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UPDATE: Aug. 7, 6:23 p.m. — So Williamson is resting and the Pelicans are opting to go small with a lineup featuring J.J. Redick. So it’ll be Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Redick, Brandon Ingram and Derrick Favors starting vs. the Wiz.
Alvin Gentry says JJ Redick will start in Zion Williamson's place.
— Christian Clark (@cclark3000) August 7, 2020
New Orleans Pelicans rookie PF Zion Williamson will rest on the second half of a back-to-back set Friday vs. the Washington Wizards. The Pelicans, who have very little to play for anymore in the bubble, were blown out by the Sacramento Kings on Thursday afternoon.
Zion Williamson will not play tonight, Pelicans say. Resting him on the second night of a back to back.
— Christian Clark (@cclark3000) August 7, 2020
Zion has been extremely productive despite a minutes restriction in the mid-20s per game. So honestly, from a DFS perspective, this is great news for pretty much everyone on the Pelicans. Williamson scored over a point per minute again with 24 in 22 on 10-of-12 shooting against the Kings. Let’s take a look at the DFS and betting impact here.
Fantasy basketball and betting impact
This move opens up the slate a lot. With Zion out, we can look at Jrue Holiday ($9,300) and Brandon Ingram ($8,400) as viable plays despite those high price tags. Strictly GPPs for both — though I’d consider Ingram an OK cash-game option. Derrick Favors ($5,200) gets a nice little boost in the rebounding department, you’d think. Favors is more of a GPP play since he doesn’t do much on offense.
As for values, we could see more Nicolo Melli ($3,800) and Jaxson Hayes ($3,000). Both are good GPP fliers given that this game should feature very little defense. Maybe we even see some Kenrich Williams ($3,000) but that is probably reaching a bit.
At one point, you were probably leaning heavy on the Pelicans at -8 on the spread. Now that isn’t so clear without Zion. The Pelicans should take care of a very underwhelming Wizards team. They also should have not gotten embarrassed by the Kings yesterday. If this game is up and down, gimme Washington at +8. The O/U seems safe at 236 despite Zion being out, though we could see more sloppy offense than crisp. Oh yeah, get on Ingram’s point total ASAP. Right now on DKSB it’s at 23.5. Jrue Holiday is at 18.5 as well. Both are very solid numbers sans Zion.
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