Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 2/5/15

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Point Guards

J.J. Barea - FD 3900 DK 3400 DFSTR 3400
Barea has emerged as the clear starter here saw decent minutes last night really taking advantage of playing with the starting unit. If he can find his shot with that group, and dish out the assists to the other scorers then you have another awesome punt play on your hands. He is a high energy player that basically just needs the run to produce considering he can score and dish. The Mavs are in a solid matchup against the Kings who really aren't very good. With so many superstars going tonight I think you see Barea as a near universal start.

Brian Roberts - FD 4300 DK 4500 DFSTR 3100
It's going to be very tempting to go very cheap at point guard today. With such a short slate I think this is the position you can save. Though guys like John Wall and Goran Dragic are in solid matchups, the kind of value you get by essentially punting the position allows you to get money in decent in the frontcourt which is where I think you want to spend. Roberts, along with the two dudes above, is just that kind of guy. He isn't good. But he's playing minutes in the mid thirties as he's taken over for Kemba Walker. The price hasn't really moved, but he's come close to or hit value in three of the last four games as the starter. I'll put him out there again as a safer cash game play on the cheap.

Shooting Guards

Jamal Crawford - FD 5200 DK 5000 DFSTR 5300
Easily the top value at this position tonight. He should see heavy minutes again with Redick likely to sit out. He probably doesn't have insane upside at these prices simply because he'll be on the court for a bunch of time with other guys looking to get there's. But that being said, the minutes will keep his floor really high. The Clippers are really exposed when they lose even one piece. Look for Crawford's minutes to be in the low thirties, a significant bump over what he usually does coming in off the bench.

Monta Ellis - FD 7900 DK 7700 DFSTR 7500
I'll be rolling Ellis right along side Crawford tonight. He has his peaks and valleys for sure, but on a shorter slate you can seek out the solid matchups and Ellis has one against the Kings. Sacramento allows about 10% more scoring that league average to opposing shooting guards, which is a bad sign when you are facing Ellis. He can pour it on in a hurry and I expect him to handle a decent amount of the ball tonight as well.

Strongly consider Wesley Matthews

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Small Forwards

P.J. Tucker - FD 4600 DK 4200 DFSTR 4300
Yuck right? I agree. But the thing with Tucker is if you catch him in the right matchup, in the right type of game he can pay off big. His price is reflective of his inconsistency as he deviates pretty damn far from his mean on any given night. One reason for his big swings is that a lot of his value is wrapped up in steals which can be a pretty volatile way to go for value. It makes it a little scary especially if you choose to roster him over a Lebron or Rudy Gay. But our system really likes him in this matchup for the price. The minutes have been there and this game should be high scoring.

Nicolas Batum - FD 5600 DK 5000 DFSTR 5100
His game log actually looks a lot like Tucker's which is kind of nuts. The shooting has been gross, a possible byproduct of his wrist injury. He can contribute in many other ways besides scoring and his price has come way down thanks to some very shaky games. It's a price play for me with Batum and I'm willing to live with the varying performances.

You obviously have to consider Lebron James. There are a bunch of superstars going for such a short slate and you won't be able to play them all. Short of some other cheap options showing up elsewhere tonight, I will have some, but not tons of exposure to him tonight.

Power Forwards

Blake Griffin - FD 9600 DK 9400 DFSTR 8800
I think this is the position you are going to want to spend at today. In what surely will be an entertaining game, Blake draws a favorable matchup against Kevin Love. Cleveland has allowed worse than league average scoring and assists to opposing power forwards. Those just happen to be two areas in which Blake excels. He passes as good as any four in the league and his all around game should keep his floor very high in this game. He'll be a mainstay in my cash game lineups tonight and should be able to excel in this one.

Kevin Love - FD 8300 DK 8400 DFSTR 7400
On the other side of the ball, I'm willing to roll with Love tonight as well. I think the game flow will help him and the Clips don't exactly lock down opposing big men. Love's game is a little non traditional for a four of course, but I think he'll be able to get some three point looks for sure and may be able to rebound a bit more than normal. He isn't a tiptop value on this slate, but I think he falls in a range that you can count on his points.

Nene Hilario - FD 5300 DK 4700 DFSTR 5200
If he's going to push up against thirty minutes then he makes a really solid points per dollar play against a weaker Hornets' squad. I'm not enamored with any of the other Wiz tonight, but Nene is coming real cheap in a bunch of spots and is interesting. If you end up spending at another position he provides a great deal of salary relief for solid production.

Consider Dirk Nowitzki

Center

DeMarcus Cousins - FD 11100 DK 10600 DFSTR 9200
You are going to have to pay for him. That's for sure. And he doesn't have the best matchup in the world going against Tyson Chandler. But the case for Boogie is simple: the rest of this position is pretty terrible. It's full of low-minutes/ offensively-challenged centers in not-so-great matchups. It really comes down to what kind of savings you can get elsewhere and I think it'll be available. The one other I love about Boogie is that his minutes are there almost no matter what it happening to the Kings. As long as he can stay out of foul trouble, he plays. The other night the Kings got waxed by Golden State and Boogie played 42 minutes. There's a lot of safety in that.

Marcin Gortat - FD 5300 DK 5000 DFSTR 5700
Somewhat broke out of the funk he was in last night going 14/9/2 in about thirty minutes. He'll square up against Al Jefferson so foul trouble could be an issue. But Gortat, much like Nene, is coming so very cheap that you almost have to consider him independent of matchup. He can definitely double/ double if his now-shaven head's in the game.

Consider Robin Lopez

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