Thunder resting pretty much entire team Monday vs. Suns

The Oklahoma City Thunder are adopting a popular strategy ahead of their game vs. the Phoenix Suns on Monday. The strategy is simple: Rest every key player and screw seeding in the West. It’s not a bad way of thinking really. Whoever you play in the middle of the Western Conference playoffs will be a tough draw. So OKC won’t have Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Steven Adams, Danilo Gallinari, Andre Roberson and Nerlens Noel against Phoenix.

So right now, it appears the Thunder have six players in their rotation? We have to go digging into their depth chart to see who else can play. So Chris Paul is the obvious option. He’s $8,200 on DraftKings, but who knows how much CP3 will actually play. Luguentz Dort ($4,000) is the only other player above $4K. Everyone else is below that price point, so this team screams value. Darius Bazley ($3,300) and Hamidou Diallo ($3,400) are probably the best options. If you want to go real deep for leverage, MIke Muscala ($3,200), Kevin Hervey ($3,000) and Abdel Nader ($3,000) should play a decent amount as well.

The real question is whether or not to roster the Suns. Phoenix has been going hard and is the only undefeated team in the bubble. Devin Booker ($8,700) and Deandre Ayton ($8,000) have high price tags and this game could be over by halftime. Do the Suns take the foot off the gas and rest them? It’s a definite possibility. That may make guys like Cameron Johnson ($5,200), Mikal Bridges ($4,900), Cameron Payne ($3,900) and Jevon Carter ($3,300) good options.

If I had to categorize the plays, here’s how I’d have it:

GPPs

Bazley
Diallo
Payne
Carter

Cash Games

Johnson
Bazley
Diallo
Dort