POINT GUARDS:
* ALL FORMATS
George Hill (SAC vs CHA)
Frank Mason is OUT, while De’Aaron Fox will be “available to play” – I’m not buying into the fact that Fox is healthy enough to be effective, I was shocked that he was even cleared to play at this point. CHA is the 2nd-best aDvP matchup for a PG on this slate and Hill should play about 32-36 minutes.
Dennis Schroder (ATL @ PHX)
PHX is the best aDvP matchup for a PG on this slate – It’s tough to rely on Schroder for much upside consistently, but he did post games of 42.7 FDP/47 DKP and 47.3 FDP/50 DKP vs ATL last season.
Kemba Walker (CHA @ SAC)
Kemba is off to a nice start on this west coast road trip (43.5 FDP @GS, 39.2 FDP @LAC). I’m never fully on board with his price, but Nicolas Batum did struggle last game playing with a finger injury he got a few days prior. I can’t fully speculate that something is wrong with Batum, but this could be the reason why Kemba has looked so good the last two games.
* GPP
Damian Lillard (POR @ CLE)
I have no idea what to expect in Lillard’s first game back, but he’s not on a minutes-restriction and he is technically the most well-rested player on the Blazers roster. It’s not totally crazy to think he can’t do big things tonight… he did hang 62.9 FDP/68.3 DKP at CLE last season.
Isaiah Canaan / Tyler Ulis (PHX vs ATL)
ATL is the 3rd-best aDvP matchup for PGs on this slate – It makes me incredibly nervous to use either PHX PG here, but this matchup against Schroder (2nd-worst defender in the NBA, according to DRPM) is certainly one that we want to attack on a regular basis. As for who will be the guy to take advantage of that, I have no idea, and I’m pretty sure the Suns don’t either. It seems like both guys have the sun shine on their asses randomly.
** CAUTION:
Isaiah Thomas (CLE vs POR)
Sure, it’s exciting for IT2 to be back on the court, but he’s only going to play about 20-22 minutes in tonight’s game – On today’s pod, I reported that he would only play 8-12 minutes… I saw that on TV aaaand it was wrong. I still don’t think he’s viable, but it’s not a clear-cut NO like I had said earlier.
SHOOTING GUARDS:
* ALL FORMATS
Kent Bazemore (ATL @ PHX)
Baze has the best aDvP matchup for any player tonight’s slate – how’s that for appealing? PHX’s brutal perimeter defense gets even worse now with Devin Booker back in the lineup. There isn’t one format that I would consider fading Baze with this matchup in front of him.
Devin Booker (PHX vs ATL)
ATL is a neutral aDvP matchup for SGs this season, but I’m not worried about Booker here – He’s scored at least 26 real points in all three games (32 in two of those) since his return from injury.
CJ McCollum (POR @ CLE)
CLE is the 2nd-best aDvP matchup for SGs on tonight’s slate – I do downgrade him a slight bit since Damian Lillard is returning to the lineup and, not to mention, the Blazers played a tough overtime game in Chicago last night. However, this matchup has been so profitable for SGs that I can’t just simply cross him off my list because he’s tired. Suck it up, brahhh!
Garrett Temple (SAC vs CHA)
Tonight is a very intriguing time to roll out Temple for two reasons… 1) CHA is the best aDvP matchup for SFs, a spot that Temple sees more time at, not his designated SG tag on FD. 2) I mentioned it earlier in the Hill blurb, but I’m not convinced that De’Aaron Fox is going to play a crucial part in tonight’s game – after all, the guy has a torn calf, and that means Temple would run the backup PG spot.
SMALL FORWARDS:
* ALL FORMATS
LeBron James (CLE vs POR)
I’m not going to make a huge deal out of the fact that POR is the 2nd-best aDvP matchup for a SF on this slate, LeBron plays a position that no one else plays – everywhere! On today’s pod, we talked about the possible tough matchup he’ll have against Al-Farouq Aminu… Howevahhhhh, we have seen Aminu not be as much of a lockdown defender against these versatile players like LeBron and The Greek. LeBron will be just fine tonight, especially since the Blazers are on the back-end of a B2B after playing in overtime last night. Even with Kevin Love and Isaiah Thomas in the lineup, LeBron is my dude everywhere tonight.
