Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis dribbles during the first half of a preseason NBA basketball game against the Golden State Warriors Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 54 DK - 57.14
Lebron James is sitting out again on Saturday and the Lakers might be in trouble. They are coming off a loss to the Thunder on Thursday and have real issues with their lineup. But from a fantasy standpoint, we don’t care all that much about those problems. Westbrook is in line for a lot of usage again after taking 23 shots last game. He was inefficient (10-23 from the field) and turned the ball over, but the floor is just still so high without James in the lineup. He’s a much better price on FanDuel where he’s a tough fade. The DraftKings price is a bit of a stretch though and there are other value plays in the top tier on this slate so I don’t think he’s a must.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 41.65 DK - 44.53
Paul has been a popular option over his last couple of games and been amazing in that stretch as well. He’s put up 13 and 18 assists games over the last two and has 10 steals combined over his last three. The price on both sites isn’t all that close to reflecting his current minutes’ status after getting buzzed off some run earlier in the year. The Suns implied 115 points is, by far, the highest on the slate. This is still a shot to buy on Paul.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 33.22 DK - 34.34
Jaylen Brown has already been ruled out of this game meaning we are going to get some value from the Celtics on this slate. The last time Brown missed a game, Schroder played 33 minutes and took the second-most shots on the team with 14. He finished with 18 points to go with five rebounds and five assists. The price has come down since then because the Celtics have been fully healthy. But I think we can go back to him here because of the opportunity now available with Boston’s second-highest usage guy on the shelf.
Opponent - BOS
Proj Pts FD - 28.86 DK - 31.92
We might not have total clarity on this situation come lineup lock considering that Kristaps Porzingis is currently questionable, but it is something we are going to want to monitor. Brunson has been getting the starts with Staps out and last game turned in a slate-breaking performance against the Spurs. He finished with a whopping 31 points, 10 rebounds, and three assists. He basically out-Luka’ed Luka in this one and took over portions of the offense. The price is way too low on both sites if he’s still in the starting lineup against the Celtics. With this game starting an hour after lineup lock, we might not have all of the news on Porzingis at that point.
If Kyle Lowry were to sit then Tyler Herro (FD 6400 DK 6900) and Jimmy Butler (FD 10000 DK 9500) instantly become excellent plays.
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 24.85 DK - 28.03
The Sixers could be playing very shorthanded again on this slate. They were already without Tobias Harris and now are missing Matisse Thybulle as well. They could get Danny Green back, but Niang has been soaking up a lot of minutes off the bench in the last couple and been effective from a fantasy perspective. In the last three games, he’s played more than 31 minutes per and is averaging 18 points and five rebounds. And it’s encouraging how much usage he’s seen, putting up nine three-pointers a game in that stretch. The price has come up some, but not all the way for his opportunity.
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 22.6 DK - 24.79
He has to score to hit value, but we are going to need to find some cheaper plays on this slate. That’s because there are so many top-tier options in excellent spots. Punting away a position or two is going to be in the cards. Hunter is coming very cheap on DraftKings especially and is putting up double-digit shot attempts on the season. Again, most of his fantasy value is wrapped up into knocking down the three-pointer so there is some risk here. But not a ton considering he is coming so low on the salary scale.
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 57.13 DK - 58
In the three games that Lebron James has missed this season, Anthony Davis has been among the best fantasy players around. He’s played more than 39 minutes a game (one was an OT) and is averaging 31 points, 14 rebounds, and two blocks. He should be in line for a massive line once again this time around facing off against the Blazers who are a bottom-third defense on the season. I suspect Davis is one of the chalkier plays on the slate and that isn’t exactly a stretch to say that.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 49.1 DK - 52.69
Tatum is the other big beneficiary of Jaylen Brown being out of the lineup on Saturday. Over the last year, Tatum has a 31% usage rate, but it climbs to 34% when Brown is off the court. So from an opportunity perspective, this is just the right spot. But Tatum has struggled this season, shooting 27% from three (career 39%) and his overall scoring is way down (just 37% from the field) despite a lot more shots. He’s another superstar that has had issues getting started out of the gate. But it’s also keeping his price moderately in check.
Opponent - DAL
Proj Pts FD - 41.08 DK - 42.31
Horford isn’t playing with the same minutes restrictions as earlier in the season and has been very solid from a fantasy perspective in the short term. He’s averaging 14 points and 10 rebounds over his last three games while also randomly losing minutes to some foul trouble and blowouts in the last two. His per-minute stats are excellent on the season and he should see a slight uptick in usage and time on ball with Brown out of the lineup.
I think you can still consider Robert Williams III (FD 5700 DK 5700) here even though his fantasy lines have been nothing to write home about since Al Horford got fully back into the mix.
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