There are eight games in the Association this evening. That means 16 teams and countless stars.
I am but one man, yet I’m going to give you three value plays for your DraftKings lineups. What a guy.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Excellent 8’s [$100K to 1st]
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SG Kelly Oubre Jr., Philadelphia 76ers vs. Washington Wizards, $5,100
If you know Nick Nurse, you know he likes to play his starters heavy minutes. This trait can be fantastic for prospective DFS assets — especially when one of Nurse’s teams is beset by injury. Joel Embiid (foot) is out. Paul George (groin) is out. Kyle Lowry (hip) is out. In Monday’s loss to the Suns, with George available, Nurse played every single one of his starters at least 36 minutes. No reserve reached even the 14-minute plateau. If a similar strategy is employed this evening, Oubre might not leave the court. In 38.2 minutes of action against Phoenix, Oubre had a double-double performance, finishing with 26 points, 11 rebounds and 42.75 FPTS. It was the second straight game where the veteran wing exceeded 40 FPTS. Oubre also ranked second on the team with a 26.5% usage rate. There are other opportunities for value on this roster. Guerschon Yabusele ($5,000) is viable, while I’d keep a close eye on Justin Edwards ($3,100), as there’s a chance he starts in place of George. Still, Oubre has the best mix of ceiling and floor. In a great matchup, don’t overthink this one.
PG/SG Stephon Castle, San Antonio Spurs at Milwaukee Bucks, $3,400
I don’t mean to ever get too simplistic with my analysis, but Castle will likely start tonight with the news that Jeremy Sochan (back) is unavailable. Castle isn’t shooting the ball particularly well in his rookie campaign, yet the lottery pick has tended to thrive when given the opportunity to be in the starting five. To wit, in Castle’s 18 starts, he’s averaging 14.3 points and 4.4 assists in 30.2 minutes. I’d be lying if I said his price tag wasn’t also a massive aspect of his viability. In Castle’s last start, against the Nuggets on January 3, the guard was limited to only 17.75 FPTS. Still, at a $3,400 salary, that’s well-over 5x value. I think that’s Castle’s floor on Wednesday. If he hits his ceiling, your lineups are going to be in amazing shape.
PG/SG Cason Wallace, Oklahoma City Thunder at Cleveland Cavaliers, $3,700
Wallace has always been a bit of an underwhelming DFS asset, which makes sense given his status as the Thunder’s back-up to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,500). Even in a very productive start on Sunday, a contest where Wallace registered 13 points and 24.25 FPTS in 35.0 minutes, his usage rate was just 16.4%, as he operated as a tertiary scoring option within the first unit. Still, with all that said, it’s difficult to ignore someone with a price tag this far below $4,000 who seems locked in to playing this many minutes. Alex Caruso (hip) has been ruled out again for Wednesday’s contest with the Cavaliers. There’s plenty of open opportunity for Wallace in this backcourt. He’s managed at least 24 FPTS in three of his last seven games and I expect he’ll cobble together another solid performance in Cleveland.
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All views expressed are my own. I am an employee of DraftKings and am ineligible to play in public DFS or DKSB contests.
