We have just four games on tonight's NBA DFS main slate and with a small player pool comes limited value options and the value options we do have will likely be very popular in lineup builds this evening. Let's check out today's top value plays.
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Let's start this off with a team overview here because as of writing this Ja Morant is still doubtful to suit up tonight against the Pacers. With Morant out of the lineup, we likely see Tyus Jones enter the starting lineup at a near min-price cost across the board. In the 13 games that Morant has missed this season, Jones is averaging 12.1 points, 6.2 assists and 3.5 rebounds per game which is good enough for nearly 25 fantasy points a game.
Dillon Brooks returned to the Grizzlies lineup after a nearly two-month layoff and played 26 minutes against the Thunder, scoring 15 points with four assists and two rebounds. His price tag is still under $5,000 on DK and with Morant out of the lineup this season he is averaging 19.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
The real wild card here. Listen, we talk about De'Anthony Melton often on the NBA DFS Podcast because he is often a great fantasy point per minute player but for whatever reason, he just doesn't get the playing time. He likely finds himself as the lower rostered of the trio above but could also just as easily be the highest fantasy scorer as well. Use in multi-entry GPPs only.
Jalen Suggs has been ruled out tonight and R.J. Hampton is going to get the start in his place. He has been playing a decent amount of minutes but the production hasn't really jumped off the page. That being said, he is only $3,400 on DraftKings which means we only need 17 fantasy points for 5x to return and he has hit that number five of the last nine games.
While Hampton is going to get the start, we may see Markelle Fultz get a little bit more minutes here tonight and truthfully, he may be the better play anyway, as he has gone for 30 fantasy points in back-to-back games while playing just 18 and 19 minutes. He is a usage monster on the floor and if tonight he does get over that 20-minute plateau he could be a real difference-maker.
Yes, another Magic player but this one is much more of a dart throw than the previous two. Orlando is currently a 10-point underdog tonight and with Kyrie Irving, back in the lineup for the Nets it honestly feels like it should be more. If Orlando finds themselves on the wrong end of a blowout here we should see increased minutes for Moritz Wagner who showed us what he is capable of two weeks back when Orlando lost by 30 to Memphis and Wagner finished with 38 fantasy points in 27 minutes.