Fantasy Basketball Top Plays and Fades, Friday February 1

Welcome into the Friday edition of Fantasy Basketball Top Plays and Fades! We have five games on hand tonight after the NBA saw a big shakeup last night that effects tonight!

Well, that was some kind of whirlwind for the NBA landscape yesterday. News broke during the afternoon that the Knicks were considering trading Kristaps Porzingis and within 25 minutes, he was on his way to Dallas. The duo of Porzingis and Luka Doncic is giving me all the feelings because those two should be like peanut butter and jelly together. The Knicks are on the slate tonight and they’re going to be short on bodies. We’ll see how things go for them through the day but they might be the premier value team of the day. Let’s get into the rest of the slate and our Fantasy Basketball Top Plays!

Fantasy Basketball Top Plays – Point Guard

Top Play – Ricky Rubio, Jazz 

Why yes, yes I will pick on Trae Young once again. It was incredibly frustrating to watch De’Aaron Fox struggle in this exact spot a couple of nights ago but I’m happy to go back to the well. A young player like Fox will be inconsistent but Rubio should provide a nice floor at the very least in this one.

The Hawks are dead last against point guards so far and they are also giving up the second most assists. That’s going to fit Rubio’s game as he can dish it to a lot of other Jazz team mates and the minutes have come back after Rubio missed some time. He played 26 in the last game and that one wasn’t exactly competitive because Damian Lillard went scorched Earth on the Jazz. I have some concerns about the Hawks getting blown out again, but Rubio should push for 30 and should pay off his price in this one.

Honorable Mention – Russell Westbrook, Thunder

Fade – Kyrie Irving, Celtics 

I might still risk it if the Celtics happen to sit players other than Irving tonight. This has nothing to do with matchup or any fear of how Irving will play, but it has everything to do with how much  he’s going to play. The Knicks were likely going to get beat up in this spot no matter what. Now with the fact they will likely be very shorthanded, I can’t see a way the Knicks keep it close enough for Kyrie to get full run. I would potentially change my mind if the Celtics use this game to rest other players, so this one is a little up in the air right now.

Honorable Mention – Kemba Walker, Hornets

Fantasy Basketball Top Plays – Shooting Guard

Top Play – Monte Morris, Nuggets 

*Note – If Chris Paul is out, you lock in James Harden and don’t think twice. It would also enhance the matchup for Morris, who you do have to utilize in the PG or G slot on DK.

 I try not to repeat a play twice in a row for one team, but Morris finds himself coming off a monster game and I want to go right back to the well. He drew the start for Jamal Murray and he killed it, going for 40+ fantasy points and totaling 20 points, seven rebounds and assists and even threw in a couple steals for good measure. After that performance, I would expect Morris to remain a starter and he logged an immense 40 minutes. That’s the biggest factor that I’m interested in.

The matchup against the Rockets would be undeniably tougher if Paul is in but Morris isn’t at a price point that would sink you if he doesn’t replicate his performance. In fact, he only needs 30 DK to hit 6x and that’s very attainable against this version of Paul. Denver seems content to give this young man some run and I’m totally fine jumping on board with them.

Honorable Mention – Jaylen Brown, Celtics

Fade – None 

You have to play two on FanDuel and I can’t really tell you there’s one that you have to stay away from. Harden would be more of a fade to me if Paul is in because I’m not sure you get the ceiling you need at that price. Donovan Mitchell has blowout potential but could go for at least 50 fantasy points if the game stays close and is well worth GPP consideration. After that, it’s a whole lot of mid-tier options that don’t make sense to write up as a fade. This is just the way things work on a five game slate sometimes.

I will say that I’m not crazy about any Atlanta option here. Not only do we worry about the score, but Kent Bazemore entered the rotation and that has really muddied the waters for playing time. I’m not sure any of those players were on the radar, but they likely shouldn’t be.

Fantasy Basketball Top Plays – Small Forward

Top Play – Mario Hezonja, Knicks 

This is definitively a first for this article as Hezonja is not a well-known name but he’s got the opportunity that we craze and an excellent price to boot. I would certainly assume that the newly acquired players are not going to be active for New York tonight, and if they are this play goes by the wayside. However, if the Knicks are down to very few bodies, Hezonja stands out as one of their better values.

