Total: 219.5

 

 

 

Injuries:

 

 

 

 

 

 

MVP/Captain

 

The biggest question mark of this single-game showdown slate is - will Cade Cunningham play on Thursday night? He is questionable with an illness. His absence would open the door for players like Cory Joseph and Saddiq Bey to take more shots. But if he is in, he is the Pistons player you want in your MVP slot. In his last 10 games, as he makes his push for the Rookie of the Year, Cunningham averages 47.1 fantasy points per night including an astounding 53.3 in his last game. Most importantly, in the last 10 games, he averages more than 40 minutes on the court per night. 

 

 

Wendell Carter Jr. is also questionable tonight, and the Orlando Magic would severely miss his interior presence if he were he to sit this one out. Carter averages right at 39 DK points per game in his last 10 and has seven double-doubles in his last nine games. The Pistons will be down to their backup power forward Thursday night and they rank last in the league in rebound rate. This could be a monster day on the glass for Carter. With Okeke now ruled out, the sky is the limit tonight.

 

 

Cole Anthony is giving us the consistency we want from a player priced at $12,600 in the MVP spot tonight. He has more than 29 fantasy points in six of his last seven games and he averages 36.7 fantasy points against Detroit in their three previous matchups. In their last 30 games, the Pistons are bottom-12 against point guards.

 

Utility

 

The ride that’s often referred to as the “Saddiq Bey Roller Coaster” has been surprisingly steady over the last couple of weeks. Bey scored more than 24 fantasy points in nine of his last 10 games and you have to go back to February 24th for a real dud. But in that time, he has also crossed 40 DK points just once. The Magic present a good matchup for Bey, as they allow the eighth-most fantasy points to small forwards this season. 

 

 

Marvin Bagley is finally getting the one thing he never could find in Sacramento: minutes. In his last 10 games, he averages 31.4 minutes and 30.5 fantasy points per night as the primary backup for both the power forward and center position in Detroit. He is really getting the chance he always wanted and is not missing his shot. In his last five games, he averages 15.4 points and 8.2 rebounds. Considering Bagley has played more than 30 minutes in four of the last five games, I would expect him to have an easy path to 4x his salary. 

 

 

When Jalen Suggs is off the floor, the younger Wagner brother Franz Wagner sees an uptick in his fantasy points, usage, and assist rate. In those circumstances, he has a 22.3% usage rate and a 16.3% assist rate. He also plays the most minutes when Suggs misses, so this could easily be a 34-36 minute night for him. In his three games this year against Detroit, Wagner averages 24.6 fantasy points per night.

 

 

 

Value Tier

 

It has been really good to see Markelle Fultz back on the floor these past seven games after missing so much time due to injury. The number-one overall pick is averaging 22.3 fantasy points per game since his return including more than nine points and five assists in just 17 minutes per game. But he has hit 30 fantasy points twice in his last three games, none of which saw Fultz play more than 20 minutes. With Jalen Suggs missing tonight, there is a good chance we see Fultz on the floor for 20 again. 

 

 

In recent days, Marvin Bagley has been the beneficiary of Jerami Grant missing time, but Kelly Olynyk is also reaping the benefits in his limited time on the court. When both Grant and Diallo miss time, Olynyk has a 23.9% usage rate, a 22.5% assist rate, and a 15.6% rebound rate. The question then becomes how many minutes will he see on the floor. He has been anywhere between 13 and 24 minutes in his last 10 games, so at his $4,000 salary, you are rolling the dice and hoping for a 6x game. For what it’s worth, in his one game against Orlando this year, he played 28 minutes and scored 43 fantasy points.  

 

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