Milwaukee Bucks @ Los Angeles Lakers

It’s Trade Deadline day, which makes for a strange NBA Showdown matchup tonight between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers. With both of these teams making deadline-day deals, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to who is active for each team relative to who is available on each site to play. None of the new Lakers from any of their trades are available, and the same goes for Jae Crowder with the Bucks, so lineup shenanigans are sure to come tonight. We will have to get creative while also avoiding the traded players still listed in the player pool on both sites. Here are the NBA DFS top plays we can invest in for our lineups on FanDuel and DraftKings!

 

 

NBA Injury Report

Milwaukee Injuries:

Serge Ibaka – OUT

Bobby Portis – OUT

Joe Ingles – OUT

Giannis Antetokuonmpo – PROBABLE

NOTE: New Bucks player Jae Crowder is not available to roster on the DraftKings or FanDuel Showdown Slate

Los Angeles Injuries:

LeBron James – QUESTIONABLE

Anthony Davis – PROBABLE

NOTE: New Lakers players D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Mo Bamba, and Devon Reed are not available to roster on the DraftKings or FanDuel Showdown Slate. 

 

MVP/CAPTAIN

Giannis Antetokounmpo (PF)

Giannis’ streak of 60-fantasy-point games was halted at six when he scored “only” 50.75 against the Blazers three nights ago. But I have little doubt that he will be right back up around 60 fantasy points against a depleted Lakers squad that was already the third-worst team against power forwards over the last seven games. He scored 57 fantasy points against them last time out, and I consider that the floor tonight. He should own the majority of your shares in your MVP slot tonight. 

LeBron James (SF)

After breaking the all-time scoring record on Tuesday, LeBron James is Questionable for this game with his nagging ankle injury.  But he may have no choice but to play after the Lakers traded away Russell Westbrook, Pat Beverley, Thomas Bryant, and Juan Toscano-Anderson before the deadline. With Anthony Davis in a bit of a slump, LeBron has been carrying the Lakers and scored 61 fantasy points against them when they played earlier this season. 

Anthony Davis (C)

A poor game against Oklahoma City on Tuesday (31 fantasy points) contributes to his salary dropping well below LeBron and Giannis tonight, and he also has the toughest individual matchup of any contender for the MVP slot tonight. But Davis had his second-best game of the season against Milwaukee the last time they played when he poured in 71 fantasy points including 44 actual points. With all of Russell Westbrook’s scoring and rebounding no longer available, it should open an opportunity for both LeBron and Davis to pad their stats in this competitive home game tonight. 

 

UTILITY 

Jrue Holiday (PG)

Three straight games under 38 fantasy points don’t dissuade me one bit from using Holiday tonight against a Lakers team ranked 20th in defensive rating this season and 28th in points allowed to point guards. In one of his past three games, he shot under 30% from the floor and in the other, he only took nine shots and dished out two assists in 34 minutes. Both were around his season-lows for a full game this season for Holiday. He got back on track with 20 points and eight assists in his last game and smoked the Lakers for 53 fantasy points the last time they played.

Brook Lopez (C)

Brook Lopez is in a great spot tonight with only Anthony Davis available as a true frontcourt presence for the Lakers. Los Angeles already allows the fourth-most fantasy points to centers this season including 22 points, 16 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks per game against the position. The Lakers also allow the fifth-most rebounds to the center position this year as well as the sixth-most blocks. Bobby Portis are both still out for this game and Serge Ibaka was just traded, so the minutes should be secure if he stays out of foul trouble.  

Dennis Schroder (PG)

All of a sudden, Schroder looks around the Lakers’ locker room and finds himself as the only true point guard. At least for tonight. Until D’Angelo Russell arrives, Schroder will have the position to himself and should approach a season-high in minutes and will be the primary ball-handler behind LeBron James. He scores 0.80 fantasy points per minute with no Westbrook and Beverley on the floor this season, so at his salary, it’s hard to avoid Schroder and the oversized role he should play. 

 

DART THROWS

Jevon Carter (PG/SG)

If the trend from the Bucks’ last game continues, Jevon Carter should get a ton of minutes as the backup to both Jrue Holiday and Grayson Allen. He topped 21 minutes against the Blazers on Tuesday, scoring more than 25 fantasy points and shooting 57% from the field. With George Hill and Jordan Nwora traded and Joe Ingles out for this game, there are not a lot of bench players left who can score for Milwaukee. Carter will immediately be called upon and will have a big role in this game if it turns into a blowout. 

Lonnie Walker IV (SG/SF)

A trade of Patrick Beverley and Russell Westbrook should open up a ton of minutes at the shooting guard position tonight for the Lakers. They did welcome Austin Reaves back, but Walker was already playing 16-19 minutes per game and that should increase to around 22-24 tonight. Walker scored 20 fantasy points against the Bucks in their last game and has scored over 14 fantasy points in four of six games. His $2,000 salary on DK is just way too cheap tonight. 

 


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