Tonight’s Strategy

Well, it is not often I am here on Thursdays, but with MLB live auction drafts taking up the rest of my weekends this month, I will be contributing on weekdays from here out.

Tonight’s slate is a sweet five games, which I always prefer. Not only that, but outside of Russell Westbrook, and LeBron James, you really do not have a ton of high dollar options. I expect both players to be highly owned tonight, bad match-ups or not. For this reason, I will be excluding them from this article, but feel free to pay for either if you so choose, or both.

As always, all fantasy ppg numbers are FanDuel specific.

So, with the NBA season winding down, I bring you today’s Position Coach Article.

Point Guard

With Phoenix having the highest implied team total at 118.5, a whopping 230.5 O/U, and the Lakers allowing the most fantasy ppg to the PG position, Eric Bledsoe tops the list tonight.

Damian Lillard besides having the second highest true usage rate on the slate, also gets a positive match-up facing a Sixers team in what should be a high scoring affair.

D’Angelo Russell is averaging over 33 fantasy ppg in his last four, facing a Phoenix team allowing the third most fantasy ppg to the position. He is the player I currently have paired with Bledsoe in my main FD lineup.

Jordan Clarkson has huge upside with the departure of Lou Williams and for the price, in this match-up, I certainly would be willing to take a chance here. Especially if paying up for Westbrook.

Reggie Jackson, no, not the loveable baseball player whose rookie card I just bought on eBay yesterday, but the PG on the Pistons. The Cavaliers are allowing the seventh most fantasy ppg to the one, and with so many safer PG options, he is a perfect candidate for a GPP.

PGTmH/AOppGPMPGFT%3PTM/GPTS/GREB/GAST/GSTL/GBLK/GTO/GFG%UsageFDPts/GDKPts/GYPts/G$FD$DK$Y
Russell WestbrookOKCHSAS6434.884%2.332.110.5101.60.45.542%42.33%58.262.659.4$13300$12500$64
Eric BledsoePHXHLAL6333.185%1.621.44.96.41.40.53.344%28.24%37.139.837.9$8900$8700$37
Damian LillardPORHPHI573690%2.62655.90.70.32.644%30.76%40.343.241.6$8800$8900$44
D'Angelo RussellLALAPHX4827.377%2153.74.81.30.32.740%27.09%27.229.728.2$6700$7100$29
Jordan ClarksonLALAPHX6427.679%1.3142.92.21.30.1245%23.55%21.523.222.1$5300$5300$14
Reggie JacksonDETHCLE4328.187%1.314.92.35.40.70.12.343%26.18%24.926.925.6$5200$5100$18

Shooting Guard

The Sixers are allowing the fifth most fantasy ppg to the two facing C.J. McCollum who can drop 40-spots when he gets hot.

Victor Oladipo should see a steady increase in minutes, and benefits from the best defensive match-up on the Thunder side of things. Until his price catches up to his upside, he is a solid play.

Almost everyone will have Devin Booker facing the Lakers tonight, why not? He has the second highest true usage rate among SG on the slate, and a nice 30 fantasy point upside.

Nick Young is facing a Phoenix team allowing the third most fantasy ppg to the SG position and although highly inconsistent, on a five-game slate, is worth a flyer in a GPP.

J.J. Reddick for the price is the other player worth a flyer in GPPs tonight. He gets the best match-up for the Clippers and easily can drop a 25-spot on a good night.

SGTmH/AOppGPMPGFT%3PTM/GPTS/GREB/GAST/GSTL/GBLK/GTO/GFG%UsageFDPts/GDKPts/GYPts/G$FD$DK$Y
C.J. McCollumPORHPHI6234.890%2.423.33.73.510.62.348%27.92%33.836.435$7000$7200$33
Devin BookerPHXHLAL6334.582%1.920.833.20.80.3343%27.56%28.43129.4$6400$6600$26
Victor OladipoOKCHSAS4933.575%216.14.42.51.20.31.645%20.92%26.628.627.6$5500$5200$24
Nick YoungLALAPHX5726.186%2.913.52.310.60.20.644%19.52%18.920.720.3$4100$4000$12
J.J. RedickLACAMEM6128.388%2.514.62.21.40.70.21.344%21.81%19.721.721$4100$3900$14

Small Forward

I find the SF position very thin tonight and was easily guided to Kawhi Leonard. He gets a positive match-up facing the Thunder while averaging over 57 fantasy ppg in his last four.

