Tuesday’s slate is unlike any that I have played so far this season. Usually, I try to cram as many point guards into my lineup as possible while I struggle to find shooting guards and small forwards who don’t make me hate life. Tuesday’s slate is full of shooting guards and small forwards, and while point guard is just fine, power forward and center are pretty drab.
I would start out deciding if you want to play Karl-Anthony Towns or one of the cheaper centers because that will drastically affect the rest of your lineup. From there, you will probably want to pay up at small forward and possibly point guard, and then go cheap from there. There are solid plays at power forward and center, but likely nobody you will really be excited to play.
Point Guard
I always recommend J.J. Barea when Deron Williams is out, and Barea is an even better play with Dirk out as well. Barea has an excellent chance to top six assists for the first time this season.
There are other places I would prefer to save money, especially shooting guard, but I am intrigued by Isaiah Whitehead. He is the closest thing Brooklyn has to a point guard right now, and if the Nets are serious about playing Sean Kilpatrick at shooting guard and playing Randy Foye at backup point guard, Whitehead could get a lot more than the 23 minutes he played Friday. At this price, the downside is pretty low, and Whitehead is averaging 10.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.4 steals per 36 minutes this season.
No team has allowed more points than the Phoenix Suns this season, and it is hard to imagine them slowing down Damian Lillard. All of the other elite point guards have the night off, which makes Lillard even more attractive.
Darren Collison is a bit risky in his first game following his eight-game suspension, but he was very good last season when Rajon Rondo was out, and Ty Lawson certainly didn’t do anything to cut into Collison’s minutes. If nothing else Collison should be well-rested, as opposed to the Pelicans who played last night at Golden State.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| J.J. Barea | DAL | A | LAL | 33.8 | 0 | 14 | 103 | 21 | 31 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 40% | 12.79% | 29 | 31.4 | 29.1 | 30.1 | $5,700 | $6,000 | $4,700 |
| Isaiah Whitehead | BKN | H | MIN | $4,400 | $3,900 | $3,000 | |||||||||||||||
| Damian Lillard | POR | H | PHX | 36.3 | 0 | 20 | 224 | 40 | 34 | 6 | 1 | 20 | 50% | 21.03% | 45.3 | 48.4 | 45.6 | 46.7 | $9,800 | $9,100 | $6,800 |
| Darren Collison | SAC | H | NOP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0% | NAN% | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | $6,500 | $6,200 | $4,900 |
Shooting Guard
Gary Harris got his first start of the season Sunday, scoring 12 points with four rebounds in 22 minutes. Harris could see 30 or more minutes Tuesday, especially if Wilson Chandler is out.
Wesley Matthews took 17 shots, including 14 threes, Sunday despite only making three of them. If Deron Williams is out again the Mavs will need Matthews to take a ton of shots again, and odds are he will shoot better than 18 percent from the field.
In the three games Ricky Rubio has missed, Zach LaVine has scored 31, 14 and four points. I no longer consider him a cash game play, but a cheap shooting guard with the potential to score 30+ has to be a GPP consideration. The Nets are allowing 107.3 points per game this season.
Nick Young is enigmatic at best, but he played a season-high 36 minutes Sunday with Larry Nance Jr. going down, and his 22 points and seven rebounds were both season-highs as well. The Mavericks have allowed the highest three-point percentage and second-highest made threes to opponents this season and Nick Young is averaging 2.1 made threes per game this season.
Kyle Korver is out Tuesday following the birth of his son, and while Thabo Sefolosha may get the start to match up with LeBron James, Tim Hardaway Jr. figures to see increased minutes, and he has the best chance of producing for fantasy. Hardaway scored 26 points in 21 minutes against the Lakers last week, and at the very least he should be a GPP play.
If you can’t afford Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum is a cheaper way to get some exposure to the Suns. McCollum had 24 points, four rebounds and four assists against the Suns last week.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Zach LaVine | MIN | A | BKN | 32.4 | 0 | 14 | 89 | 21 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 45% | 12.58% | 26 | 28.5 | 26.3 | 27.4 | $5,900 | $6,300 | $4,800 |
| Gary Harris | DEN | A | MEM | 18.5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 40% | 8.20% | 15.2 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 15.5 | $4,600 | $4,600 | $4,000 |
| Wesley Matthews | DAL | A | LAL | 37.7 | 0 | 13 | 79 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 1 | 9 | 28% | 8.51% | 21 | 22.9 | 21.1 | 22 | $4,600 | $5,000 | $4,300 |
| Nick Young | LAL | H | DAL | 26.7 | 0 | 15 | 96 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 43% | 9.57% | 20.5 | 22 | 20.7 | 21.6 | $4,000 | $4,000 | $3,800 |
| Tim Hardaway Jr. | ATL | A | CLE | 20.3 | 0 | 9 | 72 | 12 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 48% | 13.25% | 16.6 | 17.8 | 16.7 | 17.3 | $3,600 | $3,600 | $3,300 |
| C.J. McCollum | POR | H | PHX | 34.4 | 0 | 17 | 150 | 33 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 16 | 46% | 15.04% | 32.7 | 35.3 | 32.9 | 33.9 | $7,100 | $7,100 | $5,350 |
Small Forward
LeBron James appears to have set his sights on averaging a triple-double, and he can probably get one in this game if he wants to. LeBron averaged 27.3 points, 11.0 rebounds, 7.7 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.7 steals against the Hawks last season, all of which were above his season averages. The Cavs are home and haven’t played since Saturday, so LeBron should be well-rested.
