The Wizards were already very short on options for Saturday night as they host the Nuggets, and they added Alexandre Sarr ($5,600) as questionable with a back injury. If Sarr joins the many Wizards players already out, Marvin Bagley III ($4,300) could end up carrying a heavy load and representing an excellent value play for DFS fantasy basketball contests on DraftKings.
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C Marvin Bagley III, Washington Wizards vs. Denver Nuggets, $4,300
Before Thursday, Marvin Bagley had been mostly an afterthought this season, averaging only 5.4 minutes in the 13 games he played and not playing at all in six of the Wizards contests. On Thursday, though, he moved into the starting lineup alongside Sarr in place of Jonas Valanciunas ($5,300). Bagley ended up playing 24 minutes and finishing with 16 points, eight rebounds and 30.5 DraftKings points in the team’s 36-point home loss to the Mavs.
While some of that production came in garbage time, Bagley may end up in a similar situation on Saturday. The Wizards already ruled out Kyle Kuzma (ribs), Malcolm Brogdon (hamstring), Corey Kispert (ankle) and Kyshawn George (ankle). If Sarr is also out, Anthony Gill ($3,000) and Richaun Holmes ($3,000) could be back in the mix and Patrick Baldwin Jr. ($3,000) could get minutes at power forward as well.
Not only will the Wizards be shorthanded in the frontcourt, they have to try to slow down the freight train that is Nikola Jokic ($12,100), so they’ll need to keep size on the floor to try to at least slow him down a little.
Bagley is barely over $4,000 and a solid play if he starts again on Saturday either alongside Sarr or if the promising rookie is out, opening even more potential value for Bagley.
He definitely hasn’t lived up to his pedigree as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2018 draft, but he has had bursts of fantasy usefulness when he starts at a low salary.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st].
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is z.thompson) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
