Happy Hump Day! We’ve got a whopping 10 NBA games to pick from tonight, and thanks to some postponements we had just two games on Tuesday, meaning no teams will be on the second night of a back-to-back. Because of this, we won’t have the normal ability to pick values from the benches of tired teams, but we still have a plethora of options out there for your DraftKings lineups. We’re already running through some lower-cost options, but more could be available later on in the day with injury news coming in, so be sure to follow @dklive on Twitter and download the DK Live app to stay up-to-the-minute with all the latest news leading up to tipoff. We’ll let you know who should see an uptick in minutes.
There are plenty of high-profile, high-priced options that are worth considering at the top of the salary structure, but you’ll need to balance out some of those hefty salaries with some cheap plays as well. Check out these four players who seem primed to outproduce their minimal salaries based on form, matchup and expected workload.
Editor’s Note: Tonight’s game between the Trail Blazers and Grizzlies is being postponed due to contact tracing, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $500K Excellent 8’s [$100K to 1st]
PF Carmelo Anthony, Portland Trail Blazers vs. Memphis Grizzlies, $4,700
I know, starting off with someone all the way up at $4,700 is a tough look, but hear me out. The price on Enes Kanter ($6,300) has been adjusted to reflect the loss of Jusuf Nurkic for the Trail Blazers, but Melo’s hasn’t.
No, Melo is not the center now with Nurk out, but Portland has been asking him to play a vital role with its starting center on the shelf. The Trail Blazers love benching Kanter and playing small-ball lineups with Melo on the floor, as they did the night Nurkic went down, and they’ve had great success in doing so. Considering they’ve had some mixed results of late on offense, I suspect they might give Anthony some good run here, and it’s important to note that Memphis has struggled to defend the three against forwards this season, and his matchup (presumably Brandon Clarke) is allowing threes to fall at a 39.6% rate this season.
PF/C Xavier Tillman, Memphis Grizzles at Portland Trail Blazers, $3,500
Let’s stay in this game, because on the other side of the ball the Grizzlies are going to be without one of their centerpieces in big man Jonas Valanciunas due to the league’s health and safety protocols. We saw Tillman start in Valanciunas’s place last time out against Phoenix, and he delivered with 25 DKFP in 29 minutes, on the heels of 31 DKFP in 28 minutes versus Philly. He should easily hit value here and has a tasty matchup against Enes Kanter, who isn’t exactly known for his defense, and has been particularly bad this season with a 110 Defensive Rating.
SG/SF Dwayne Bacon, Orlando Magic at Minnesota Timberwolves, $3,600
This isn’t my favorite play in the world, but the price is too good to ignore here on a guy that should once again see upwards of 30 minutes. The Magic haven’t really had much success on offense this year, but that may change against Minnesota, who ranks third-to-last in the NBA allowing over 113 points per 100 possessions. Bacon is averaging double-digit field goal attempts over the past seven games, mainly due to the decimation of Orlando’s guards. Michael Carter-Williams and Evan Fournier remain out, so it’s probably time to throw some Bacon in the oven (the best way to cook bacon) once again on this slate to achieve some delicious results.
PG/SG Kendrick Nunn, Miami Heat at Toronto Raptors, $4,000
I don’t expect the Heat to win this game, or even have a fantastic offensive night, but someone is going to have to score the ball here. Miami’s whole offense of late has been Bam Adebayo ($8,600), and he should be incredibly limited on Wednesday by the best paint defense in the league judging by FG%. With Miami down, and unable to score down low, they should just start launching threes, and that’s where Nunn should come in. Not only has he averaged 30 minutes over the past two games, but Tyler Herro ($7,000) and Goran Dragic ($5,700) are listed as questionable. You’re going to want to be sure Nunn actually sees the floor before deploying him, but if he is expected to see the floor he’ll be a strong play. Keep an eye out for news on the status of those two Heat guards by following @dklive on Twitter and downloading the DK Live app.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $500K Excellent 8’s [$100K to 1st]
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