Fantasy Spin March 30, 2015

Yesterday, James Harden $11500 led the Rockets to a road win with help from vintage Josh Smith $6500 — 14 PTS, 10 REB, 3 AST. 2 BLK, 2 3PTM — and both are essential again tonight, as Dwight Howard $7200 (back-to-back) will be rested.

Donatas Motiejunas (back) and Terrence Jones (ribs) are also out, making Trevor Ariza $6500 and Corey Brewer $5100 more valuable. If you like the Raptors, DeMar DeRozan $7800 is the safest choice, Greivis Vasquez $4600 will start at PG until Kyle Lowry (back) returns and Lou Williams $4900 will get more touches.

Plays of the Day

Still not playing at DraftKings? They match your first deposit 100% ($5 to $600) with bonus funds that convert to cash, plus you get a FREE entry in the $70K Sharpshooter — the top score earns $5,000 and 5400 of 26,820 teams win cash.

It’s Championship Night, with $1.2 million guaranteed in the top seven contests. The $100K Pick And Roll Championship has a $12 buy-in — the top 2,000 scores out of 9,550 teams get paid and first place is worth $10,000. For an out-of-my-league $300 entry fee, someone will take home $100,000 in the $500K 3-Ball Championship.

DeMarcus Cousins $9900 is extremely important in DFS. Will he have a superstar game on the road vs. Marc Gasol $7200? I’m not sure, and Rudy Gobert $8400 is a safer alternative. Jordan Hill $5500 returned from a week off with 22 points and 16 rebounds yesterday; he can repeat those numbers in Philly. Bismack Biyombo $3200 is cheap if he starts for Al Jefferson $6800 (knee) and

At PG, Damian Lillard $7900 tops the Short List but this is the third game in four nights for the Blazers. Kemba Walker $7400 and Mike Conley $6100 are also worth considering, with Dennis Schroder $5600 a great price while Jeff Teague (ankle) rests.

If you can’t afford Harden, SG is either DeRozan, Eric Bledsoe $8200 or a possible bargain. Gerald Henderson $5600 has scored 30+ FPTS in three straight games, and Arron Afflalo $4300 came to life against his former Nuggets teammates.

Gordon Hayward $8000 and Andrew Wiggins $6800 match up in Minnesota but I’m going with J-Smoove at SF. Jeff Green $5600 had 19 points in 32 minutes yesterday and is interesting if Tony Allen (hamstring) sits out again.

Though LaMarcus Aldridge $9200 will do whatever it takes, he’s playing hurt and tired. Nerlens Noel $7800 has a great matchup at home. If Houston goes small, Amir Johnson $4300 and Patrick Patterson $4200 might get extra run for Toronto.

Today’s sample lineup today goes for balance. The second- and third-best options look good to me at every position and none of the most-expensive guys are absolute musts to own. You could also build around Harden and/or Cousins with bargains; the shallow end would get deeper if Mike Muscala $3400 gets another start.

Pos	Premium	Midrange	Bargain
PG	Damian Lillard $7900	Mike Conley $6100	D. Schroeder $5600
SG	James Harden $11500	DeMar DeRozan $7800	G. Henderson $5600
SF	Gordon Hayward $8000	Josh Smith $6500	Jeff Green $5600
PF	L. Aldridge $9200	Nerlens Noel $7800	Amir Johnson $4300
C	D. Cousins $9900	Rudy Gobert $8400	B. Biyombo $3200