FanDuel

Blake Griffin , PF DET -- $5,600

I know Griffin has been a shell of his former self this season, but the price tag is ridiculous. Not only is 5.6K a tag we want to take advantage of, but this is a massive pace-up spot against one of the worst defensive units in basketball. This year, Washington has allowed the seventh most fantasy points to opposing power-forwards per game and the second most overall on a per game basis. Despite all of Griffin’s struggles this season, he’s still able to average .97 FP/min. Because of how volatile he’s been throughout the year, he’s a tournament play only.

Joe Harris , SF BKN -- $4,600 

The consistency hasn’t been there, but Harris has now gone for 35-plus fantasy points in two of his last three games. We love Harris’ ability to knock down shots from long range and the Knicks have the second worst three-point field goal percentage allowed in the NBA. He knocked down six three’s against them earlier this season in their one previous meeting, supporting the fact that the Knicks don’t defend the three-point line well. Harris averages a very strong .87 FP/min without Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert this year and both have been ruled out for Thursday. At this price tag, in this match-up, I actually don’t hate Harris in cash games.

Gary Payton II , SG POR -- $4,000

So who knows what the Wizards plan for Payton is moving forward, but his first game with the team he ended up playing 34 minutes while notching a double-double to go along with five assists as well. He’s still only 4k on FD because we simply don’t know how he fits into the team's plans going forward. That said, Isaiah Thomas is still suspended for one game so why not take a shot on him if you’re building multiple lineups in tournaments?

 

DraftKings

DeMar DeRozan , SG/SF SA -- $6,500

Sometimes there are just price tags that are too hard to ignore and this is one of them. We saw DDR go for 51 FP just last game in 29 minutes and he was 6.8K, so we’re actually getting a discount after that big outing. DeRozan already went for 36 actual and 53 FP against Dallas once this year and given a full complement of minutes it wouldn’t surprise me if we saw it again here. DDR is viable for all formats Thursday.

Elfrid Payton , PG NYK -- $5,300

The Knicks continue to start Payton and he continues to play exceptionally well. He has at least nine assists in four-of-five games and in three of those five he’s had at least 35 DK points. The double-double bonus is a nice bonus for Payton considering how many assists he’s been racking up lately. The match-up with Brooklyn is a good one considering the Nets allow the fourth most fantasy points per game to the point-guard position. He’s a nice GPP play on Thursday’s six-game slab.

Trevor Ariza , SF/PF SAC -- $4,000

If Bogdan Bogdanovic sits another game out, Ariza is going to see big run as he has the previous two games. He’s actually been a core member of the Kings rotation playing 25-plus minutes in eight-of-10 games. In those games, the outcomes have been very spread out, but we’ve seen mid-30 point upside at his peak, which at his price is a steal. This play could be contingent upon Bogdanovic playing. GPP’s only in either situation.