The new-look All-Star Weekend — featuring a tournament between three stacked squads, plus the winner of the Rising Stars tournament on Friday — is coming up soon. But first, there are three days of action-packed regular season hoops before the league’s brightest stars head to the Bay Area.
With a four-game featured slate at DraftKings on tap for DFS players, options are limited tonight’s basketball action, which is why finding budget gems is super critical. Here are my three favorites for tonight:
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $300K Fadeaway [$100K to 1st].
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SG/SF Ja’Kobe Walter, Toronto Raptors at Philadelphia 76ers, $4,200
I didn’t know how to make sense of the Raptors’ big move at the trade deadline, buying low on small forward Brandon Ingram ($8,000), who has been sidelined for most of the season with an ankle sprain and whose return date is still unclear, when they’re trying to sink towards the top of the lottery odds. At minimum, Toronto should use the rest of this season to assess its young players, and the 27-year-old Ingram doesn’t really fit that timeline. But at least the Raptors have gotten flashes from their first-round pick, Walter, in recent weeks. He’s scored double-digit points in each of his last six games (21.1 FPTS per game) and is hitting the three-ball at a 40.9% clip over that span. He should continue to have an expanded role, especially with RJ Barrett ($7,000) still out with a concussion.
Meanwhile, it’s hard to predict how Philadelphia will perform on any given night, but at least they’re mostly healthy, with Joel Embiid ($10,000) being the only player to carry an injury designation. Still, this season, the 76ers’ defense has been merely average, as they’ve allowed the 16th-most points, 13th-most rebounds, and seventh-most assists per game to opposing players. Philadelphia also has a hole against opposing shooting guards; it’s allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to the position. Shooting guard Kelly Oubre is far from an elite defender, and opponents have shot 2.0 percentage points better when guarded by him this season, so Walter’s upside should be high.
SG/SF Tim Hardaway Jr., Detroit Pistons at Chicago Bulls, $4,000
Each of the teams currently in the East’s top five were playoff teams last year, with only the fifth-seeded Orlando Magic dropping out of the top six. Meanwhile, the Heat, Hawks, and Bulls are all in the Play-In Tournament picture. The East makes sense until you notice that Detroit — which had won just 94 games over the previous five regular seasons — is in sixth, having won each of its last two games to climb back over .500. Most of it has to do with the spectacular fourth-season leap by former first overall pick Cade Cunningham ($10,500), but the Pistons’ lone All-Star has been buoyed by veteran contributors, including Tobias Harris ($5,900) and Hardaway. The latter’s shot has been inconsistent, but he’s been steadily receiving 30 minutes per game and is at nearly 38% from deep for the season.
On Tuesday, Hardaway will hope for production against a Chicago team that plays at the league’s third-fastest rate and has its fourth-worst defensive rating. High volume and poor efficiency means that the Bulls concede the second-most points, rebounds, and assists while forcing the second-fewest turnovers, and they’ve given up the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards. Recently-extended point guard Lonzo Ball ($4,900), who has been an above-average perimeter stopper for most of his career, is out with an illness, so Hardaway should have plenty of opportunities to inflict damage.
C Zach Edey, Memphis Grizzlies vs. Phoenix Suns, $4,800
Edey, a long-shot Rookie of the Year contender along with his teammate, Jaylen Wells ($3,500), has become a steady contributor while playing between 20 and 25 minutes per night for the Grizzlies, who are the second seed in the Western Conference. Prior to a five-point, three-foul (11.5-FPT) stinker on Saturday in a loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder — which you can’t read too much into because it’s the Thunder — Edey had recorded three consecutive double-doubles, including a 16-point, 14-rebound (44.0-FPT) masterpiece against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on February 3.
The seven-foot-four Canadian has great value against an undersized Phoenix squad, although the Suns have been better since introducing Nick Richards ($5,100) to the starting lineup. Prior to Richards joining the team, Phoenix had the league’s sixth-worst defensive rating, which has improved to 11th-worst since then. Its rebounding percentage — 48.4% — is still low, though. Since adding Richards, the Suns have allowed the 11th-most points and fourth-most rebounds per game, which should give Edey plenty of upside as long as he plays at least 20 minutes.
