I hope everyone had a good and safe New Year. At the start of each New Year some people set new goals for themselves. In Daily Fantasy Sports we have the same goal year in and year out. Be profitable at DFS. The first step towards that goal is being smart with your bankroll. I recommend playing 50/50’s to get your bankroll up. Hope this article helps out too.
Note: I am not going to be writing about any of the Clippers. They play at home against the 76ers and are favored by 19 right now. We seen what happen when the 76ers played the Warriors on Tuesday. None of the starters played 30 minutes. Anyway, all the starters and 6th man Jamal Crawford are in an excellent spot but they may only get 3 Q’s at the most.
Point Guards
I like the spot Mike Conley is in at the Nuggets on Saturday night. With a O/U that opened up at 203 made me like this play a little more. Not to often we get a Memphis team in games with a O/U above 200. He has been super consistent the last 5 games. He is considerably cheaper than the high priced options at PG but brings the upside to do just as well or even better as the high priced PG’s.
Want to take a ride on the rollercoaster that is Derrick Rose? Personally I can’t get this guy right. Seems like I roster him on everyone of his down nights. A matchup against a Boston team that is second in the league in pace is a great spot for his skill set.
Trey Burke had a horrible shooting night on Friday. There is a cure for that. He gets to go up against the Timberwolves who rank 29th in the league in DEF. With Alec Burks out for the season, Burke’s usage has gone way up.
Shooting Guard
There isn’t much left to say about Jimmy Butler this year. His price has risen across the industry but still not up at the stud level he is playing at. By the numbers Boston has been good against SG’s and that’s because of Avery Bradley. I think Butler is matchup proof at this point. Butler has 5 inches on Bradley and is second in the league at getting to the line. We also know the minutes will be there too.
With Tony Parker and Kawhi Leonard already ruled out for Saturday night, Manu Ginobili finds himself in a nice spot at home against the Rockets. Ginobili isn’t a guy that is going to play over 30 minutes a game but that’s what I think keeps his price down across the site. Plus he gets to go up against James Harden who is way more interested in scoring than defense these days.
Gerald Henderson has seen his production rise with Al Jefferson on the shelf. We seen him be more aggressive on the offensive end. Not a bad value option.
Small Forwards
Gordon Hayward and Shabazz Muhammad play in the same game. Both team don’t defend the SF position well at all. Both teams rank near the bottom of the league in DEF. Both players are playing heavy minutes. Only thing different is their price points.
Evan Turner is a SF that is running the point and has a decent price across the industry.
I can’t believe I am going to say this but Tayshaun Prince has been playing well with Z Bo injured. He is seeing low 30’s minutes. If you need to fit in some studs you’re going to need a player around bare minimum price.
Power Forwards
I feel like a lot of the top PF’s are in good spots but are priced like it too. For example, Pau Gasol has a fantastic matchup against Boston’s undersized front court. He needs about 40 pts on Draft Day and 46 points on Draft KIngs to reach his cash game value. Gasol has only reached his value about 30% of the time the last 10 games. I’m not saying Pau or any of the other high priced PF’s can’t reach value but the odds aren’t with them. The price of these players sucks the any value out of them. With that said I don’t see any player I like under 5k on a site like Draft Kings.
Kenneth Faried has been a monster. He has destroyed his price point 4 out of the last 5 games. People tend to stay away from playing players against Memphis. If you look at the numbers Memphis has been middle of the road defending PF’s. Now two games ago Faried said he has dead legs and only played 21 minutes. Last game you would never know he had dead legs because he had 18 points and 19 boards. I hear across the industry that he is not the a cash game play. I see what they are saying but I wouldn’t fault you for using him in your cash games because of the upside he brings for the price.
Centers
There is nothing wrong with Dwight Howard’s matchup against the Heat. The problem I see is his high price tag. I think Dwight is the player being affected by the Josh Smith signing. I still don’t think this makes the Rockets a better team. In fact I think it makes the Rockets a worse team because you bring a cancer like Smoove in the locker room and it disrupts the team chemistry. As far as fantasy goes you just can’t pay that price. Look elsewhere at center on Saturday night.
If you’re going to pay up for center then look no further than Nikola Vucevic. Charlotte doesn’t have anyone who can defend his skill set without Big Al Jefferson in the middle.
Rudy Gobert will slide into the starting role with Enes Kanter ruled out for Saturday’s game. When Derrick Favors was sidelined earlier this year we seen what he can do. Think he is a fine play for the price.
Jusuf Nurkic has taken advantage of his increased playing time over the last two games. He is site dependent. Some sites increased his price squeezing the value out of him. Only consider him if he is close to bare minimum price
Don’t forget to check twitter for any late scratches and player news. As always you can catch me on twitter @realdaddybigs or leave a comment below. Good luck this weekend in your games.
