He’s had every opportunity to start him over the last month but still finds ways to keep him on the bench. Having said that, he’s running out of options because now the Grizzlies will likely be without Chris Anderson (shoulder). They’ll likely place newly signed Ryan Hollins as the starting center against the Cavs tonight but he’s barely playing. Green has seen 20 plus minutes in 3 straight now and 24 in their last game against the Suns. Indeed, the Suns are not the same matchup as the Cavs, but CLE plays big a lot. Green should see his fair share of minutes regardless and let’s be honest, this game should get ugly eventually giving Green some garbage time minutes to clean up. At his price, he won’t be able to kill you as much as when he was near $4500.
Center
Omer Asik (DK $3000, FD $3500, 10.6 USG)
Now that Omer Asik is back for NO and Ajinca is out indefinitely, Asik makes for a very fine punt at the minimum across the board. The Pelicans won’t have the luxury of playing Brow and Anderson together for long when Boogie is on the other side of the court. They’ll need Asik to play as long as possible, whether he gets into foul trouble or not and for his price, you could do a lot worse. To back that up, Asik has averaged 27.25 DKPTS in 2 games against this Kings this season and about 28 minutes (which is a lot for him). There’s actually a chance we might see 30 min of Asik tonight against a Kings team that gives up that 12th most fantasy points to centers. He’s burned me a couple times this season but even that won’t stop me from considering him in this spot.
Featured Image Credit: By Chris Green (Chrisg21090 at en.wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
