Often when I say you have to go cheap at a given position I am using a bit of hyperbole, but considering Avery Bradley and Klay Thompson are the most expensive shooting guards in Thursday’s slate, you pretty much have to go cheap at shooting guard. I am not sure I love any of the really cheap shooting guard options, but it may be worth taking on a little extra risk at that position since you aren’t passing up a sure thing to do so.
Point guard is nearly the complete opposite of shooting guard. There are plenty of attractive options, but you will have to pay for them. I will probably fill both guard positions last since I think there are more difficult decisions at the other positions.
Speaking of difficult decisions, I think you pretty much have to pay up at center, especially for cash lineups. You don’t necessarily have to pay for the top option, though I will, but I don’t see any reason to mess around with guys like Joakim Noah or Timofey Mozgov.
Point Guard
Among teams playing Thursday, only the Nets have allowed more points, and only the Nets and Warriors have allowed more fantasy points to point guards than the Lakers. Goran Dragic is one of the only Miami players you can count on to take advantage of this matchup, though Tyler Johnson should be pretty safe for cash games as well.
The biggest risk for the Warriors is that the starters only play three quarters, but even then they should put up some big numbers. Stephen Curry scored 25 points in 30 minutes Tuesday, and we could see similar production Thursday.
Derrick Rose has at least 20 points in four of his last six games, which coincidentally are the four games in which he didn’t reinjure his back. I never thought I would say this, but Rose appears to be safe for DFS, and it doesn’t hurt that D.J. Augustin is starting for Orlando.
Jeff Teague has at least 17 points, four rebounds and eight assists in each of the four games Rodney Stuckey has missed. After a rough start with his new team, Teague appears to be one of the safer point guards for DFS.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | GP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Goran Dragic | MIA | H | LAL | 24 | 34.3 | 80% | 1.5 | 19.1 | 4.1 | 6.7 | 1 | 0.2 | 3.2 | 45% | 26.54% | 33.2 | 35.8 | 33.4 | 34 | $7,400 | $7,400 | $5,700 |
| Tyler Johnson | MIA | H | LAL | 27 | 31.1 | 74% | 1.3 | 13.4 | 4.6 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 43% | 19.98% | 26.2 | 27.6 | 26.4 | 26.8 | $5,700 | $5,500 | $4,750 |
| Derrick Rose | NYK | H | ORL | 24 | 31.3 | 84% | 0.3 | 16.7 | 4 | 4.5 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 46% | 25.65% | 28 | 29.7 | 28.2 | 28.2 | $6,400 | $6,300 | $4,800 |
| Stephen Curry | GSW | A | BKN | 29 | 33 | 93% | 3.8 | 24.7 | 4.3 | 5.8 | 1.7 | 0.2 | 2.8 | 47% | 28.58% | 39.5 | 43 | 39.8 | 41.4 | $8,700 | $8,100 | $6,600 |
| Jeff Teague | IND | H | BOS | 30 | 32.1 | 83% | 0.9 | 15.4 | 4.1 | 7.3 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 2.5 | 42% | 23.06% | 33.4 | 35.4 | 33.7 | 33.9 | $7,700 | $7,100 | $5,400 |
Shooting Guard
Klay Thompson may always be more of a GPP play while his teammates are healthy, but he feels relatively safe Thursday, especially in such a weak shooting guard class. The Nets allow 10.9 three-pointers and 24.0 assists per game this season, so Thompson should get some open catch-and-shoot opportunities.
As much as I like Klay Thompson, it is easy to picture any one of Klay, Avery Bradley or Evan Fournier leading the position in fantasy points Thursday. Fournier has topped 20 points in five of his last six games, and he has at least 14 points in eight straight games. Fournier is cheaper than Bradley and Thompson, which is as good a reason as any to start him.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | GP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Klay Thompson | GSW | A | BKN | 29 | 33.5 | 89% | 2.8 | 21.4 | 3.5 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 48% | 25.62% | 29 | 31.4 | 29.1 | 30.4 | $6,300 | $6,500 | $5,300 |
| Evan Fournier | ORL | A | NYK | 30 | 33.3 | 84% | 1.9 | 17.7 | 2.9 | 3.5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 45% | 23.71% | 26.4 | 28.5 | 26.6 | 27.4 | $6,000 | $6,000 | $4,900 |
| Josh Richardson | MIA | H | LAL | 19 | 29.4 | 73% | 1.6 | 10.4 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 1.3 | 38% | 18.31% | 18.4 | 20.1 | 18.6 | 19.3 | $4,200 | $4,800 | $3,900 |
Small Forward
One of the challenges of Thursday’s slate will be choosing which Warriors to play. Even though there are some good small forwards going, Kevin Durant has by far the best matchup. I will probably have Durant in more lineups than Steph Curry.
Paul George may not be quite at as safe as Kawhi Leonard, but I think he has a better chance to top 30 points or get a double-double. And as for safety, George has scored 30 or more points in seven of his last 10 games.
I should just copy and paste what I wrote about Justise Winslow Tuesday. He benefited from double-overtime in that game, but also the injuries to Dion Waiters, Wayne Ellington and Rodney McGruder. Winslow has a high floor and is one of the only cheap plays you can trust in a weak slate.
