It’s a plethora of point guards. Ten very talented players, in excellent form, each costing $8000 or more. Pick the right one (or two) and you’re well on the way to winning in daily play at DraftKings. That’s the toughest fantasy decision on an interesting 7-game NBA slate.
Too lazy to do the research, I suspect that playing the Warriors’ starting five every night this year at DK and filling in with three ‘best available’ guys would show a substantial profit. Stephen Curry $10500, Klay Thompson $7100, Draymond Green $6200, Andrew Bogut $6100 and Harrison Barnes $5200 are all playing extremely well, with Marreese Speights $4700 a pleasant surprise off the bench. Don’t overlook Zach LaVine $4700 or Shabazz Muhammad $4000, because somebody has to score for the young, injury-riddled Timberwolves. Anthony Bennett $3800 double-doubled on Saturday, possibly earning more touches. As with any mismatch, there’s a risk of garbage time affecting everyone’s minutes.
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It’s an old-fashioned home-and-home for the Wizards after the Celtics won yesterday. Both Rajon Rondo $8600 and John Wall $10300 earned their salaries; Rondo’s triple-double made up for continued poor shooting. We gave you Rasual Butler $3600 in the Sunday Spin and he’s still sizzling, at a terrific price. Jeff Green $6600 was outstanding, but the big surprise was Marcus Thornton $3000 going off for 21 points in 17 minutes. Bradley Beal $5700 was an ice-cold 4-18 without a rebound or assist and turned it over four times. He and Marcin Gortat $7300 must improve tonight for Washington to earn the split.
The Nuggets lost by 30 on Friday and were no match for Atlanta yesterday. The road trip gets even harder tonight. The Raptors have been resting at home since a disappointing loss to Cleveland. Amir Johnson $5300 played his best game of the season, but a few teammates were tentative. Kyle Lowry $10100 is terrific and Greivis Vasquez $5100 is inexpensive. Less consistent starters are Jonas Valanciunas $5600 and Terrence Ross $4600. Off the bench, James Johnson $4000 contributes in many ways and when Lou Williams $5200 gets hot, he’s scalding.
While DeMarcus Cousins is sidelined with what must be a severe viral infection, it’s mostly Rudy Gay $7700 and Darren Collison $6600 carrying the Kings, though Jason Thompson $4300 has stepped it up the last two games. I’m not a big fan of the Jazz, but Trey Burke $5400, Derrick Favors $7600 and Gordon Hayward $7900 are fairly priced and this ‘meaningless’ game might get overlooked in many lineups.
On Friday, Markieff Morris $7000 was terrific (22 & 10), on Saturday he shot 2-14 and fouled out. Eric Bledsoe $8400 is more consistent and might be inspired against his former team, but I’m avoiding all the Suns tonight. Goran Dragic $8100 has a very tough matchup with Chris Paul $10200 and Phoenix has nobody who can stop Blake Griffin $10000 or DeAndre Jordan $7700 inside.
Cleveland’s big three are learning how to play together and the whole team shows more intensity. LeBron James $11700 has double-digit AST in three straight, but that is an enormous price. Kyrie Irving $9100 is slashing and Kevin Love $9000 gets open looks. Everyone else is a role player. If they get way ahead of the Nets early, guys like Dion Waiters $3600 and Tristan Thompson $5000 will benefit.
Feel free to look for individual value as the Hawks play the Pacers, but I’ve tossed it as the most probable low-scoring game, among quite a few where we expect a lot more points.
As loaded as PG is, I’m hoping to get production from three of the cheaper ones. There aren’t many standout centers tonight. My lineup above, built around Jordan, is the opposite of a ‘stars-and-scrubs’ approach. When you pay top dollar for superstars, you need to pair them up with bargains, and the right-hand column of today’s Short List is not too inspiring.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Chris Paul $10200 | Darren Collison $6600 | Zach LaVine $4700 |
| SG | Eric Bledsoe $9400 | Klay Thompson $7100 | Rasual Butler $3600 |
| SF | LeBron James $11700 | Jeff Green $6600 | Shabazz Muhammad $4000 |
| PF | Blake Griffin $10000 | Derrick Favors $7600 | Amir Johnson $5300 |
| C | DeAndre Jordan $7700 | Andrew Bogut $6100 | Alex Len $3000 |
Good luck with all your teams. Hope to see you on the leaderboard.
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.
Kent, Saturday night was so disgusting I didn’t even read yesterday because I needed a day off to lick my wounds. I was in about 15 contests and scored 306 and moneyed 0 off them, and 311 and moneyed in 1…in 13th…on a cheap 50/50. What name do you play under there? Game preference? Thanks for all you do. By the way, how did your boss do in his challenge?