All eyes are on Boston tonight, where Stephen Curry $10700 and Draymond Green $8200 attempt to extend their incredible record to 24-0. Normally we’d include Klay Thompson $6800 as the third Musketeer, but he’s questionable with an ankle sprain. If anything, that makes Curry and Green more valuable in daily fantasy play at DraftKings.
Andre Iguodala $5200 and Brandon Rush $3500 become far more valuable if Klay — who had been red-hot with ten 3-pointers — takes the night off. The Celtics keep exceeding expectations, with only one loss (by 3 points in San Antonio) in their last five. Isaiah Thomas $7800, Jared Sullinger $6400, Jae Crowder $5700, Evan Turner $4900 and Kelly Olynyk $4200 are all reasonably priced.
In addition to contests that close at 7:00 EST and span all ten NBA games, there are Turbo (2 games), Late (4 games) and Later (2 games) offerings at 8:00, 9:00 and 9:30 for those of us who enjoy the different challenge of handicapping small player pools.
Kevin Durant $10100 triple-doubled last night, supported by Russell Westbrook $10400 and Serge Ibaka $6000. The Thunder now have have a weekend home-and-home with the Jazz. Derrick Favors $7900 and Gordon Hayward $7000 give Utah a chance to split, but they need others including Alec Burks $5200, Rodney Hood $4600 and Trey Burke $4200 to perform well.
Plays of the Day
The $300K Sharpshooter costs only $3 per team (one entry is FREE with your first deposit at DK) and pays the top 23,535 finishers from up to 115,000 teams. First place wins $20,000. The deadline is 7:00; enter before it fills and make lineup changes until each player’s game begins.
Anthony Davis $10800 was surprisingly quiet in Monday’s loss and the other Pelicans starters were horrible. Tyreke Evans $6900 can only improve, Ryan Anderson $6100 is reliable and Jrue Holiday $4500 looks good off the bench. They have allowed 100+ in eight straight, so count on John Wall $9100, Bradley Beal $7200 and Marcin Gortat $6000 to get theirs.
After Kyle Lowry $8900 and DeMar DeRozan $7000 helped defeat the Spurs on Wednesday, Milwaukee should be easy. O.J. Mayo $5400 and Michael Carter-Williams $5600 are their primary guards. Greg Monroe $7100 vs. Bismack Biyombo $4900 tips the scales the other way, but Toronto has DFS bargains in Terrence Ross $3600, Luis Scola $4500 and Patrick Patterson $3500.
Another key matchup has Phoenix at home to the Blazers, who lost a tough one in Cleveland on Tuesday. Damian Lillard $8800, C.J. McCollum $6900 and the improving Allen Crabbe $3600 were their leading scorers. The Suns are happy to play small ball, with Eric Bledsoe $8300 and Brandon Knight $7700 in fine form. Markieff Morris $5000 (illness) has become an afterthought, to the benefit of three players. Jon Leuer $5200 and Alex Len $5000 have been effective starers, then Mirza Teletovic $4300 hits threes off the bench and grabs the odd rebound.
There are countless others to consider beyond those mentioned above, in every price range. LeBron James $10000 and Paul George $10200 add to the incredible talent at SF.
There’s depth at center too: Andre Drummond $9500 vs. Jahlil Okafor $6400 is a fun matchup, Marc Gasol $7400 has been heroic and Nikola Vucevic $7000 might give the Cavaliers trouble. Len could be the best bang for the buck id he repeats that huge double-double (20 PTS, 14 REB, 3 BLK) from Wednesday.
At PF LaMarcus Aldridge $6900 would be a standout but you never know when Pop will rest people and if the Lakers don’t challenge them, that deep Spurs bench will take over. Kenneth Faried $5900 is good value as the healthiest big for the Nuggets.
It’s not that I don’t think any the superstars who cost $9000 and up will play well; they all deserve those prices and are capable of greatness. The difficulty is all about the salary cap, finding the right collection of extreme bargains to pair with them. By making Lowry my highest-priced selection and “settling” for second-choices at every position, I’m able to use only two guys who cost less than $4000.
This balanced sample lineup could change abruptly if Thompson is officially ruled out, or in response to other breaking news.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Stephen Curry $10700 | Kyle Lowry $8900 | Trey Burke $4200 |
| SG | Eric Bledsoe $8300 | DeMar DeRozan $7000 | Terrence Ross $3600 |
| SF | Kevin Durant $10100 | Gordon Hayward $7000 | Mirza Teletovic $4300 |
| PF | Anthony Davis $10800 | Derrick Favors $7900 | Patrick Patterson $3500 |
| C | Andre Drummond $9500 | Nikola Vucevic $7000 | Alex Len $5000 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.