Tonight brings a 7 game slate starting at 7p.m. ET.
The “Droppin Dimes,” article will go over my favorite plays for the slate. It will consist of three to five core plays along with a few additional plays and a few value plays. You won’t always see the highest-priced players or the most obvious plays. Players listed first at each position are my favorite and a good start to build a lineup around.
(Note: All pricing and fantasy points are based on DraftKings but can be used for all sites.)
The NBA is in a tough spot right now with a few teams getting hit hard with COVID. The Heat, Magic, Bucks, Kings and Lakers are all down players.
Players are dropping as the day goes on……….
Keep an eye on the injury status of players as they can be ruled out right before lock.
Game/s to Target
Rockets/Hornets– fast paced and lack of defense
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Hope you all had a good Holiday. Now lets dive into today’s slate. As mentioned before, keep an eye on players status as COVID has been hitting teams hard and player/s from teams are getting tagged out as the days goes on. I will do my best to give a few other options in case any of the core plays get ruled out after this article is posted.
CORE
Nassir Little (SF/PF), Portland TrailBlazers ($4200)
The Blazers have taken a hit with players out due to the health and safety protocol and injuries. Also, Damian Lillard is listed as questionable for personal reasons. This opens up a lot of usage and minutes. Littlehas played over 30 minutes in the last 3 contests while averaging 27.5 FPs. He should see all the minutes he ca can handle tonight with the team down a few more players since last game. Scoring is not the main source of FPs for Little as he contributes with most stats including defensive stats. A solid price for someone who should play 32-37 minutes tonight and deliver a 6-8 times value return.
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Joe Ingles (SG/SF), Utah Jazz ($3700)
The big news for the Jazz is they will be with out their star Donovan Mitchell for a few games. Mitchell lead the team with 33% usage and played around 32 minutes a game. This opens up a ton of usage, a starting spot and 33 plus minutes tonight. Ingles is the lead candidate to take the starting spot and he has played well when entering the starting lineup averaging 12 points 4 rebounds, 4 assists and just over 3 3-points shots per game. With Mitchell off the floor I expect Ingles to pick up a good portion of his usage and have a big game against the faster paced Spurs who have been middle of the road defensively this year.
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Payton Pritchard (PG), Boston Celtics ($4300)
The Celtics were already down a few key players and found out today they will be without Jason Tatum due to health and safety protocol. They are down to Marcus Smart as the main PG option and he is listed as questionable tonight. Pritchard has played well over the last 4 games playing over 21 minutes and hitting 25 or more FPs in 3 of those games. This was with Tatum on the court. The kid is not afraid to shoot and could take 20 shots tonight with the Celtics down some of their main scorers. Also, he will contribute with rebounds and assists while adding in a few defensive stats. We saw was he is capable of in the summer league and i think we get a glimpse of that tonight given the bigger role.
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Nathan Knight- 3.3 K and should get the start with the Wolves down a good portion of their big-men
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TOP PAY-UP OPTIONS
James Harden
Kristaps Porzingas
Jaylen Brown
NOTES:
FPPM= Fantasy Points Per Minute, FPPG= Fantasy Points Per Game, PPG=Points per Game, Value=Projected points/salary(This will differ depending on the site).
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Also consider: Damian Lillard- listed as questionable , so keep an eye on his status, Ja Morant, Terry Rozier-playing well as of late.
Value: Jordan Clarkson, Frank Ntilikina. Anfernee Simons- if Lillard sits out.
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Also consider: Jaylen Brunson, Desmond Bane
Value: Skyler Mays, Bruce Brown
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Also consider: Norman Powell, Jaden McDaniels(MIN)
Value: John Konchar, Cam Johnson, Devin Vassell
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Also consider: Larry Nance Jr.
Value: Grant Williams, Jalen McDaniels(CHA)
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Also consider: Al Horford, Christian Wood
Value: Gorgui Dieng, Nicolas Claxton– centers have done well against the Clippers,
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Dimes Play(GPP Play of the Night) Under 5k Player with low ownership and upside
Jake Layman is a solid all around player when given the opportunity. He got the start last game and played 36 minutes and delivered 27 FPs. With the last game his price increased from 3.1k to 3.8K, but the increase does not scare me off him with the Wolves down a good portion of their offense. They will need Layman to start again and most likely play 30 plus minutes. I can see a 9-10 times return at his current price tonight.
Double Dimes Play
Tre Jones- played well last game filling in at backup point guard for the Spurs. The 2 games he played over 20 minutes he put up over 30 FPs. A 10x potential tonight.
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**Options to help build lineups- Take these core plays and enter into optimizer with your favorite setting(rating, FBrating, FBprojections, FunkProjections, ownership or ratings). OR use this article to help you build a lineup with some of your favorite plays. The Dashboard is also a great tool to help build lineups- It contains a good variety of stats and projections from multiple sources.
Good Luck!