TJ Warren (PHX vs ATL)
We talked about it on today’s podcast, but Warren has improved since the return of Devin Booker- the floor spacing is more beneficial, and now he doesn’t have to shoulder the load on offense… Warren works much better as a complementary piece.
Kyle Anderson (SA @ NYK)
There’s a chance that Kawhi doesn’t play much (or even at all) tonight, so Anderson would make a lot of sense. What’s also interesting is that Anderson is from nearby New Jersey, so this is a homecoming of sorts for him.
* GPP
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (CHA @ SAC)
SAC is the 3rd-best aDvP matchup on this slate for SFs – The most of beneficial part of MKG is his price, which allows you to get more bang for your buck up and down the rest of your lineup.
POWER FORWARDS:
* ALL FORMATS
Frank Kaminsky (CHA @ SAC)
Frank the Tank has had some huge games recently, and he gets a great matchup vs SAC which could give him a ton of additional rebounds – if you look at the numbers on our Depth Chart Hub (located on the website) you’ll see that CHA should crush SAC in that regard. Kaminsky will play minutes at both PF and C, and it looks as if he has taken a “Caris LeVert-like” approach to things by not starting, but still being more productive over the starter at that position.
Ersan Ilyasova (ATL @ PHX)
PHX is the best aDvP matchup for PFs on this slate (2nd-best this season) – Ilyasova is the guy that we are relying on more for scoring… he had posted three-straight games of 20+ real points before running into tougher matchups, he will not have that resistance tonight.
Marquese Chriss (PHX vs ATL)
ATL is the 3rd-best aDvP matchup for PFs on this slate – Chriss is probably in big trouble tonight… because I swore off him a long time ago, and now I’m thinking about jumping back on the bandwagon. He’s come back to life as a savage man, exceeding/reaching 5x value (at current FD price) in four-straight games.
* GPP
Kristaps Porzingis (NYK vs SA)
In four of five career games vs SA, Porzingis has posted 40+ FDP – the only outlier was in a throwaway game where he only played 22 minutes. I’m not thrilled about KP’s price, but it could be an interesting way to go if you’re looking for the most raw points on tonight’s slate.
John Collins (ATL @ PHX)
Collins is more of a center, but PHX is a fantastic aDvP matchup there as well – I’m not too worried about his recent production in tougher matchups, but it’s something you have to look at. A matchup vs PHX could get him back to the times when he was exceeding massive value.
Michael Beasley (NYK vs SA)
Kinda have to talk about Beasley at this point, but he isn’t supposed to be this great upside play while Porzingis is active – and he has been… one of those games being against SA last week. I’ve been clamoring for more Beasley minutes in all situations, but the dreadful truth is that there is no indication AT ALL of when Beasley will decide to have a huge night or not. Know that Beasley is a straight coin-flip play, and accordingly have exposure in multi-entries.
CENTERS:
* ALL FORMATS
Marc Gasol (MEM @ LAC)
LAC is the best aDvP matchup for a center on tonight’s slate – Centers have been crushing the souls of LAC all season now, and Gasol is more than capable of hurting them either way. If Gasol wants to step out to the perimeter, DeAndre Jordan doesn’t stand a chance… if he wants to get busy down low, Gasol can excel there as well.
Dwight Howard (CHA @ SAC)
I mentioned it in Kaminsky’s space, but CHA has a huge rebounding mismatch over SAC. I said it on the podcast, Barbara Walters should be in the building tonight… meaning, a 20/20 is certainly within reach.
Pau Gasol (SA @ NYK)
Huge games for Gasol in four of his last five, including one against the Knicks last week.
Tyson Chandler (PHX vs ATL)
Greg Monroe seems to be out of the rotation once again for tonight’s game, so that leaves Chandler and Alex Len with a favorable aDvP matchup vs ATL. Good thing for Chandler, Len hasn’t been doing much lately… Chandler has played at least 29 minutes in three of the last four games, and that’s good enough for me at such a cheap price in a great matchup.
