The Mavericks are in Sacramento to face the Kings on Monday night, and they’ll continue their shorthanded road trip with even fewer options with Kyrie Irving (shoulder) now ruled out. Irving will join Luka Doncic (calf) and Naji Marshall (suspension) on the sideline while Dereck Lively II ($5,500; hip) is questionable in the frontcourt.
Without both Kyrie and Luka, Jaden Hardy ($4,000) stands out as a great bargain play for DFS fantasy basketball contests and has the potential to pick up a big role alongside Spencer Dinwiddie ($5,200), who was already a good value with Luka out.
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PG Jaden Hardy at Sacramento Kings, $4,000
When both Kyrie and Luka are off the floor this season, Hardy’s usage rate jumps to 30.0%, the highest mark of any player on the team. He has produced 1.00 DraftKings fantasy points per minute in that situation.
There was only one game this season in which both players were sidelined, and Hardy was also out, so we haven’t seen how much he’ll play with both absent for a full game.
Earlier this month, Hardy missed time with an ankle sprain that cost him six games, but he has worked his way back. He had 11 points and 18.5 fantasy points in 17 minutes on Saturday against the Trail Blazers in his largest workload since returning. On December 1, before the injury, Hardy had 21.75 fantasy points in 23 minutes during the last game he logged 20-plus minutes.
On the season, Hardy is producing 0.87 fantasy points per minute in 13.7 minutes per game. With a much bigger workload and greater usage lined up on Monday, look for Hardy to be one of the best bargain plays on the slate.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st].
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