With the Lakers allowing the fifth most fantasy ppg to the three, T.J. Warren deserves strong consideration. He is averaging nearly 30 fantasy ppg in his last seven and should easily hit that tonight.

Maurice Harkless is another great lower-priced play with some decent upside tonight. The Sixers are allowing the sixth most fantasy ppg to the three while Harkless has scored more than 20 fantasy ppg in six straight including a 30-spot.

Brandon Ingram, yeah, not a lot to love here but he is really cheap. If you want to roster a Lebron, and Westbrook, you must look to players like him somewhere. He has back-to-back 20 fantasy ppg games.

SFTmH/AOppGPMPGFT%3PTM/GPTS/GREB/GAST/GSTL/GBLK/GTO/GFG%UsageFDPts/GDKPts/GYPts/G$FD$DK$Y
LeBron JamesCLEADET5737.668%1.8268.28.81.30.64.254%29.7%48.752.249.6$11200$10900$55
Kawhi LeonardSASAOKC5733.790%226.363.41.90.7249%31.26%41.844.142.8$9600$9700$47
T.J. WarrenPHXHLAL5129.576%0.413.44.311.10.50.748%19.18%22.523.322.7$5900$6100$19
Moe HarklessPORHPHI5829.564%1.110.74.81.11.211.249%15.92%21.222.621.8$4800$5500$15
Brandon IngramLALAPHX6428.463%0.78.34.120.50.41.438%15.68%16.617.917$4000$4900$11

Power Forward

Dario Saric is averaging over 35 fantasy ppg in his last three and outside of Robert Covington (who I am not using tonight) is the only semi-reliable Sixer to use.

Julius Randle is finally starting to take off again and tonight faces a Suns team allowing the fifth most fantasy ppg to the four. He is averaging over 40 fantasy ppg in his last four with some slightly odd numbers.

Al-Farouq Aminu off the bench is averaging near 30 fantasy ppg in his last three and is more than worth a look tonight on a small slate.

Tobias Harris has a really deflated price-tag right now for a player who is averaging 30 fantasy ppg in his last four. Just saying.

With the Lakers allowing the most fantasy ppg to the four, Marquese Chriss is the player I would be rostering in them lineups where I am stacking the limited studs on the slate. He does average near 20 fantasy ppg on most nights, but in an elite match-up could grab 25.

PFTmH/AOppGPMPGFT%3PTM/GPTS/GREB/GAST/GSTL/GBLK/GTO/GFG%UsageFDPts/GDKPts/GYPts/G$FD$DK$Y
Dario SaricPHIAPOR6325.378%1.211.66.32.10.60.3240%23.33%22.12422.7$7400$7700$32
Julius RandleLALAPHX5628.672%0.112.88.63.80.80.42.448%21.52%28.730.428.8$6900$7000$26
Tobias HarrisDETHCLE6431.486%1.316.35.11.60.70.51.349%21.83%25.927.526.6$5400$5400$19
Al-Farouq AminuPORHPHI4229.175%1.28.97.3210.71.639%15.64%22.424.123$5400$5700$16
Marquese ChrissPHXHLAL6419.661%0.883.60.60.80.71.144%19.2%15.216.315.6$4400$4900$11

Center

Not a lot to love at center tonight, when measuring price, versus upside, divided by common sense, I have only found two worth rostering for the most part. I honestly believe you can get close to the same, if not more production out of the two players below than the players above on the price tier.

Jusuf Nurkic is facing a Sixers team allowing the second most fantasy ppg to the center position while averaging over 35 fantasy ppg in his last four.

Alan Williams off the bench is averaging over 32 fantasy ppg in his last four facing a Lakers team allowing the most fantasy ppg to the position.

CTmH/AOppGPMPGFT%3PTM/GPTS/GREB/GAST/GSTL/GBLK/GTO/GFG%UsageFDPts/GDKPts/GYPts/G$FD$DK$Y
Jusuf NurkicPORHPHI4517.950%0.085.81.30.60.81.851%23.33%17.718.917.7$6500$7000$19
Alan WilliamsPHXHLAL3011.554%0.05.74.90.30.50.70.756%21.24%13.614.213.6$5900$6500$15

Good luck tonight, any questions email me at therealjerrycolvin@yahoo.com or hit me up on Twitter @realjerrycolvin

Go Dodgers!