Tonight’s seven-game NBA slate is headlined by a revenge game, as Luka Dončić ($10,500) will face the Dallas Mavericks for the first time in his career. But besides the Luka game, there are plenty of appealing games on tap — the Spurs-Pelicans tank-fest is the only game between two teams with losing records.
All seven games are available on DraftKings for DFS players, so plenty of stars will take the court. If you want to stack stars — say, Dončić and Giannis Antetokounmpo ($11,000) — finding production from budget gems is essential. Here are my three favorites for tonight:
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C Yves Missi, New Orleans Pelicans vs. San Antonio Spurs, $4,600
In theory, the Pelicans-Spurs game would be a great place to target both centers, but San Antonio doesn’t really have a reliable center on its roster with Victor Wembanyama done for the season. Sandro Mamukelashvili ($4,000) and Bismack Biyombo ($3,400) aren’t exactly Wembanyama, and it’s not like the Spurs were great at defending opposing centers even before losing the would-be Defensive Player of the Year. For the season, San Antonio has given up the sixth-most fantasy points per game to opposing centers, and now it hardly has any above-average defenders. The two teams played on Sunday, and Missi had a career-high 15 rebounds in a respectable 25.75-FPT performance.
His offensive ceiling isn’t high; he’s scored double-digit points just 21 times in his NBA career so far and has attempted more than 10 shots only five times in his career. He remains a fantasy value play because he is consistent as a rebounder, hauling in double-digit rebounds in each of his last two games and four of his past nine. This season, he has posted 13 or more rebounds in as many games (seven) as he has four or fewer rebounds.
PF/C Dorian Finney-Smith, Los Angeles Lakers vs. Dallas Mavericks, $3,900
Of all of the players with such a cheap salary, Finney-Smith plays the most minutes, given that he’s received 24 or more minutes in every game in February so far. The Lakers’ offense runs through its facilitators — Dončić, LeBron James ($10,000), and Austin Reaves ($8,000), which means that Finney-Smith has only averaged 5.3 shots per game in three games playing alongside Dončić. But the two have undeniable chemistry dating back to their days together with Dallas, and Finney-Smith should get plenty of open corner threes if Dončić dishes it to him. Since his arrival in Los Angeles, Finney-Smith has hit 43.3% of his corner triples.
Plus, while the Mavericks have been okay against opposing power forwards, allowing the 14th-most points to the position, there’s been so much roster turnover in Dallas lately that I’m not sure what to make of them. With no Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, or Maxi Kleber, who’s going to guard the corner? I guess it’ll be PJ Washington ($7,400) or Kessler Edwards ($4,200), but both have allowed opponents to shoot better than usual from beyond the arc when they’re the nearest defender. In a 100-97 loss to the Charlotte Hornets on February 19, Finney-Smith hit a pair of triples assisted by Dončić in a 12-point (24.25-FPT) performance.
SF/PF Royce O’Neale, Phoenix Suns at Memphis Grizzlies, $4,800
O’Neale has played heavy minutes for a dysfunctional Phoenix franchise as of late, averaging 29.3 minutes per game since the start of February and starting six of his last seven games. Although he has been inconsistent — he’s just three-for-15 from the field in his last two games — he’s shown plenty of great flashes, shooting 41.6% from deep overall, including a six-for-12 night from beyond the arc in a 27-point (46.0-FPT) outing against the Spurs on Thursday.
In theory, Memphis is a difficult opponent; they have likely Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. ($7,700), own the league’s eighth-best defensive rating, and hold opponents to the fifth-lowest three-point percentage. But for some reason, the Grizzlies have been bad against opposing wings this season, allowing the fourth-most fantasy points per game to the position. Rookie Jaylen Wells ($4,300) has frequently taken on the hardest assignment, to mixed results — he has negative-1.0 defensive box plus-minus this season and holds opponents to just 1.5 percentage points worse than usual on threes — and O’Neale should also be fine on threes when guarded by Brandon Clarke ($3,900), Gregory Jackson ($3,400), or Luke Kennard ($4,100).
