Last night in Atlanta, the Celtics lost by 24 as only Avery Bradley $5900 played well. Tonight they return home to host the winless 76ers, who might surprise them.
I’m not actually predicting the upset, just pointing out that Jahlil Okafor $6900 and Nerlens Noel $5900 are solid investments in DFS contests at DraftKings. A much sharper Robert Covington $4800 is on a two-game roll and Isaiah Canaan $3800 is less than half the price of a tired Isaiah Thomas $7700. We don’t care who wins in daily fantasy, rooting only for high scores.
As always on a 12-game NBA slate, there are superstars to choose from at every position. Russell Westbrook $11300 and Kevin Durant $9600 are at home to the Nets. LeBron James $10100 and Kevin Love $8300 lead Cleveland into Toronto, where Kyle Lowry $8500 will be busy and Luis Scola $4800 is suddenly an offensive threat.
Plays of the Day
The $250K Sharpshooter is just a $3 buy-in (FREE to new depositors at DK) that pays the top 19,550 finishers from up to 95,833 teams. First place wins $20,000. Enter before the 7:00 ET deadline; you can make unlimited lineup changes until each player’s game begins.
Anthony Davis $10800 tops the PF by a wider margin because DeMarcus Cousins $10600 (back) is doubtful. It’s a very deep position; Blake Griffin $9300, Love, Kristaps Porzingis $7000 and Tristan Thompson $5800 are all playable.
The top-priced C is Andre Drummond $9400 but his matchup with Hassan Whiteside $8300 isn’t easy. While Milwaukee may pound it inside to Greg Monroe $7200, he’s only my second choice — Okafor has a higher ceiling for $300 less.
At SF, Kawhi Leonard $8400 is often better value than KD or LeBron. The Spurs are a strong choice at home against the Mavericks, who were badly beaten in Memphis last night. Tony Parker $5100 is healthy and Danny Green $4500 has finally found the range. I’ve been doing well in both traditional and daily leagues with Mirza Teletovic $3200, who has carved out a steady 20+ minutes off the Suns bench.
In the sample lineup (above left) and Short List (below) I’m going big. The commitment to Davis, Love, Okafor and Kawhi doesn’t leave much cap room for guards. Parker and Canaan or Shabazz Napier $3200 should provide value at PG, while at SG we will continue to roll with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson$4000. With over 30 minutes in two straight games, the 20-year-old has stuffed the box score — a combined 22 PTS, 18 REB, 8 STL, 5 AST — and become one of the few bright spots on an aging 3-11 team.
This doesn’t mean I expect RHJ to outperform James Harden $10300, Andrew Wiggins $7100 and other SG who deserve their high prices. If you think of the 8-man lineup as a jigsaw puzzle, you need pieces of various shapes. Once you have chosen the three or four large salaries you like best, it becomes an exercise in maximizing value among the smaller pieces. Tonight there are some PG and SG bargains, but I’m not seeing cheap PF or C with significant upside.
If you prefer smaller player pools, Turbo contests at 8:00 span just five games and there’s also Late action on two games at 9:00. See you on the leaderboard.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Russell Westbrook $11300 | Tony Parker $5100 | Shabazz Napier $3200 |
| SG | James Harden $10300 | Andrew Wiggins $7100 | R. Hollis-Jefferson $4000 |
| SF | LeBron James $10100 | Kawhi Leonard $8400 | Mirza Teletovic $3200 |
| PF | Anthony Davis $10800 | Kevin Love $8300 | Jabari Parker $4300 |
| C | Andre Drummond $9400 | Jahlil Okafor $6900 | Gorgui Dieng $3700 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.