Well it has been quite the up and down week of NBA DFS. Early in the week I made a bit of a fun run in a 30,000 person GPP before falling a little short but the last couple of days have been small loss or break even nights.
Thursday brings us a small four game slate with a couple fun games and a couple snoozers.
Granted, any game can have its share of great plays just like any high total game can have a star tank, but I think I'll game stack two of these games and then throw a couple mix and match lineups in and be done with it.
Here are my late night/early morning thoughts on the first game on the slate:
Los Angeles Lakers @ Washington Wizards
D'Angelo Russell came back from his injury on Tuesday and put up 51.25 DK points playing 34 minutes against the Denver Nuggets scoring 22 real life points to go with 7 rebounds and a career high 10 assists. His price on DK is still at $5,700 which is extremely low IF he is going to get his full amount of minutes again. There is a very good chance I start all of my lineups with Russell on Thursday night.
Ivica Zubac is starting to emerge as the big man to own on the Lakers. In Tuesday night's game it looked for a while as though Zubac had moved back to the end of the bench as both Tarik Black and Timofey Mozgov both were playing well and stealing all of the minutes. Low and behold, when it came down to crunch time, Zubac was the man that coach Walton trusted on the court and he did not disappoint, scoring a career high (yes, it's early in his career) 17 points and putting up 25.5 DK points. In the three games since he has been getting minutes Zubac has scored 25.5, 31.5 and 33 DK point respectively. At just $3,900 I truly believe Zubac will be one of the highest owned players on tonight's slate.
Lou Williams is better, in my opinion, coming off of the bench so the return of Russell is great for his fantasy perspectives. Most fantasy players will look away from him if he isn't start, but I actually like him a lot more coming off the bench and leading the second unit. Tuesday's game Williams played 24 minutes but took 11 shots and put up 43.25 DK points. I'm a little worried about him matching up against Bradley Beal in spots, but for just $5,700 I will throw him into a few lineups for sure.
John Wall is in a fantastic spot against a Lakers team that severely struggles stopping guards but man his price is HIGH. He should have little to no problem reaching 50+ DK points but are you willing to spend such a huge chunk of your salary on just one guy? It may be worth the gamble in hopes that LA can keep this game close and he gets a full allotment of minutes and if you're game stacking this one then he's a must play. Otherwise, choose your spots wisely.
Bradley Beal continues to produce and his price continues to rise as he now sits at $7,000 on DK. As mentioned in the previous Wizards player, the Lakers have a hard time slowing down guards and Beal has been playing very well of late. He has reached 5x (or close) 5 of his last 6 games and I don't see that slow down tonight. He will be in my cash game lineups but I'm just not sure there is enough upside to be a great GPP play. Again, game stack player - sure - but otherwise I may not have much of him in other GPP lineups.
Kelly Oubre Jr is the cheap guy I like for Washington in this game. Call me crazy, but his minutes has been solid of late and there is a chance the Wizards blow this game out early and Oubre gets to stay on the court and be the main source of offense. His is a very athletic young player that has the ability to shine under the right circumstances and I believe tonight, for GPPs, is a good spot for him to do just that.
Since we are getting late (updating at 5:40pm) I am just going to mention a few more players I like tonight:
Dwight Howard in a revenge game against a Rockets team that he was less than thrilled with while playing there. Facing the revolving door of centers in Houston Howard is in a great spot in theory tonight. Unfortunately, as we have seen many times in the DFS world, theory doesn't mean fact. The Hawks have been absolutely horrible recently and have put up some serious stinkers in the last couple of weeks. In what should be an up-tempo fast paced game one would have to believe the ATL players should have the chance to have great fantasy games and at just $6,900 on DK I am a fan of Howard as one of my cash game guys tonight.
Dennis Schroder will be in a lot of my GPP lineups, but maybe not cash tonight. He has either thrived or tanked in recent weeks (seems to be the same as the rest of this team) so I can't trust him in cash games facing Patrick Beverley defense but at $6,400 I could see him getting 7 or 8x tonight in this potential shootout.
Steph Curry came back after missing the Warriors' previous game with an illness and put on a sick show against the Hornets last night (see what I did there). The only thing that worries me here is playing on a back to back after having the NBA flu just a couple nights ago. With this being a late game we can't really wait for news on if he's for sure playing but if you're confident that he's going to play then he's a great play tonight in all formats. $8,900 on DK and he has been showing flashes of his old MVP form so that price is a steal at the moment.
Kawhi Leonard could be the highest scoring player on tonight slate assuming the 76ers can find a way to make this game competitive. Leonard's usage rate goes through the roof when LaMarcus Aldridge and Pau Gasol are not on the court, which will be the case tonight. Kawhi could be in line for a major game but this one could get out of control pretty quickly as the 76ers are playing without Embiid.
Dewayne Dedmon was in play for me before I heard Aldridge was out so now I will have a bit more of him in my GPPs. I never seem to get David Lee right as he scores about 10 when I start him but 30 when I don't, so I will just avoid him and save myself the headache. At $3,500 I will throw Dedmon into a few GPP lineups tonight as he should be in line for some time on the floor tonight and he seems to produce well when he gets the chance. If this game gets ugly he will see even more time and without Embiid to worry about I like Dewayne's spot here.
Dario Saric did all he could last night to crush me in my games but a garbage time run got him back to value when the final buzzer went off. Embiid is out and Covington is healthy tonight for Philadelphia so Saric should continue to see 20+ minutes on the court. He has shown flashes of the ability to be an offensive weapon and should get the late run if this game blows out. I will have him in several lineups tonight but won't go too over-board.
Well folks, that's all for tonight. With just under an hour to lock please hit me up with any questions you may have and good luck!
