Tonight brings a 5 game slate starting at 7p.m. ET.
The “Droppin Dimes,” article will go over my favorite plays for the slate. It will consist of three to five core plays along with a few additional plays and a few value plays. You won’t always see the highest-priced players or the most obvious plays. Players listed first at each position are my favorite and a good start to build a lineup around.
(Note: All pricing and fantasy points are based on DraftKings but can be used for all sites.)
The NBA is in a tough spot right now with a few teams getting hit hard with COVID. The Heat, Magic, Bucks, Kings and Lakers are all down players.
Players are dropping as the day goes on……….
Keep an eye on the injury status of players as they can be ruled out right before lock.
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Game/s to Target
Lakers/Kings
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CORE
D’Aaron Fox (PG), Sacramento Kings ($7100)
The price has come down a lot on Fox as of late from over 8k to just over 7k. This price is way too cheap for what Fox is capable of, especially against the much faster paced Lakers and Russell Westbrook “lack of defense”. Yes, his box scores have not been that good over the past 5-6 games, but I know that Fox is much better than his production as of late and a nice juicy matchup against the Lakers is a good way to snap out of his funk. His minutes have been solid at around 34/45 per game and his upside is 60 plus.
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Domantas Sabonis (PF/C), Indiana Pacers ($9900)
The Pacers have been without most of their starting lineup over the past 3 games (Brogdon. Duarte and LeVert) and Sabonis has picked up his play a bit. Averaging 58 FPS in that timeframe with double-doubles in all 3 games and assist rate up. Also, he has played 37, 40 and 39 minutes in that timeframe. The matchup tonight may not be the best against the slow-paced Knicks who have been solid defensively, but the fact that Sabonis has picked a lot of usage and is playing a ton of minutes. Also, the Knicks are a bit beat up as well, so he should do well enough to pay off his salary with some upside in the 60-65 FP range.
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Keifer Sykes (PG), Indiana Pacers ($3500)
As mentioned above, the Pacers are down 3 of their starting guards and they have signed a few players to 10-day contracts. Sykes is one and Duane Washington is the other. They both started last game and played over 30 minutes. Washington ended up scoring 20 points and putting up 27.5 FPs while Sykes played 35 minutes and put up 25 FPs contributing to all categories. I see both of these players in a similar role, but I am going with the less expensive one who was not so reliant on scoring. At his price, Sykes does not much to hit value and if he plays over 30 minutes again it should be easy.
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TOP PAY-UP OPTIONS
- Fred VanVleet
- LeBron James
- Malik Monk
NOTES:
FPPM= Fantasy Points Per Minute, FPPG= Fantasy Points Per Game, PPG=Points per Game, Value=Projected points/salary(This will differ depending on the site).
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Also consider: Ja Morant, Derrick White
Value: Tre Jones, Immanuel Quickley, Cameron Payne
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Also consider: Desmond Bane, Buddy Hield
Value: Nikeil Alexander-Walker ,Duane Washington Jr.
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Also consider: RJ Barrett, Justin Holiday
Value: Devon Vassell, Keita Bates-Diop
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Also consider: Evan Mobley, Jalen Smith
Value: Lamar Stevens, Herbert Jones,
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Also consider: Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl
Value: Damian Jones
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Dimes Play(GPP Play of the Night) Under 5k Player with low ownership and upside
Bizmack Biyombo-Suns are down both their starting and backup center. Signed Biyombo and he played 18 minutes and put up 24 FPs. At only 3k he should easily hit value against the Pelicans.
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**Options to help build lineups- Take these core plays and enter into optimizer with your favorite settings(rating, FBrating, FBprojections, FunkProjections, ownership or ratings). OR use this article to help you build a lineup with some of your favorite plays. The Dashboard is also a great tool to help build lineups- It contains a good variety of stats and projections from multiple sources.
Good Luck!