Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 2/24/15

NBA! Post trade deadline. This is hard. But fun! Enjoy.

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Point Guards

Russell Westbrook - FD 11100 DK 11000 DFSTR 8300
Without Durant he is target numero uno. That much is clear. The other night against Denver he put up a 21/17/8 in 27 freaking minutes. That was good for an insane 54 FanDuel points in just over 75% of his normal minutes. Granted Denver sucks, but Russell just goes to another level when he is the big dog on the court. On a shorter slate (or really any slate) I don’t see a reason to get away from him even against a slower Indiana team. This one is rather easy in my mind.

Reggie Jackson - FD 4400 DK 4500 DFSTR 5000
He is now the Pistons’ starting point guard and should be treated as such. In his first game in that role he put up a 17/5/5 even with shooting below his career averages from the floor. As DJ Augustin proved, there is plenty of leeway in the Detroit offense for the point guard and I expect to see Jackson getting up a ton of shots. Kyrie is no defensive dynamo. Consider this Jackson’s team going forward. His price hasn’t caught up yet.

Strongly consider George Hill. And keep on eye on Stephen Curry as Shaun Livingston is moderately interesting.

Shooting Guards

For as much as I loved this position last night, I hate it tonight.

Klay Thompson - FD 7400 DK 8000 DFSTR 7000
This is mostly if Curry is out again. If Steph plays I’m downgrading him some. But with Curry out we saw what the Golden State offense was about: Klay chucking from the rafters. He put up 28 shots against the Pacers. That’s around 65% more than his season average in shots per game. My man is going to put it up there and if he’s the center point of the offense then you basically need to play him. Again, this is Curry dependent so keep an ear out for that leading into gametime.

Monta Ellis - FD 7200 DK 7100 DFSTR 6800
I should say that I don’t love this play and it is more from a dearth of value at the position than any real confidence in his expected value. Toronto is about league average against shooting guards on the season and Ellis is coming a tad cheaper thanks to some shaky performances. The shots, for the most part, have been there and that should continue. He needs to get the baskets to pay off. Again, I don’t love this value, but you will need to play someone here.

Rodney Stuckey - FD 5100 DK 4600 DFSTR 4700
I don’t trust it at all, but his last two games have been so good that I probably just had to mention him. He’s shot about 63% from the field over the last two games which of course is not sustainable. But he is still coming cheap so I suppose you can keep him on your radar.

Consider Dion Waiters

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Small Forwards

James Johnson - FD 4500 DK 4700 DFSTR 4300
The minutes are there everybody. I repeat: The minutes are there! This is all you need from a guy like Johnson, the security in knowing his opportunity won’t get jerked around. He got oodles of run last night and as long as he can stay out of foul trouble it looks like the Raptors will get him his minutes. He will be in every single one of my lineups tonight. I don’t think there is a bigger endorsement than that so I think we can just move on.

Richard Jefferson - FD 3800 DK 3500 DFSTR 3000
Al-Farouq Aminu - FD 4300 DK 4500 DFSTR 3000
These are the two guys directly benefiting from Chandler Parsons’ injury. Jefferson saw 33 minutes the other night and crushed his price with a 10/10/4 line. Aminu was bad but that doesn’t have me dissuaded too much. I think game flow and production will dictate the minutes for each guy. Which is why I’m a little bearish on Jefferson and bullish on Aminu. It’s fine running either but I wouldn’t just assume last game tells the story of their future production with Chandler sidelined.

Consider Lebron James but I don’t think he has huge upside

Power Forwards

If you thought shooting guard was bad, welcome to the terrible world of power forwards. Except for this guy:

Greg Monroe - FD 7700 DK 8100 DFSTR 7100
If the first game together was any indication of how he’d perform with Reggie Jackson in the fold, then we might be in for some good times ahead. Monroe went 15/15 and played a ton of minutes. The latter consideration is the biggest as SVG can always jack around a minute or ten. But if Monroe is in the rotation to stay as the Pistons make a playoff push then you are getting a huge bargain on him tonight.

Dirk Nowitzki - FD 6400 DK 6300 DFSTR 6900
Sort of falls into the same category as his teammate Monta Ellis in that I am not in love with playing him, but more an indication of positional scarcity. Dirk has seen a minor minutes drop over the last couple of games which is a bit concerning. But you will need to consider someone in this spot and our system has his minutes lower on the safe side and still likes his chance of hitting value.

Amir Johnson - FD 4700 DK 4300 DFSTR 4900
Eep. See what I’m talking about here? I don’t love it, but you are in a bind with the power forwards tonight. Barring some late news about a potential punt, there are very few ways to go. Amir is just kind of a warm body. How’s that for an endorsement?

Consider Serge Ibaka but he doesn’t have a great matchup.

Center

Enes Kanter - FD 6200 DK 6000 DFSTR 5400
Think he’s liking this trade? Is there anyone happier in all of the NBA right now? I suspect not. He’s stepped into the starting center spot and basically made sure everyone knows he’s happy to be there. Averaging a 15/12 in his first two (second game in only three quarters) and basically hitting the Thunder (DFS-wise) at the perfect time with Durant hitting the shelf. Bad matchup against Hibbert, but I’m buying on the price and the new situation.

Marcin Gortat - FD 5400 DK 5100 DFSTR 5700
Talk about a guy who’s all over the place. He hasn’t been able to maintain a consistent performance and that’s a problem when you considering playing him in cash games. It also doesn’t help that he can sometimes lose minutes down the stretch in the close games. That can sink his value. But he’s still coming cheaper and has big games in him.

Consider Roy Hibbert
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