The Mavericks are finishing a back-to-back on the road in Portland on Saturday night, but they’ll be extremely shorthanded after the NBA handed out a four-game suspension to Naji Marshall and a one-game suspension to P.J. Washington following a scuffle in Phoenix on Friday. Suns C Jusuf Nurkic was also suspended for three games. From the Mavericks’ perspective, though, they’ll be short on options in the frontcourt. The situation is even worse since Dereck Lively II will miss a second straight game as well. With so few options at power forward and center, Maxi Kleber ($3,200) could be an elite DFS value play in a favorable matchup.
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PF/C Maxi Kleber at Portland Trail Blazers, $3,200
Kleber played 26 minutes on Friday night and he had a very solid showing off the bench. He had a season-high 15 points to go with seven rebounds, two assists and a steal for 29.25 fantasy points. He’ll be playing for the second day in a row, so fatigue could be a problem, but the Mavs will have to lean on the veteran anyway since they have so few alternatives.
With Lively out, Daniel Gafford ($4,200) will also be a great play after posting 27.25 fantasy points on Friday and getting more minutes with Lively out of the rotation. He and Kleber will have to handle all the work they can in the frontcourt.
Kleber has only averaged 17.3 minutes per game in his 19 games this season while chipping in 8.2 fantasy points per game. Despite his uninspiring numbers on the season, he should be able to return value since his salary is just over the minimum.
Maxi showed last night that he still has some gas left in the tank, so he makes a solid low-cost punt this Saturday night against Portland. He and Gafford will only have Dwight Powell ($3,000) and Markieff Morris ($3,000) backing them up.
If Kleber can’t carry the workload due to fatigue or other issues, Olivier-Maxence Prosper ($3,000) could get more work if the Mavs opt to go smaller and younger at power forward.
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