Cash Plays

Russell Westbrook ($12,900) – Westbrook is our cash game point guard again tonight as the Thunder head to Dallas to take on the Mavericks. He’s still priced under 13k even coming off of a 66.7 fantasy point peformance last night against the Rockets. Dallas is generally the best in the league at defending the point guard position, but they have recently been a little shaky as they have been giving up 46 fantasy points to the position over their last 10 games. However, Westbrook is fairly matchup proof, so it really doesn’t matter who he plays. Therefore, I will be looking to get Westbrook into my lineup if I have the salary for him and I recommend you do the same.

Buddy Hield ($5,400) – It took him until the 4^th quarter last night, but Buddy Hield had a good game against the Los Angeles Clippers. He posted 28.4 fantasy points in 23 minutes of action, his 4^th straight game of posting at least that many fantasy points. He’s recently been getting more involved in the Kings offense and it should be more of the same tonight against the Grizzlies. Memphis is known for their lockdown shooting guard defender Tony Allen, though they have actually been giving up the 8^th most fantasy points to the SG position in their last 10 games. Hield only needs 25-30 fantasy points to reach value, which he should easily be able to do if he’s given another 30+ minutes of court time.

Kawhi Leonard ($9,100) – Between the 2 high priced small forwards going at each other tonight I think I’m more likely to with Kawhi Leonard. Leonard and the Spurs seem to be LeBron’s kryptonite, which makes sense considering they are the 2^nd best team when it comes to fantasy points given up to opposing small forwards per game. On the other side, Kawhi will be facing a Cleveland team that gives up the 6^th most fantasy points to the position this season. Moral of the story, Leonard is in a much better position to do well tonight when they face off at the AT&T Center. He’s also almost 2k cheaper, so I highly recommend plugging Kawhi into your cash game lineup.

LaMarcus Aldridge ($7,300) – LaMarcus Aldridge has been great recently, posting 6 straight games of least 31 fantasy points since returning from an injury he suffered earlier in the month. The Cleveland/San Antonio game looks like it should be a good one to stack tonight, so I’m definitely going to be looking to get both Aldridge and Kawhi into my lineup. As previously stated, the Cavs struggle against the small forward position. However, they have given up even more fantasy points to the power forward position (47.7) over their last 5 games, which is good for 7^th worst in the league during that stretch. Aldridge only needs around 35 fantasy points to reach value tonight, which he should easily be able to do against another title contender in Cleveland.

Willy Hernangomez ($5,100) – The older of the Hernangomez brothers is coming off a great game in which he psoted 24 points and 13 rebounds in 36 minutes of action, which was good for 44.1 fantasy points. This production was largely due to Carmelo Anthony being out, which it looks like may be the case yet again tonight. In my opinion, the Knicks have no reason to even play Melo, so rushing him back from an injury seems nonsensical. Even if he does play, though, I still love Hernangomez at his price tag. He’s $5,100, which means he only needs around 25 fantasy points to reach value for your lineup. He’ll be going up against a Detroit Pistons team that has been struggling against centers, as they’ve given up 54 points a game to the position over their last 5 games.

GPP Plays

Reggie Jackson ($4,600) – Both the Piston’s point guards are right around the same price, but I like Jackson more in tournaments due to the fact that Ish Smith will more than likely be more popular tonight since he should draw the start. However, the one that gets the start is not always the one who finishes with the most minutes, as Stan Van Gundy generally goes with the hot hand and just keeps whichever one is playing better out on the court for that game. At $4,600 he isn’t too risky and only needs 20-25 points to reach value. He should easily be able to do this against a tanking Knicks team that has recently been struggling to defend the point guard position.

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope ($4,400) – Caldwell-Pope is the definition of inconsistent, and I never know when to roll the dice on him. He generally sees 30+ minutes, but can dud so easily that it makes me never want to play him. His price has come down so much, however, that it’s kind of hard to completely fade him considering he has proven he has 40+ fantasy point upside. He could possibly be a popular pick tonight as he goes up against the Knicks, but his inconsistency draws me away from him in cash games. He only needs 20ish FP to reach value, though, so don’t be afraid to plug him into your GPP lineups.

Joe Johnson ($3,800) – Things are looking good for Joe Johnson tonight as the Jazz get ready to take on the Pelicans in Utah. Derrick Favors is still out and Johnson has been the main beneficiary of making up that court time. Today though, Gordon Hayward was not able to participate in morning shoot-around and is questionable to play. If Hayward does end up sitting Johnson will get a crazy amount of usage at what is almost a minimum price. Keep an eye on the Jazz’s injury report because I think Johnson could end up being a great call tonight in all formats.

Skal Labissiere ($4,700) – Labissiere got into foul trouble early last night as he went up against Blake Griffin down low. He ended up only seeing 19 minutes of action and was only able to put up 8.3 fantasy points. Tonight, he gets a matchup against a good Memphis Grizzlies team, who are generally pretty good at defending opposing power forwards. However, they have scuffling of late and are giving up 44.7 FP a game to the position over their last 10 contests. With Labissiere still priced under 5k I really like him tonight as the Kings continue to try and implement their youth movement.

Jonas Valanciunas ($5,100) – If the Raptors would give Valanciunas some more minutes he would be a really solid fantasy center. Unfortunately, he only sees 20-25 minutes a game a is priced a bit higher than I generally think he is worth. Tonight, though, he’s going up against an Orlando Magic team that gives up a lot of points to centers, specifically over their last 5 games as they’re giving up an average of 60.1 fantasy points in those contests. Priced at $5,100 he only needs 25ish fantasy points to reach value and should be able to do that against a weak Magic front court.