The NBA schedule remains a little messed up coming out of the All-Star break. Need evidence? How about a six-game slate on a Wednesday with five teams on the second night of a back-to-back set? Is that weird enough for you?
Make sure to keep an eye on breaking news throughout the day, but at the moment, here’s a few names to consider as value options for this evening’s festivities.
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SF Jake LaRavia, Memphis Grizzlies at Minnesota Timberwolves, $3,600
Keeping track of all the Grizzlies’ injuries can be daunting, so let me once again get you up to speed. Putting aside the litany of long-term ailments that have designated Memphis to a lottery bound campaign, tonight’s injury report features Luke Kennard (illness), who has been ruled out, and John Konchar ($4,200; thumb), who is doubtful. As you can imagine, that doesn’t leave Taylor Jenkins with a lot of appealing rotation options. The trio of GG Jackson ($4,700), Lamar Stevens ($4,300) and LaRavia should all be looking at expanded roles on Wednesday, with one of the three likely replacing Kennard in the starting five. Despite back-to-back underwhelming performances, it’s Jackson that carries the biggest upside as a DFS asset, yet don’t sleep on the elevated floor of LaRavia. The former first-round pick led all Grizzlies’ bench players in minutes in Monday’s loss to Brooklyn (27.7), registering a season-high 25.75 DKFP. It also doesn’t hurt LaRavia’s case that he’s by far the cheapest.
SG/SF Norman Powell, Los Angeles Clippers vs. Los Angeles Lakers, $4,800
Even with Paul George (knee) sidelined, the Clippers have their fair share of mouths to feed. Kawhi Leonard ($8,700) remains the no. 1 option on the floor. Russell Westbrook ($5,300) is a high-usage option off the bench. In fact, it’s James Harden ($8,400) that’s tended to benefit the most from George’s prior absences, producing a team-high 1.30 DKFP per minute with his All-Star teammate off the court so far in 2023-24. However, while Harden is certainly viable on this slate, he’s not a value. That’s where Powell comes in. In his first start of the season on Sunday, Powell logged 37.0 minutes, collecting 21 points and 30.5 DKFP in the process. It was the third straight contest where Powell had put up at least 19 points and 25.0 DKFP. The wing needs to have an efficient scoring performance to be relevant in fantasy, as he doesn’t contribute consistently in secondary categories, but Powell will once again play a significant role on Wednesday in what should be a highly contested game script.
C Kelly Olynyk, Toronto Raptors vs. Dallas Mavericks, $4,900
Olynyk’s viability on tonight’s slate is pretty dependant on the health of Jakob Poeltl ($6,100; ankle). The Raptors’ starting center left Monday’s win against Indiana with a left ankle issue, the same ankle that Poeltl sprained in January that forced him to miss 11 games. He’s officially listed as questionable for this evening’s tilt versus the Mavericks, yet I wouldn’t be surprised to see Toronto exercise some caution. In such a scenario, Olynyk would be the only big man remaining in the Raptors’ usual rotation, though Chris Boucher ($3,600) would surely see some minutes in an emergency role. Olynyk has been quite solid since being traded to Canada, averaging 1.13 DKFP per minute in his six contests with Toronto. If he starts, he’ll rightfully be quite popular.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $350K Micro-Max [$100K to 1st, 150 Entry Max]
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is theglt13) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
