Happy Friday, y’all! We have a 10 game slate kicking off at 7:00 pm EST tonight and it’s a doozy to end the work week! We’re currently awaiting some injury news, mainly with Bradley Beal and Joel Embiid. It doesn’t look like Beal is going to play, but as of now he still hasn’t officially been ruled out. Embiid was seen with a heavily wrapped knee earlier today during shootaround and if he can’t go, Andre Drummond because the best value of the entire slate and you don’t need to read the rest of this column! Kidding...sort of. Below are some of my favorite values on DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo! Fantasy! 

DraftKings

Jalen Suggs, PG/SG ORL ($4,000)

On the DFSAlarm NBA DFS Podcast last night, Jon Impemba said something that has stuck with me all day. I mentioned how good the Knicks defense was last year and Jon’s rebuttal was that we forgot they added Evan Fournier this year. Fournier is a lot of things but being a good defender is not anywhere close to that list. Suggs had a 26.1 USG% in his first career game and although nothing managed to go in, we like the fact that he hoisted a bunch of shots. He played 30 minutes even in a blowout, had a high usage rate and now has a very strong individual match-up. Garry Harris is still out and nobody is standing in his way to play another 30 minutes here.

Deni Avdija, SF/PF WAS ($3,600)

While everyone pivots to Raul Neto today -- and seemingly everyone is -- I’ll be taking a look at last year’s lottery pick, Deni Avdija. The thing about the Wizards lineup that is being overlooked is that this doesn’t have to be a one-for-one sub. A guard for a guard sub. Washington started Kentavious Caldwell-Pope at small-forward in the first game, so an option they have is to use KCP at SG and slide Avdija into the starting SF spot. Avidja started 32 games last year, so that’s not something he’d be unfamiliar with. He did a little bit of everything in the first game of the season and if/when Beal is ruled out, he could be asked to do more in the scoring department as well.

FanDuel

Bojan Bogdanovic, SF/PF UTA ($5,400)

When you start looking at the entire landscape of the slate, you come to a realization that the UTA/SAC late night hammer is tied for the highest game total on the board at 226.5. The Jazz have the fourth highest team total on the board themselves and the spread is only six. They’re not a great defensive team this year and that’s a big advantage for Bogdanovic and the rest of his teammates. We know Bogdanovic can score as he poured in 22 actual points in his season debut. 

Aaron Gordon, PF DEN ($4,900)

Some may be surprised to see Gordon make this article after I’ve even made a claim within the DFSAlarm discord that he has a low floor, but it is what it is. He has a low floor. But those with low floor’s can also have a ceiling, especially when a player of Gordon’s caliber is just 4.9K. Gordon contributes across the board and is someone who can really make his mark on the defensive end which as we know, means a whole lot on FanDuel with three points for each block and steal. Despite a dominant performance, the Spurs turned the ball over 16 times in their opener and that’s something Gordon can take advantage of tonight.

Yahoo! 

Kyle Kuzma, PF WAS ($15)

With Bradley Beal all but ruled out, Kuzma provides us with some fantastic value on this slate of games. This game’s 228 total in Vegas is one of the best of the slate and with Beal out, a 32% usage rate is left behind. Insert Kuzma who had a very respectable 22.6 USG% in the opener while playing 35 minutes. He should be in line for an even bigger offensive workload with Beal out too. The Wizards are going to lean on Kuzma’s ability to score and his value on Yahoo! is tremendous tonight.

Tyrese Maxey, PG PHI ($14)

Ben Simmons is out and Joel Embiid is questionable. If Embiid sits, Maxey could be Robin to Tobias Harris’ Batman. Maxey did it all in the opener scoring 20 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out five assists. This game features a 226 total, which is one of the best totals on the board. We saw how poor the Nets defense was in the season opener against the Bucks so it wouldn’t be surprising at ALL to see Maxey ball out once again. Let's not ignore the fact that he’s just $4 from minimum salary over on Yahoo! Fantasy. He’s a plug and play whether Embiid plays or not.