In his last three games, Josh Richardson is 8-34 from the field. Sooner or later the shots have to start falling, and it is encouraging he has taken at least 11 shots in each of those games. If shooting guard was stronger I would have moved on from Richardson, but there is upside here and the risk is pretty small for GPP lineups.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | GP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Kevin Durant | GSW | A | BKN | 29 | 34 | 87% | 1.9 | 25.7 | 8.4 | 4.6 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 54% | 27.55% | 45.9 | 48.4 | 46.3 | 46.8 | $9,600 | $9,000 | $7,150 |
| Paul George | IND | H | BOS | 23 | 35.6 | 92% | 2.3 | 21.8 | 7 | 3.1 | 1.8 | 0.3 | 3 | 45% | 27.49% | 36.1 | 39.1 | 36.4 | 37.2 | $7,900 | $7,900 | $6,100 |
| Justise Winslow | MIA | H | LAL | 13 | 34.7 | 62% | 0.5 | 10.9 | 4.4 | 3.4 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 35% | 19.67% | 23.3 | 24.6 | 23.5 | 23.5 | $4,700 | $5,100 | $4,550 |
Power Forward
James Johnson had 12 points, eight rebounds and six assists in 28 minutes Tuesday, and he should see similar minutes if Rodney McGruder is out Thursday. That may be Johnson’s ceiling, but he has a high floor for such a cheap power forward.
If McGruder plays, or you still don’t trust James Johnson, Thaddeus Young is a slightly more expensive alternative. Young has scored at least 12 points in three consecutive games, but even if he fails to reach that plateau Thursday, he should be good for a handful of rebounds and a couple of steals as well. Young has topped 20 points four times this season, so he has a pretty decent ceiling as well.
If you are looking for the power forward with the highest ceiling relative to his price, Julius Randle probably has to be in at least one GPP lineup. We know Randle has triple-double upside, and he could see a few more minutes with Larry Nance Jr. out.
At one point it looked like they couldn’t play together, but Kristaps Porzingis has at least 21 points and eight rebounds in each of the last three games Derrick Rose has played. You pretty much have to choose between Porzingis and Draymond Green if you want to pay up at power forward, and considering how much I like Draymond’s teammates, I will go with Porzingis.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | GP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| James Johnson | MIA | H | LAL | 25 | 24.4 | 75% | 1 | 10.3 | 4.7 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 0.9 | 1.7 | 49% | 19.06% | 20.5 | 22.1 | 20.8 | 21 | $4,700 | $4,200 | $3,800 |
| Julius Randle | LAL | A | MIA | 28 | 28.7 | 68% | 0.1 | 12.8 | 8.6 | 3.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 50% | 21.97% | 27.8 | 29.8 | 28.3 | 27.9 | $6,300 | $5,800 | $4,800 |
| Thaddeus Young | IND | H | BOS | 30 | 30.9 | 54% | 1 | 11.8 | 6.2 | 1.4 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 54% | 16.52% | 23.1 | 24.8 | 23.5 | 23.6 | $5,000 | $5,400 | $4,400 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | NYK | H | ORL | 28 | 34.6 | 79% | 2.1 | 20.2 | 7.7 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 45% | 24.41% | 34.9 | 37.1 | 35.3 | 35.9 | $7,800 | $7,600 | $6,000 |
Center
The Clippers are kind of a mess, at least for fantasy, with Blake Griffin out. Tuesday’s game got a little out of hand in the second half, but even so, nobody played more than 31 minutes, and that honor belonged to Luc Mbah a Moute, who nearly matched his season high. As much as I would love for Austin Rivers and Marreese Speights to emerge as legit DFS options, it hasn’t happened yet, which means DeAndre Jordan is the only Clipper worth playing Thursday. Jordan didn’t exactly explode with Blake Griffin out, but he did have his fourth consecutive double-double in just 26 minutes.
No team has allowed more points in the paint than the Lakers, and if Miami is going to score in the paint that means a big day for Hassan Whiteside. The Lakers do not have anyone with the size and athleticism to keep Whiteside out of the paint and off the boards.
Will somebody tell Myles Turner to grab a damn rebound? He is still looking for his first double-digit rebounding game in December, which is almost criminal considering his size and athleticism. That being said, he has double-digit points in nine consecutive games.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | GP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Hassan Whiteside | MIA | H | LAL | 29 | 33.9 | 53% | 0 | 18.1 | 14.8 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 2.4 | 2 | 55% | 23.89% | 41.2 | 42.9 | 41.9 | 41.2 | $9,300 | $9,200 | $6,500 |
| DeAndre Jordan | LAC | H | SAS | 29 | 31.7 | 55% | 0 | 11.8 | 13 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 1.4 | 67% | 14.64% | 31.7 | 33.1 | 32.3 | 31.7 | $7,400 | $6,900 | $5,650 |
| Myles Turner | IND | H | BOS | 29 | 29.4 | 80% | 0.6 | 15.5 | 7.3 | 1 | 0.8 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 54% | 20.94% | 30.9 | 32.3 | 31.3 | 31.2 | $6,700 | $6,600 | $5,300 |