DraftKings daily picks: Fantasy basketball lineup-February 19

High Salary SG

James Harden-Houston Rockets (10,600): Harden finished the first half of the season with back-to-back games with over 60 fantasy points in Golden State and Portland. He had at least 57 fantasy points in seven of his last ten games before the break, and was stepping his game up to the next level.  Tonight, he should be able to continue that success as he takes on the Phoenix Suns who have allowed the most fantasy points in the NBA to opposing SG over their last five games and the eighth-most to opposing SG so far this season.  With the injuries and disfunction in Phoenix, the only risk in playing Harden tonight is that he and the Rockets put the game away early which could result in fewer minutes than his normal workload. He’s extremely expensive, but “The Beard” has been delivering lately. ∗∗

Nicolas Batum-Charlotte Hornets (7,400): Batum will likely slide back to the SF spot with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s injury, so he probably won’t be matched up directly with Middleton (next on my list) although the two face each other tonight in Charlotte.  Batum was playing some of his best basketball of the season before the break playing over 38 minutes in four straight games and posting over 45 fantasy points in three of those four contests.  His best games came with Kidd-Gilchrist starting alongside him, but I think he’ll still be effective in the second half and has enough upside to consider even at his steep 7K price tag. ∗∗

Khris Middleton-Milwaukee Bucks (7,200): Middleton was one of the fantasy breakout players of the first half and was on my FanDuel daily picks early and often.  He finished with a flourish dropping 57.5 fantasy points against the Wizards on the last day before the break.  Middleton logs a ton of minutes most nights for coach Jason Kidd and can contribute across the stat sheet.  He should be able to continue his success tonight as he takes on the Hornets who have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points in the NBA to opposing SG so far this season.  It’ll be interesting to see who starts for the Hornets tonight since the newly-acquired Courtney Lee is not going to be available, but its likely that Jeremy Lin or Jeremy Lamb will play significant minutes which will be a good matchup for Middleton to attack. ∗∗∗

Andrew Wiggins-Minnesota Timberwolves (6,300): Wiggins is still too one-dimensional to be an elite fantasy option, but he has ben producing at a good enough level to give him a look against Memphis tonight.  Wiggins had at least 20 points in four of his last five games before the break and at least 35 fantasy points in three of those five outings.  He has a high ceiling tonight against the new-look Girzzlies, but he can still be a little bit of a boom-or-bust play although he’s averaging a robust 30.1 fantasy points per game so far this season. ∗∗∗

Devin Booker-Phoenix Suns (6,300): Booker is getting all the minutes he can handle for the Suns as they see who they can build around in the future.  Booker played 42 minutes against Golden State in the final game before the break and had 41.25 fantasy points on a double-double of 15 points and ten assists.  He has the potential to go off tonight especially against the Rockets who allow the sixth-most fantasy points in the NBA to opposing SG. ∗∗∗∗

Next: High Value SG