I feel like many people will just go right to Kevin Knox since Tim Hardaway will not be active. He takes a ton of shots so they have to go somewhere. I don’t hate Knox at all but Hezonja is going to get overlooked and he has a higher usage rate and FPPM than Knox given the players that are off the court tonight. On the season, Hezonja has cleared 26 percent usage and 0.85 FPPM and he is significantly cheaper than Knox on DK. I plan to take advantage of the savings in this one.

Honorable Mention – Joe Ingles, Jazz

Fade – Justise Winslow, Heat 

On DK, the price is low enough that I still think Winslow can be in play in GPP’s only. DK is also misleading a little bit because they have his matchup in the green since he is listed as a small forward. However, since he’s playing mostly point guard, that changes things dramatically as far as the matchup goes and that needs to be noted.

The Thunder have been the best team in the NBA against point guards and I’m not willing to trust Winslow in that kind of matchup. I prefer to use him only in really good matchups because he’s a little up and down, so there’s not much of a reason to try to beat your head against the wall here. He also could walk into some steals here because Russell Westbrook turns the ball over plenty, so the GPP appeal is there. Just don’t expect a lot.

Honorable Mention – Gary Harris, Nuggets

Fantasy Basketball Top Plays – Power Forward

Top Play – Marcus Morris, Celtics 

I really would like some part of the Celtics because even if they steamroll whatever is left of the Knicks, and Morris seems like a fantastic way to go. He’s still very cheap on both sites and the Knicks haven’t done very well against power forwards this year. The Knicks have given up the fourth most DK points on the season and his price hasn’t even crossed $5,500 on DK.

I do suspect that the Celtics rest someone in this game and it possibly could be Morris. It could also be Al Horford, who has been playing a lot of minutes in the absence of Kyrie and Boston would like to make sure Horford is nice and healthy come playoff time. If it happens to be Horford, Morris sees a bump in usage by 3.1 percent and a little swing in FPPM. Morris is a nice way to get a piece of this game without breaking the bank against a terrible team.

Honorable Mention – PJ Tucker, Rockets

Fade – Kenneth Faried, Rockets 

I give Faried a world of credit because he’s walked through the door in Houston and been incredibly productive for the Rockets in a time of need. However, with that production has come a very high price tag and I think this is where we can get off the Faried train because there is pretty major risk.

Faried is going to be asked to try to contain Nikola Jokic to some extent since the Rockets don’t have a real center. Good luck with that because it’s not going to work. Nobody can really contain the Joker but Faried could easily get into foul trouble. Jokic is ninth in personal fouls drawn per game and if Faried has to spend time on the bench, the odds of him hitting value at his sky-high price will drop immensely. Someone might try to play the revenge card but I’m not buying it at all tonight.

Honorable Mention – Jerami Grant, Thunder

Fantasy Basketball Top Plays – Center

Top Play – Nikola Jokic, Nuggets 

Listen, you might be sick of me writing about this man but it’s not my fault that A. he keeps getting just monster spots to take advantage of and B. DK dropped his price by $100 after a 64 point game last time out. Ever since Clint Capela went out with a thumb injury, Houston has been getting smacked by centers just about every single game. I’m hard pressed to see why Jokic wouldn’t keep that streak going tonight.

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In the past 15 days, Houston is sixth worst against centers by giving up the eighth most real points, fifth most rebounds and 13th in assists. The assists category and how well a team does against centers is basically irrelevant when playing Jokic. He’s been on fire lately and the price is right. What is going to be interesting is figuring out how you can fit Jokic and Harden into the same lineup if Chris Paul is out. I’m looking forward to this challenge tonight and if Paul is in, Joker is the top play on the night.

Honorable Mention – Marc Gasol, Grizzlies

Fade – Hassan Whiteside, Heat 

This section is me officially washing my hands of Whiteside while he remains a member of the Heat. I’m not here to tell you that Whiteside is some incredible player, but for the life of me I cannot figure out how a player that rolls off three straight double-doubles goes down to 15 minutes in the following game in a great matchup. This just happens so often with Whiteside I’m not even sure it’s worth it in GPP anymore.

With the matchup tonight, Steven Adams should be back in the lineup and that spells out a tough matchup for Whiteside, even if he gets the minutes. The Thunder have been the seventh best team against centers on the season(though they have been poor the past two weeks) but even if Adams struggles, do you know Whiteside hits even 20 minutes, let alone 25? GPP is all about upside and balancing risk. The Heat big man just can’t be trusted for anything at this point.

Stay tuned to Fantasy CPR for all of your DFS needs. We have you covered with all of the NBA, PGA, and EPL you can  handle!