Key Injuries:
CLE – Donovan Mitchell & Kevin Love
Both players missed the Cavs last game. Caris LeVert Stepped up in his absence, but Garland absolutely underperformed. Expect Garland to have a bounceback game if Donovan Mitchell ends up missing the game again. Caris LeVert will also have some value at 5,500 on FD and 5,000 on DK. Lamar Stevens was another guy who stepped up last game for the Cavs. At 4,100 on FD and just 3700 on DK, Stevens has huge value if Kevin Love misses again tonight.
MEM – Ja Morant & Steven Adams
Huge value here if Ja misses the game tonight against the Hawks. The last game Ja missed, Tyus Jones stepped up in a huge way–dropping 54 FP against the Miami Heat. However, if Ja does miss the game, don’t expect Tyus Jones to be much of a sleeper. Last game, he came in at 50+% ownership in most GPPs. The Grizzlies are already without Desmond Bane, and if Steven Adams ends up missing the game as well, expect additional value for the Memphis Big Men. Jaren Jackson has been an extremely efficient player for the Grizzlies and almost never logs a 30-minute game. If Adams ends up missing, expect a projection for Jaren Jackson in the 40s, which would almost assure he ends up getting picked up by the Optimizer.
Value Plays:
Kyle Anderson – MIN | FD – 5,600; 32.4 FP; 35.16% Ownership | DK – 5,200; 31.56 FP; 45.13% Ownership
With no Towns, Kyle Anderson has been logging heavy minutes. He’s been a very efficient fantasy player for years now. After averaging 37 minutes and 38 FP in his last two games, it’s surprising to see his price still in the 5,000s.
Kawhi Leonard – LAC | FD – 6,300; 34.22 FP; 36.05%
(FanDuel Only) It looks like Tyron Lue is slowly ramping up Kawhi’s minutes. He’s logged back-to-back 30-minute games, and had his best game last game against the Wizards. At just 6,300 on FanDuel, that’s pretty cheap for a guy like Kawhi. However, Kawhi has huge BUST potential, especially against a good defense like Boston. He’s a prime candidate to fade in a bunch of your lineups. In DK, his value isn’t nearly as high, coming in at 7,000.
The Wizards Front-Cout
Since Beal’s injury, the Wizards front-court combination of Avdija, Kuzma, and Porzingis have been on absolute fire. While Brooklyn’s defense is much improved this season, I still like grabbing a combination of 1-2 of each of these guys in a lineup. Traditionally, big men aren’t positively correlated, but for some reason, the combination of Kuzma and Porzingis works.
Top Sleeper Play:
Myles Turner – IND | FD – 7,700; 33.48 FP; 5.15% Ownership | DK – 6,600; 32.93 FP; 7.26% Ownership
While much of the slate is going to be focused on Centers like Capela, Porzingis, and Gobert, that leaves a great opportunity for someone like Myles Turner to break the slate. Just a few nights ago, we saw Myles Turner end up in the #1 FanDuel lineup for $50,000. He’s got huge Boom-or-Bust potential because a lot of his big fantasy performances come from high block games, especially on FanDuel (3 points per block).