Good morning! There are two reasons for this early Spin. One is an out-of-town holiday brunch with family, the other an early tip off in the NBA. At 1:00 Eastern, you have a choice of Early-Only (3 games) and All-Day (7 games) contests at DraftKings.
We begin in Brooklyn. Jarrett Jack $6500 gets a salary bump after two great games and might still be better value than the inconsistent Ricky Rubio $7300. Up front, Brook Lopez $6700 and Thaddeus Young $7000 are more experienced than Karl-Anthony Towns $6900 and Gorgui Dieng $6900. Minnesota has the advantage on the wing, where Andrew Wiggins $7000 is coming off a 32-point Friday, and Shabazz Muhammad $3600 has been heating up off the bench.
Miami should beat the Blazers unless Damian Lillard $8800 runs wild. Goran Dragic $5400 has actually been better lately. Chris Bosh $6900 has been quiet for two games but with no word of illness or injury, is due to break out. Hassan Whiteside $6600 is a good bet to double-double with a couple of blocks against Mason Plumlee $5000. Like many talented players, Gerald Green $4300 is better as the #1 option on the second unit than he is starting.
Plays of the Day
Do you like football? Today’s featured contest is the NFL Supersat to earn a spot in the NBA $1M Holiday Classic on December 25. It costs $5 to enter and the top 150 finishers from only 690 teams will qualify for that million-dollar hoops contest. Better hurry, the deadline is 1:00 Eastern.
Kyrie Irving $6700 is the story in Cleveland. Presumably he’s on a minutes limit and it might take a few games before he’s in peak form. LeBron James $10100 and Kevin Love $8000 have been racking up huge numbers in his absence; suddenly the Cavs are a three-headed monster for opponents and a question mark for fantasy speculators. Jahlil Okafor $6600 is the only Sixer worth a second look.
The biggest GPPs are in 5:00 contests that cover the final four games. In Phoenix, Brandon Knight $7300 should be inspired against the Bucks, though Michael Carter-Williams $6000 has put together four decent games. Eric Bledsoe $8400 vs. O.J. Mayo $5600 is the bigger mismatch.
You can never believe anything Jason Kidd says. Greg Monroe $7200 (knee) was supposed to be out a week but missed just two games. Alex Len $5200 is a better value anyway, after a monster double-double (19 PTS, 13 REB, 2 AST, 2 STL, 1 BLK, 1 3PTM) off the bench. Banished for 11 days, Markieff Morris $4200 is now being showcased for a trade, which ends a great run by our man Mirza Teletovic $4100.
The shorthanded Raptors host Sacramento and former King James Johnson $3600 might start again, as Terrence Ross $4100 is more comfortable attacking off the bench. Bismack Biyombo $5100 has a tough assignment against DeMarcus Cousins $10000 and that leaves Luis Scola $5000 on either Rudy Gay $7000 or Omri Casspi $6000. Both PG are having terrific seasons; Kyle Lowry $8300 has been feeding DeMar DeRozan $7200 recently and despite being politically incorrect, Rajon Rondo $8600 is a triple-double threat.
Jeff Teague $6100 (ankle) left after 20 minutes on Friday but Dennis Schroder $5100 finished strong. Elfrid Payton $6300 needs to be at his best no matter who is on the floor for Atlanta. Neither Al Horford $6600 nor Nikola Vucevic $7100 can stop the other, but Paul Millsap $8000 vs. Channing Frye $3800 and/or Andrew Nicholson $3800 is a real problem for the Magic. Tobias Harris $6200 was great on Friday (25 PTS, 12 REB, 3 STL) and should be prominent again.
Least important in the standings but significant in daily fantasy, Anthony Davis $10300 is in Denver. It’s the fifth game of a 1-3 road trip for New Orleans and Friday’s loss to the Suns was ugly. Alvin Gentry ripped his team in public and we’ll see how they respond. Tyreke Evans $7600 and Jrue Holiday $5500 had been playing well before that team-wide lack of effort. On the other hand, if the Pelicans are exhausted, the prices are terrific on Danilo Gallinari $6700, Will Barton $6200, Jameer Nelson $5200, Gary Harris $4000 and Joffrey Lauvergne $4400.
| Pos | Premium | Midrange | Bargain |
| PG | Kyle Lowry $8300 | Jarrett Jack $6500 | Jameer Nelson $5200 |
| SG | Eric Bledsoe $8400 | DeMar DeRozan $7200 | Gary Harris $4000 |
| SF | LeBron James $10100 | Danilo Gallinari $6700 | Shabazz Muhammad $3600 |
| PF | Anthony Davis $10300 | D. Cousins $10000 | Markieff Morris $4200 |
| C | Nikola Vucevic $7100 | Alex Len $5200 | Joffrey Lauvergne $4400 |
The Fantasy Spin features DFS advice every day of the NBA season. Follow Kent Williams @SheridanFantasy for updates.