The Bucks were already without Damian Lillard (calf) for Wednesday night’s matchup in Denver, and they downgraded Giannis Antetokounmpo (foot) to out as well, leaving them extremely short on options in the Mile High City. Kyle Kuzma ($5,900), Kevin Porter Jr. ($4,600) and Gary Trent Jr. ($4,400) will help carry the offensive workload, but we may get an extended look at Tyler Smith ($3,000) as well. If Smith is set for a big role, he’ll be a great DFS value pick with his salary at the minimum.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st]
PF/C Tyler Smith, Milwaukee Bucks at Denver Nuggets, $3,000
Even without Giannis, Smith is a high-risk pick since he hasn’t been getting many minutes at all lately. The second-round rookie has only played 19 games all season and is only averaging 4.6 minutes per game.
However, Smith did show some promising upside back in an early-February opportunity when both Giannis and Dame were out against the Thunder. Smith played 27 minutes off the bench in that contest and finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals and 29.25 DraftKings points.
With Bobby Portis (suspension) and Jericho Sims (thumb) out, Smith will likely be the primary backup behind Lopez and could also get work at power forward unless the Bucks are going to go very, very small with Kuzma at center. Lopez played 42 minutes just two days ago in Phoenix and could use this game to get a bit of a break if things get lopsided early.
Smith has the potential to clean up plenty of garbage time and should get enough work to be a flier play at the minimum salary. He’s high-risk but he brings a high ceiling now that minutes are available.
