Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young (11) is shown against the Orlando Magic in the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2019, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
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Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 54.88 DK - 60.09
It’s going to be tough choosing among the three big guards on this slate and there’s almost no way you’ll be able to fit all three into lineups. There just isn’t likely to be a ton of savings around the rest of the positions so you’ll need to make some tough choices. The Hawks have, easily the highest implied total (120.75) of the slate, five points higher than the next-closest team. Considering the elimination style of this game, I think it’s likely we get 40+ minutes out of Trae in this one and the upside on that kind of run is enormous. Over the last seven games of the season, Young averaged 32 points and 10 assists while grabbing the occasional rebound (or three). He’s one of the unique offensive forces in the game and that should be on display in an up-and-down game against the Hornets.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 49.02 DK - 53.29
LaMelo is coming cheaper than Trae Young and Dejounte Murray for a reason, but that is likely to help us here when constructing lineups. When he’s given full run (not a guarantee) he can put up numbers with some of the best in the game. But it’s been inconsistent at times, and that does have me a little worried. But it’s also the thing that keeps the price in the next tier below, allowing for slightly easier lineup construction. Ball is a triple-double threat when everything is cooking, and that should be the case in this elimination game with the Hawks. The FanDuel price is particularly advantageous.
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 56.4 DK - 59.46
From a fantasy perspective, Dejounte Murray is the best of these three games, but there are things working against him here that have him third on the list on this slate. For starters, the Spurs have, by far, the lowest implied total on the slate. And then there is the fact that Murray dealt with a pretty rough illness that kept him out down the stretch of the regular season. He returned on Sunday against the Mavericks, but sort of struggled to dial it all the way up. He finished with one of his worst lines of the season at 17 points, seven rebounds, and just one assist. For the purposes of this two-gamer, I think we can fade Murray and run the other two point guards.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 37.25 DK - 40.12
He’s a solid middle-tier value here on a slate where you will really need it. The Hornets played a lot of weird blowouts down the stretch which threw off the minutes for basically all of the Charlotte starters and affected their lines. Rozier only averaged 30 minutes a game over the last six games, but in a close one here that number should press towards 40. If that’s the run then Rozier is criminally underpriced and frankly, that’s the case with most of the Hornets because of how their season ended. I think that will mean we will end up stacking them across the board. Rozier has big-time scoring upside if they give him max run, and I think that will be the case.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 38.89 DK - 41.52
Bridges follows the same theme of the other Hornets mentioned above in that the price doesn’t totally reflect what is likely to be the case with the Charlotte guys and the potential minutes. He’s been priced down, in part, because he averaged fewer than 30 minutes a game over the last five. In that stretch, he still put up 18 points, five rebounds, and four assists. Not inspiring, but we are about to see those minutes climb to 40 now. Over the course of the season, Bridges averaged 20 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and two blocks+steals. We are getting value here.
Opponent - CHA
Proj Pts FD - 27.5 DK - 29.54
I’m not as comfortable with Hunter playing major minutes in this game as I am with Herbert Jones, but the price has me working with the same considerations. If he can stay out of foul trouble and the game is close, then Hunter should play 35+ minutes in this game and that could mean 15+ shots. He shot 38% from three on the season (3.7 attempts) and he’ll have to knock them down to hit value. They need his lengthy in this game against a longer Hornets squad as well which has me confident enough with the minutes as well. Again, we need savings and this is one way to go.
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 31.72 DK - 31.95
While Herbert Jones isn’t likely to dial it up on offense in a meaningful way, I don’t think that’s all that big of a concern on this slate. That’s because he should be playing major minutes in this game because the Pelicans will need his defense. If that’s the case then we could see Jones play close to 35 minutes (or more) and there is upside on his fantasy line because of it. For starters, Jones is among the best non-centers in the league in the blocks+steals per minute category. And he gets just enough scoring and on the glass to warrant a play at these prices. You need to save somewhere and Jones is one of the few sub-$5K guys who should play big minutes.
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 28.79 DK - 30.75
Do we have most of the Hornets going here? Sure, but it’s for a good reason. To a man, they are all coming underpriced if Charlotte decides to ride the starters throughout, something they just haven’t needed to do over the last couple of weeks because of game scripts. Washington is still starting with Hayward injured and over the last eight games, he averaged 12 points, five rebounds, three assists, and just about two blocks+steals in 30 minutes per game. That number should climb to about 33-35 in this game giving him upside on the salaries for both sites.
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 39.06 DK - 40
If I was going to spend up just a little at this position on this slate it would probably be on Poeltl for a couple of different reasons. The price doesn’t come close to breaking the bank at all thanks to some late-season shenanigans with the way Spurs rolled out lineups. Additionally, the Pelicans run a double-big lineup to start games and play bigger throughout meaning Poeltl can stay on the court for longer stretches. He double-doubled five times over the last nine games of the season with some of those not even needing to play max minutes. I especially like this play on DraftKings.
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