NBA DFS Position Coach: December 29

Often when I put together my lineups I think about which positions I want to fill first, and that is a useful exercise of Thursday’s slate as well. Both shooting guard and power forward have one very good, safe player followed mostly by riskier, cheaper options. Filling those positions first will give you a great idea of how you need to spend your money on the rest of your lineup.

Another way to go about it is to figure out how you want to exploit the best matchups of the slate and then go from there. With just six games Thursday there are not a lot of tasty matchups, so you would do well to make sure you take advantage of matchups with the Lakers, Suns and 76ers. If you pay up for Kevin Love and Avery Bradley, you might have a tough time affording many good players with good matchups.

Point Guard

Given the uncertainty surrounding George Hill, the prudent move would probably be to avoid Utah’s point guards altogether. That being said, they have a great matchup with Philadelphia, and Hill or Shelvin Mack would be terrific plays if we knew for sure they would play 30 minutes. If Hill is out Mack is a no-brainer, but I will probably play whoever gets the start. If Hill starts that is probably an indication the Jazz intend to throw him back into the fire like they did when he returned from injury the first time, playing 29 minutes against the Nuggets. If Mack starts, I’m willing to take the chance he gets most of the point guard minutes, even if Hill is active.

There isn’t a ton to separate the non-Westbrook tier of point guards in Thursday’s slate, so if you want to save some money on the likes of Kemba Walker or Eric Bledsoe, I won’t try to talk you out of it. That being said, you probably want some exposure to the Suns, and the safest way to do that is with Toronto’s backcourt. Kyle Lowry has scored at least 23 points in four consecutive games, and even if his scoring is down a bit, he should get enough rebounds and assists to not kill you.

Deron Williams crashed and burned Tuesday against the Rockets, but he is still averaging16.3 points, 2.6 rebounds and 7.0 assists in his last 10 games. With Goran Dragic, Mike Conley and George Hill all dealing with injuries, Williams offers a nice opportunity to save some money at point guard without taking on a ton of risk.

Shooting Guard

I probably prefer DeMar DeRozan slightly over Kyle Lowry, mostly because DeRozan plays a weaker position. That being said, I have no problem if you want to play both guys and save some money elsewhere.

If you want to save money at shooting guard, your options are basically to play Avery Bradley or take a risk with somebody cheaper. Bradley still hasn’t had fewer than 11 points and three rebounds in a game this season. Not even Nicolas Batum and Devin Booker are locks to put up those numbers, much less the cheaper guys.

Speaking of the cheaper guys, I think I am willing to take a shot on Josh Richardson and Nik Stauskas. Richardson finally put together a good game Tuesday after failing to top 11 points in eight consecutive games. Richardson’s scoring could fall again, but his minutes and usage should remain high if Goran Dragic is out again.

Stauskas should see increased minutes as well thanks to Gerald Henderson’s injury, though Hollis Thompson will be involved as well. Stauskas has been inconsistent even when he has gotten more playing time, but he is much cheaper than Josh Richardson, especially on DraftKings.

I’m not ready yet to call Wesley Matthews safe, but he does have at least 16 points in four consecutive games. The Lakers are almost as bad defensively as the Suns, and somebody on Dallas is going to get some points.

Small Forward

Norman Powell is averaging 15.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.4 steals as a starter this season. If DeMarre Carroll sits Thursday, it would be extremely difficult to fade Powell.

T.J. Warren has played at least 29 minutes in four consecutive games, averaging 18.0 points and 5.0 rebounds over that span. Jae Crowder may be slightly safer, but Warren is cheaper and playing much better lately.

In his only game against the Lakers this season, Harrison Barnes scored 31 points in 40 minutes. Even if he doesn’t get to 30 in this contest, Barnes is a safe play against a bad defense, and he is much cheaper than Gordon Hayward, who has a pretty nice matchup of his own against Philadelphia.

Power Forward

Dragan Bender has scored 10 or more points in four of the five games he has played 20 minutes, including each of Phoenix’s last two games. Bender seems like a safe bet to play significant minutes again Thursday, especially if the Suns fall behind again.

One of the reasons I like Bender is that so many of the power forwards who cost a bit more are just as risky. I don’t see any reason to mess around with the likes of Marvin Williams or Derrick Favors when Bender has been just as good this week.

If you do pay up at power forward, your only real options are Kevin Love and Julius Randle. I love Randle as an upside play in GPP games, but unfortunately his 25 point, 12 rebound three assist game Tuesday was more the exception than the rule. Kevin Love is far safer than Randle, but of course, you have to pay for that safety. It is also worth noting that while it looks like Kyrie Irving will play Thursday, Love had 29 points and 13 rebounds in the only game he played without Kyrie this season.

Center

Joel Embiid will sit Thursday, and while a lot of him minutes will go to Nerlens Noel, Jahlil Okafor should play more as well. Okafor is the better, safer play, but Noel is worth a shot on DraftKings where he costs just $3,700.

Rudy Gobert had his 11^th consecutive double-double Tuesday, and it is hard to believe Okafor or Noel will slow him down. Gobert should be the safest center for DFS again Thursday.

Jonas Valanciunas played just 21 minutes against the Warriors Wednesday, so he should be relatively fresh against the Suns. Valanciunas has six double-doubles in his last 10 games, and no team has allowed more points than the Suns this season.