Point Guard
Jose Calderon (DK $3500, FD $3800, 15.4 USG)
I’m likely avoiding this route myself but with a small 5 game slate, these are the kinds of names that show up when looking for value. Luckily for us, these two teams met just last night and will do it all over again in NY this time, so we have ourselves a helluva reference point. Playing 37 minutes, Calderon scored 31 DKPTS on 11 points, 8 assists. I don’t think that’s likely to happen again but if he could give us even 22-23 DKPTS in tonight’s matchup, it’s worth the price tag. I know we preach minutes when it comes to basketball but when you have a USG% this low, it caps a lot of upside. For instance, if you were to tell me that a starting point guard has played back to back games of 33 and 37 minutes, priced under 4K and now gets to face the Bulls (who are very friendly to point guards), I’d be instantly interested. But with Calderon, his USG has been below 10% in each of those 2 games. The ceiling is really low. Worth noting though, he has had another 30+ DKPTS performance against this same Bulls team earlier this year (averaging 26.16 DKPTS) so maybe it is likely to happen again after all.
Shooting Guard
Austin Rivers (DK $3000, FD $3500, 18.8 USG)
I don’t know what to tell ya. I guess you can go with Afflalo here but that does nothing for me even with the near triple double last night. Before that, he only had one game above 20 DKPTS over his previous 5. I’m probably going no lower than Monta Ellis myself but the reason I threw Rivers in here is because he’s the bare minimum across the board and is averaging 22.35 minutes over his last 4 games. During that span, he’s averaging close to 20 DKPTS (19.28), which isn’t bad at all for $3000/$3500. Of course, you’d like more upside than that but unless you’re playing in a game with no Chris Paul, it’s not gonna happen for him. You could do a lot worse than a guy getting you over 6X’s value here.
(Side note: We’re not always content with 5X’s value when it comes to these minimum priced guys. You’re hoping for somewhere near 7X for a more balanced approach)
Small Forward
Al-Farouq Aminu (DK $3700, FD $4700, 16.8 USG)
This price is just so incredibly cheap on DK. I mean, there are a few value plays here when you consider the New Orleans guys (Babbitt and Cunningham) but I’m gonna talk about AFA here because of something that happened last night. I wrote up Cunningham a few days back when he was moved to PF, with Ryan Anderson out. Well, that happened with AFA last night, except it wasn’t because of an injury. Aminu is more of a stretch 4 than he is a 3 and Stotts finally pulled Vonleh out of the starting lineup to allow Aminu to play his natural position. If he sticks to that same philosophy tonight (no reason not to with how the Clippers starting 5 looks like), AFA will be in a lot of my lineups. Much like when I wrote about the reasoning in rostering Cunningham when he plays the 4, is the same here except Aminu is a better player than Cunningham. If you’re playing PF, you’re going to be playing closer to the basket, allowing yourself more opportunities for rebounds, blocks and steals. Getting that at usually a thinned out SF position is a luxury you want to take advantage of whenever you can. Not surprisingly, in his first game at PF last night, Aminu recorded double-digit rebounds for the first time since late January. What’s also working in his favor is that his minutes are trending back up playing back to back 35+ minute games. In the game that I’m expecting to be one of the best games to target, AFA should be locked into all your lineups if we get word early that he’s playing PF again.
Power Forward
Nikola Mirotic (DK $4400, FD $4700, 20.9 USG)
I swear to you that I’m not just chasing the points here. Although it doesn’t hurt that he just decimated this Knicks team last night with 9 3’s, it’s not the main reason he’s written up here. First, he’s still too cheap with the kind of upside he can bring to the table. Second, Pau Gasol is questionable to play this game and I’d be personally surprised if he does with how the Bulls have been treating their players as of late. If Pau sits, Mirotic instantly becomes one of the best values on the night with solidified minutes and a USG bump. And third, the Knicks have been getting destroyed by stretch 4’s as of late. Only the Bucks have given up more 3 pointers to PF’s over the last 3 weeks of play. I understand he’s been a rollercoaster as of late, as he’s rarely had back to back big games on the season but this matchup is really set up perfect for him, especially of Pau sits.
Center
Ian Mahinmi (DK $4800, FD $5000, 15.3 USG)
There are 3 choices here. Mahinmi, Plumlee or Asik. I wouldn’t hate of these guys in your lineups. I actually think Plumlee has the highest upside of the 3 but I’m absolutely in love with the position Mahinmi is in. The Pelicans are only behind the 76ers in fantasy points given up to opposing centers on the season and without Anthony Davis there, there’s even more room to eat. In his lone matchup against the Pelicans this season, Mahinmi scored his 3rd highest DKPTS total on the year with 40 (17 points, 10 rebounds). He’s played 30+ minutes in back to back games, so there’s no reason to worry about playing time and on top of that, the Pelicans are giving up the 3rd most blocks to centers over their last 3 weeks. Tonight might be a fine night to roster 2 of these 3 on DK and build around them.
Featured Image Credit: By Chris Green (Chrisg21090 at en.wikipedia) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