Harrison Barnes played 48 minutes Sunday, and while he will probably get some sort of rest against the Lakers, he should still get 40+ minutes. Barnes matches up well against the Lakers with Larry Nance Jr. out, and he has an excellent chance at a double-double.
Dorian Finney-Smith played 32 minutes Sunday, and while he did very little with those minutes, anyone with that much playing time is worth considering, especially in a GPP. Like everyone in Dallas, his value depends on Deron Williams’s availability.
I’ve already mentioned how much I like the matchup against the Suns, and Maurice Harkless has the dual honor of being the cheapest small forward I trust as well as the cheapest Trail Blazer I trust. He had 13 points, five rebounds and two assists against the Suns last week, and he could produce similar numbers Tuesday.
The Kings host the Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back, but the only ways to take advantage of the matchup are to pay up for DeMarcus Cousins, take a chance on Darren Collison in his first game of the season, take a chance on a bunch of other guys who aren’t very good, or play Rudy Gay. I will likely elect to pay for Gay, especially on DraftKings where he only costs $100 more than Harrison Barnes.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| LeBron James | CLE | H | ATL | 36.3 | 0 | 7 | 137 | 53 | 64 | 4 | 2 | 22 | 49% | 18.07% | 47.8 | 50.6 | 48.2 | 48.4 | $9,900 | $9,900 | $7,250 |
| Dorian Finney-Smith | DAL | A | LAL | 7.2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 17% | 3.68% | 3.4 | 3.6 | 3.4 | 3.5 | $3,500 | $3,000 | $3,000 |
| Harrison Barnes | DAL | A | LAL | 38.5 | 0 | 8 | 125 | 39 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 49% | 12.95% | 29.8 | 31.4 | 30.1 | 30.5 | $5,700 | $6,700 | $4,800 |
| Rudy Gay | SAC | H | NOP | 34.1 | 0 | 9 | 158 | 37 | 15 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 50% | 17.02% | 34.4 | 36.2 | 34.7 | 35.1 | $7,400 | $6,800 | $5,650 |
| Moe Harkless | POR | H | PHX | 30.6 | 0 | 8 | 76 | 27 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 48% | 8.48% | 19.1 | 20.3 | 19.3 | 19.6 | $4,700 | $4,500 | $4,000 |
Power Forward
I am extremely interested to see how the Mavericks try to match up with Julius Randle. I don’t think Harrison Barnes is up to the task.
Gorgui Dieng began the season with two consecutive double-doubles but his production fell off when he began facing teams with two productive big men. This is the best matchup he has had in over a week, and I like his chances at another double-double Tuesday.
Trevor Booker is the ultimate GPP play. He has three double-doubles this season, and if he picks up his fourth Tuesday he will have well outperformed his price. In the three games where he didn’t have a double-double, Booker is averaging 5.7 points and 6.3 rebounds. Julius Randle and Gorgui Dieng are probably safer, but Booker has a chance at similar production at a cheaper price.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Julius Randle | LAL | H | DAL | 27.7 | 0 | 1 | 101 | 55 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 60% | 14.50% | 28.7 | 30.4 | 29.1 | 28.8 | $6,300 | $6,700 | $5,000 |
| Gorgui Dieng | MIN | A | BKN | 31.4 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 45 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 55% | 10.35% | 27.8 | 29.3 | 28.3 | 27.8 | $6,000 | $6,500 | $5,100 |
| Trevor Booker | BKN | H | MIN | 26.5 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 57 | 11 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 49% | 8.59% | 27.7 | 28.6 | 28.1 | 27.7 | $5,300 | $4,900 | $4,300 |
Center
The only thing holding back Karl-Anthony Towns right now are inconsistent rebounding numbers, but only three teams have allowed more rebounds per game than the Nets. Towns should be able to do whatever he wants offensively against Brook Lopez.
Only four teams have allowed more rebounds than the Trail Blazers this season, and Portland does not have anyone who can keep Tyson Chandler off the glass. Chandler had a season-high 18 rebounds against the Trail Blazers last week.
If it feels like I am recommending every Dallas starter, it is because I am. Andrew Bogut played 34 minutes Sunday and had 16 rebounds. He still hasn’t scored more than six points in a game this season, but that could change against a Lakers team that is allowing 108.4 points per game.
| PLAYER | TM | H/A | OPP | MPG | FT% | 3PTM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | FG% | USAGE | FDPTS/G | DKPTS/G | ACEPTS/G | YPTS/G | $FD | $DK | $FA |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | MIN | A | BKN | 34.4 | 0 | 8 | 112 | 40 | 15 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 54% | 16.73% | 38.7 | 41 | 39.1 | 39.5 | $8,700 | $8,500 | $6,400 |
| Tyson Chandler | PHX | A | POR | 28.7 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 93 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 68% | 8.19% | 24.4 | 25.8 | 25 | 24.4 | $4,800 | $5,000 | $4,400 |
| Andrew Bogut | DAL | A | LAL | 25.2 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 57 | 9 | 3 | 2 | 11 | 46% | 8.31% | 20.2 | 21.9 | 20.8 | 20.2 | $4,500 | $4,200 | $4,100 |