High Salary PF
Players costing over $6,250
Kelly Olynyk (at WAS – $6,100): Needs 26.9 fantasy points. It’s pretty thin at power forward on Thursday. Olynyk made no impact on Wednesday, playing just 15 minutes for 4.75 fantasy points. I thought he would be better with James Johnson out. But he wasn’t. My bad, ya’ll. Because of that, and his salary, I can understand wanting to stay away from him on Thursday. Diagnosis: A tough sell after Wednesday’s performance. Especially at this salary. The potential is still there.
Bobby Portis (at PHI – $5,700): Needs 25.2 fantasy points With Lauri Markkanen out, Portis should be a threat for the Bulls. But they have such a weird mix of players that I don’t know where Portis fits in. He could get a double-double. He could also get 10 minutes of playing time in favor of Wendell Carter and Jabari Parker. Once again, I have a hard time trusting anyone on Chicago until I see them in action. Diagnosis: High ceiling, but a risk due to the unknowns in Chicago and the matchup.
Otto Porter Jr. (vs MIA – $5,600): Needs 24.8 fantasy points. Porter had a rough stretch to close the season last year, but he wasn’t 100 percent. He remains a strong third option, although if Dwight Howard plays, I don’t know what that will mean for Porter’s value. If Howard doesn’t play, I like Porter’s game and think he’ll be a solid enough contributor to at least hit value. But if Howard plays, there’s a lot of unanswered questions in Washington. Diagnosis: Good salary, good matchup, but the Wizards are weird.