An injury-depleted Pelicans squad travels to Phoenix tonight to face the Suns after their huge win against the Golden State Warriors. This Showdown slate will come down to who suits up for the Pelicans and who can guess their rotations and usage correctly. Here are the NBA DFS top plays we can invest in for our lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings!
 

 

New Orleans Pelicans vs Phoenix Suns

NBA Injury News

New Orleans Pelicans injuries

Phoenix Suns injuries

NBA DFS Showdown Slate Picks

MVP/CAPTAIN

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns

Booker made headlines for his spat with Klay Thompson this week, but he should also be praising him for his consistent play. Devin Booker has been between 45 and 53 fantasy points in each of his first three games and has not shot below 48% in any contest so far. While the Phoenix Suns rank 23rd in pace this year, the New Orleans Pelicans are middle of the pack so this is a pace-up spot for the Sun. Booker’s minutes have been slightly down to 35 lately, but the usage is sitting at 29%. Considering the health issues of many of the Pelicans, he is my favorite pick for the MVP slot tonight. 

Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

As you can tell from the New Orleans injury report, every starter is Out or Questionable except for Jonas Valanciunas, and that includes Herbert Jones, who is Questionable as the replacement for a concussed Brandon Ingram. Some of these players will end up suiting up and should soak up a lot of usage from those who are out, so let’s start with the best fantasy options in that scenario. Zion looks like the beast from two years ago this year and is averaging 1.27 fantasy points per minute. He has been consistently right at 30 minutes per night as the Pelicans don’t want to push him too early, but he has a great chance to double-double tonight with Ingram and potentially McCollum on the bench. 

CJ McCollum, New Orleans Pelicans

If McCollum does end up playing he might be the best wing option available in this game. Brandon Ingram and his 29% usage rate will be gone, so McCollum has an excellent chance to ramp up his own 26% usage numbers. Alvarado is not a shooter, and Herbert Jones is there for his defense, so this is going to be the McCollum and Zion show in what should be a very fast-paced, competitive affair. The total on this game is already up to 225.5 tonight. 

UTILITY 

Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns

Paul may now be of the age where we don’t see many transcendent fantasy performances anymore, but he is still a consistent source of points per dollar on these Showdown slates. The minutes are just fine for Paul to start the year (34 per game), and he is averaging 37 fantasy points per game, including torching the hated Warriors for 42 on Tuesday. We can more realistically predict around 35 fantasy points each night for Paul, with a ceiling for more tonight in a pace-up spot. Jose Alvarado might be pesky, but I’ll take the savvy Paul in this matchup. 

Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns

Ayton bounced back from a game on Sunday when was saddled with fouls to score 41 fantasy points on Tuesday. His presence in the paint will be desperately needed tonight as Jonas Valanciunas will be asked to play an oversized role because of all the injuries for New Orleans. But Ayton in the paint all night should lead to a big fantasy performance. The Pelicans rank 26th in the league, allowing opponents to make shots up to nine feet away from the basket (50%).  

Jonas Valanciunas, New Orleans Pelicans

Some of Alvarado, McCollum, Jones, and Williamson will surely play tonight. But if for some reason they do not, J-Val would be the DFS play of the century. Even with all of the Pelicans that have been in the lineup, Valanciunas averages 37.5 fantasy points per game. My prediction in this game is that his minutes will be much closer to 30 than the 23 we saw in the last two games. He obviously gets the biggest bump if Zion Williamson misses as New Orleans will be desperate for rebounds and paint scoring. 

DART THROWS

Jock Landale, Phoenix Suns

There was much debate before the season about who would play the backup role to Deandre Ayton in Phoenix: Jock Landale or Bismack Biyambo? It’s clearly been all Landale so far and he is trending up in the most important stat of all – minutes. He was at 22 minutes in the Suns’ last game against the Warriors, and he also crossed the 20-fantasy point threshold for the second straight time. His minutes have increased in every game this year and his salary is way too low for the time on the court. I wish he was a little bit cheaper than $4,000 on DraftKings, as he probably only has a ceiling for 6x at that salary, but if for some reason this turns into a blowout, Landale could end up getting a lot of run. 

Herbert Jones, New Orleans Pelicans

Jones is in line for major starters’ minutes tonight assuming he starts for the injured Brandon Ingram. His minutes have shifted up the past three games anyway from 28 to 35 on Sunday. So now we just have to hope that his knee issue is behind him and he is ready to go. His fantasy production has been somewhat disappointing so far (16.8 per game). Still, he will be forced into a larger role tonight, especially considering the wing defense they will need against Devin Booker and Miles Bridges. 

 

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