Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard (0) drives around Utah Jazz guard Raul Neto, left, in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 59.36 DK - 62.59
He’s not going to win in all likelihood, but Lillard has at least entered the MVP discussion with his performance this season. He’s putting up massive numbers for a team decimated by injuries and currently without their second and third best players in CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. But they’ve won seven games in a row and over the last two weeks, Lillard is averaging 30 points and nine assists per game. On Sunday, he gets the best defensive matchup of the day against the Wizards (other than the Wiz against Portland) who rank 26th in efficiency and run the league’s fastest pace. This is a dream spot for Lillard.
Opponent - GS
Proj Pts FD - 47.32 DK - 48.49
We’ll probably be stacking up some Hornets once again in cash, this time against the Warriors. Charlotte is without Devonte’ Graham again which leaves them thin in the backcourt for this game. Ball has been starting regardless and logging heavy minutes, playing 37 and 39 in the last two respectively. In fact, dating back to 1/29 when the run really started increasing, he’s putting up 21 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals per game. That gets the job done at these prices and this is a pace-up matchup with the Warriors playing as the second-fastest team in the league.
Opponent - GS
Proj Pts FD - 39.81 DK - 41.31
Much like Lamelo Ball, Rozier has been asked to play a ton over the last few games, and from a fantasy perspective, it’s paying off. He’s taken 14+ shots in each of the last five games, and 49 total over just the last two. Rozier has put up an average of 33 points per game over the last three thanks to that volume shooting and he should see similar usage in this game against Golden State. The FanDuel price is particularly attractive whereas it’s getting a little closer on DraftKings thanks to the increase.
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 34.57 DK - 34.49
Things aren’t as appealing at shooting guard after Rozier, but there’s a case to play Wiggins here going back the other way against the Hornets. Charlotte has given up a lot of points over the last three games and are a little compromised on defense with their injuries. Wiggins has been getting a steady 14-15 shots per game when the Warriors can keep things close and will rebound the position ok on most nights. This isn’t a high upside play, but again, the position is on the weaker side.
Consider Tyrese Haliburton (FD 5400 DK 5800) if the Kings are short players again on Saturday.
Opponent - MIA
Proj Pts FD - 62.21 DK - 65.96
The Lakers are without Anthony Davis for a while now and that’s going to leave even more of the heavy lifting to Lebron James over this next stretch. With Davis off the court, James sees the usage rate go from 31% to 33% and the rebounds tick up as well. They were blown out by the Nets on Thursday, but in closer games, Lebron should push 36-37 minutes. Miami’s defensive numbers on the season look worse than reality because they’ve dealt with so many injuries and lost games due to protocols. But this is still a spot to take a high floor with Lebron in cash games.
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 26.46 DK - 25.89
Temple looks like he’s firmly in the starting lineup at this point and it's been paying off in terms of fantasy production. He’s played 30+ minutes in each of the last five games and is averaging 11 points, four rebounds, and a block per game in that stretch. It’s not overwhelming production, but it definitely works at these lower price points. The salaries really haven’t adjusted all that much for the new role and this is a great matchup against the worst defense in the league in the Kings.
Opponent - GS
Proj Pts FD - 34.08 DK - 33.66
Washington hasn’t played in a week so there’s some concern he has a minutes limit or some management on his run in this game. But the power forward position is pretty barren so we are unlikely to want to spend up here. There are other payoffs at point guard and small forward, so taking Washington at sub-$6K feels like a strong-ish play if he’s going to play 26-30 minutes. Keep an ear out for the Hornets’ plan around his minutes if they announce it.
Look, this position is really weak on this slate and there are some situations we are going to need to monitor leading into lineup lock. First off, the Kings were without Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes last game. That opened things up for Nemanja Bjelica (FD 5100 DK 4700) in a big way when he entered the starting lineup. That could be the case again here and he’d be a clear play.
Meanwhile, Frank Kaminsky (FD 4300 DK 4600) was put back in the starting lineup on Friday and still coming cheap. This hasn’t been a consistent thing so we will need some confirmation leading into the game or before lock.
As of this writing, we are in a really tough spot with centers. There is some injury news hanging out there and some starting lineup decisions we’ll need to hear about as well. But in general, this is going to be a tough position to fill on this slate. Let’s go through some of the options and why they are either problematic or have some question marks.
Cody Zeller (FD 5100 DK 6400) and Bismack Biyombo (FD 3500 DK 3600) are basically splitting time at this point which makes neither all that safe. Biyombo played more minutes last game, but Zeller is the starter. I’d say you can probably risk Zeller in cash on FanDuel but the ceiling might be really low. Bismack is super cheap, but there’s crazy risk on his minutes.
If Wendell Carter Jr. (FD 5800 DK 5100) could get the minutes limit increased some he’d be a solid option on DraftKings where he’s still coming pretty cheap. But there’s no official word on that right now and he seems locked into about 25 minutes per game.
Robin Lopez (FD 3800 DK 3500) didn’t start last game, but in typical Wizards’ fashion completely outplayed the starters in terms of minutes. This team is notorious for that which makes them a dice roll every game. But he’s at least coming cheap.
Hassan Whiteside (FD 5800 DK 4800) has as much upside per minute as any player in the NBA but the run is far from guaranteed. Even without Richaun Holmes last game he only played 14 minutes. The DraftKings price is much more palatable.
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