Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
HIGH FIVE/low five
Daily Fantasy can be quite the grind! Let us do the grinding for you with “High Five/Low Five”. Each day we help put you in the money by presenting you with FIVE of the “top-tier” plays, as well as a quick list of FIVE “value plays”. Philadelphia 76ers’ PF Thaddeus Young flies high as Monday’s top Daily Fantasy Basketball play.
Let’s rip it up.
HIGH FIVE:
Point Guard: Chris Paul, LAC ($8,800): Chris Paul’s price is rising, but it’s still just a tick or two below where it probably should be, which makes him a good value in comparison to the players priced just above and below him. There’s also great value there considering CP3 has beaten the value threshold of 44 FPs on his current salary in each of the last two games, and is averaging 42.6 FPs in three games since the All-Star break. Tonight’s game is against the New Orleans Pelicans, who rank near the bottom third of the league at defending the PG position, which indicates a plus matchup for a player like Paul, who for all intents and purposes is nearly matchup proof. Another PG that I’m really in love with this evening is Brandon Knight, MIL ($6,700), who I don’t think has the ceiling of Paul, but could perhaps provide a better return on his salary.
Shooting Guard: Monta Ellis, DAL ($6,500): Monta Ellis, as always, is a bit of a risky play, but so are are the rest of the top five to seven shooting guards. That said, we might as well play the guy that has the highest floor relative to his salary if we are going to “spend up” at this position. Ellis has played reasonably well of late, with seven games over 30 FPs in his last 10 contests. Tonight, he has a value threshold of 32.5 FPs and given his recent successes, along with a plus matchup in what should be a close game vs. the New York Knicks (22nd vs. SGs), I like Ellis to get around the 30 FP mark.
Small Forward: J.R. Smith, NY ($5,600): Smith has been starting for the Knicks recently and is averaging just over 26 FPs in his last three games, which is just shy of the 28 FPs he’ll need tonight to reach value. His opponent, the Dallas Mavericks, have allowed the 2nd-most points to opposing SFs over the past 15 days and should provide Smith with an ample opportunity to score about 25-30 FPs in a close game with a decent over/under of 205. I should also mention that Josh Smith, DET ($8,100) has a real nice matchup tonight as well. However, I trust J.R. Smith to get little more value tonight and I’d rather spend my big bucks at PF tonight, as opposed to SF.
Power Forward: Thaddeus Young, PHI ($7,800): I’m in love with a lot of the top players at PF today, including Anthony Davis, Blake Griffin and Carmelo Anthony, who all have an excellent matchup. However, at a price that is $2,000 less than the cheapest of those guys, I’m digging Thaddeus Young the most in a plus matchup against a weak Milwaukee Bucks frontcourt in what should not only be the highest scoring game of the night, but also amongst the most hotly contested. Following the trade deadline, Thad is now the man in Philadelphia and should also be the man on your rosters this evening. Value is 39 FPs for Thad, and I think that represents his floor, with his ceiling being in the 50 FP range.
Center: Andre Drummond, DET ($8,400): At this point, the only thing stopping Andre Drummond is foul trouble, because when foul trouble doesn’t rear its ugly head, Drummond is nearly a lock for 40 FPs. That said, Drummond does come with considerable risk due to the frequency with which his foul troubles do occur. I would be hesitant to include him in all your rosters, or your only roster if you’re a one-roster type of guy, but peppering him into a few of your teams could pay off big tonight when he locks horns with a Golden State Warriors front court that will be without David Lee, and perhaps Andrew Bogut as well.
Mandatory Credit: Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports
low five:
Point Guard: Jose Calderon, DAL ($5,200): Not a lot of cheap action on the board at PG tonight, so I’ll make my pick a guy who has the starting gig, a track record of good performance in recent games, and a decent matchup. Also worth consideration, though a bit more expensive, is Tony Wroten, PHI ($5,400).
Shooting Guard: Vince Carter, DAL ($5,000): Carter has been consistently topping 20 FPs over his last ten games, while often pushing upwards of 25-30 FPs. Tonight, he’ll be coming off the bench against a New York Knicks squad that is a mere 22nd against opposing SGs. Consider Carter a lock for 20 FPs tonight, with 25-30 FP upside.
Small Forward: Draymond Green, GS ($3,700): With word out of Golden State that David Lee will again be out of tonight’s contest, Green becomes the top value play at SF. Green started last time for Lee and performed very well, accumulating 39 FPs. With Andrew Bogut possibly returning, a repeat performance may be out of the question, but nonetheless he should definitely be able to surpass his value threshold of 18.5 FPs by a significant margin.
Power Forward: Kris Humphries, BOS ($4,100): Jared Sullinger will be out tonight vs. Boston, which gives a nice bump to both Humphries and Brandon Bass, BOS ($4,500). Sullinger also missed last game and it was Humphries who performed better of the two. I expect he will do so again tonight, and at the very least, he should be able to reach 20 FPs and be right in range of value.
Center: Enes Kanter, UTA ($5,400): If Kanter were to again draw the start tonight for Utah, he would be my top cheap play of at the center position. He’s performed well over his last three, accumulating 29.5, 49, and 35.9 FPs, but if Kanter doesn’t draw the start, look for Zaza Pachulia, MIL ($3,900) to have some success against a weak Philadelphia frontcourt.
Thank you and good luck tonight !!!
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