Cash Plays

Elfrid Payton ($7,300) – Elfrid Payton and the Magic are the lucky beneficiaries of a matchup with the Brooklyn Nets on tonight’s small 3 game slate. For most of the year, I think it’s safe to say Payton was a boom/bust play on any given night. Lately, however, he’s provided remarkable consistency (24.6 is his lowest fantasy point total in his last 15 games). There is really no reason not to plug Elfrid into your lineups tonight as he goes up against potentially the worst defense in the entire league. The Nets have given up 47.7 fantasy points a game to point guards this season, so Payton will have ample opportunities to produce tonight at Barclays Center.

Devin Booker ($8,000) – Devin Booker’s price has sky-rocketed over the last week with his insane 91.6 fantasy points outing against the Celtics. However, he’s also posted 33+ fantasy points in the 3 games surrounding this contest, so he is providing a bit more consistentcy. With Eric Bledsoe shut down for the season, Booker has seen a crazy amount of usage, and that trend will continue tonight as he faces off with the Trail Blazers. You can basically count on him to throw up 20+ shots, and for a kid shooting 42.3% from the field this year that’s not bad odds. There isn’t a whole lot of options anywhere on this slate, but especially as shooting guard, so I think Booker will be a very popular play tonight when he takes the floor at the Moda Center.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (5,000) – Hollis-Jefferson has been incredibily consistent as of late, posting a low of 27.3 and a high of 32.4 fantasy points over his last 5 games. Priced at only $5k, he doesn’t even need to hit the low end of that in order to reach value, and he’ll be a popular pick in cash games tonight because of it. He’ll be going up against the Magic, a team that has given up the 8^th most fantasy points to small forwards all season. His success should continue at home tonight against them.

Aaron Gordon ($5,400) –A guy that I think will have a crazy high ownership tonight is Aaron Gordon of the Orlando Magic. He’s coming into tonight’s contest fresh of a 58.7 fantasy point outing against a good Boston Celtics team. It will be the second night of a back-to-back, though that shouldn’t scare you away from Gordon with no price increase and an even better matchup against an awful Nets team. Much like the point guard position, Brooklyn has given up the 2^nd most fantasy points to power forwards all season. Gordon should come out highly motivated after his game last night and be able to dominate their weak frontcourt en route to another great fantasy outing.

Nikola Vucevic ($8,300) – People should have plenty of salary leftover to pay up for Karl-Anthony Towns for today’s slate, but I still like Nikola Vucevic for cash games (I know, I know… another Magic player). Prior to Vucevic’s “bad” game last night (21.4 fantasy points), he had posted 35+ FP in 8 of his last 9. Because of this consistency, he’s the center I think I’m going to want in cash games tonight as he also gets a matchup with that weak Nets defense. Brooklyn is a bit better against centers, only giving up the 5^th most fantasy points in the league to that position. In his one game against them this year, Vucevic was able to put up 48 fantasy points in 31 minutes of action. He has another chance at this kind of success tonight and should easily reach value.

GPP Plays

Kris Dunn ($4,300) – Dunn has been a very intriguing player recently, seeing 30+ minutes in 2 games last week as he’s played alongside Rubio at the shooting guard position. In his last 4 games he has a low of 21.7 and a high of 32.4 fantasy points, which is fantastic production out of a guy priced at only $4,300. His matchup with the Kings is also ideal, as they’ve given up 50+ fantasy points a game to the point guard position over their last 10 contests. His court time seems pretty secure, and if this game turns into a blowout, don’t be surprised if the T-Wolves sit Rubio in the 4^th quarter and give Dunn some extra garbage time minutes.

Ben McLemore ($3,700) – Surprisingly, Ben McLemore has been the primary source of the Kings offense over the past 2 games. He’s put up back-to-back fantasy performances of 26+ and gets a matchup tonight against a Minnesota Timberwolves team that is giving up by far the most fantasy points to the shooting guard position in their last 5 games (52.3). Both Tyreke Evans and Garrett Temple will be sitting for the Kings tonight as well, so it looks like McLemore will have even more opportunities to continue his hot streak at what’s almost a minimum price tag.

Maurice Harkless ($4,000) – Evan Turner returned to the rotation 2 weeks ago, and Harkless has seen a decrease in both minutes and usage ever since. No one really thought twice about it in the DFS community, though, because Harkless had already had a few disappointing performances right before Turner had come back. We hadn’t really seen a glimmer of hope for Moe in weeks until Thursday night against the Rockets. In that game he exploded for 34.2 fantasy points in 32 minutes of court time, both numbers that likely indicate he’s in store for some increased run tonight. He’ll be facing the Suns, a team that has given up the 4^th most fantasy points to the small forward position in their last 5 games (44.9).

Al-Farouq Aminu ($4,800) – For starters, Aminu has been playing well over the last week, which has me debating whether or not that is enough for people to show interest in him. What I do know, however, it that there are a few more appealing options at power forward tonight, which I think others are likely to believe as well. The reason why I like Aminu tonight, though, isn’t because of his recent production, although that does play a minor roll. Phoenix is all in on their youth movement, and they’re giving guys like Marquese Chriss 30+ minutes of court time a night (if he can stay out of foul trouble). This leads me to believe the Suns will likely go small as they attempt to get their young bucks some extra time, which should have Chriss running the stretch center at certain points in the game. This is a perfect opportunity for Portland to match the size at the position by throwing Aminu on the floor, which I think they are likely to do with Nurkic out. The Suns have also given up 56.5 fantasy points a game to opposing power forwards over their last 5 contests, so Aminu is in a great position either way.

Bismack Biyombo ($4,300) – I obviously like Biyombo for the same reasons I like Vucevic tonight, Biyombo is just not a safe cash game play. He has the same matchup with the Nets that I find so appealing for all of the Magic players, but he doesn’t have the guaranteed court time the other guys do. At times, he can exceed 20 minutes of court time, which he’s done in each of his last 2 games. In those contests he’s averaging 26.4 fantasy points, which is well over value considering his price point of $4,300. If he were to have that kind of production again I would say it would be against the Brooklyn Nets, though he’s still a risky tournament play regardless, so use him at your own risk.