Cash Plays
Patty Mills ($4,400) – Patty Mills has filled in quite nicely as the Spurs starting point guard with Tony Parker and Dejounte Murray sidelined with injuries. He has put up at least 30 fantasy points in 3 of his last 4 games and draws a fantastic matchup tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers, a team that is giving up an average of 55 fantasy points a game to opposing point guards over their last 5 games. Murray has already been ruled out so we are just waiting on news for Tony Parker. Parker was upgraded to questionable but I see no reason why the Spurs would feel inclined to rush him back into action, especially with the way Patty Mills has been playing recently. Of course, make sure Mills is starting before you plug him into your lineup.
Jeremy Lamb ($4,900) – Nicolas Batum has been ruled out once again for tonight’s matchup with the Indiana Pacers. Lamb filled in nicely for Batum on Monday, putting up 34.8 fantasy points in 31 minutes. He should have absolutely no problem scoring around 25 tonight and that’s what he needs to reach value. Lamb will more than likely be the most heavily owned guy on the slate so you’re going to want to make sure you get him into your cash game lineups.
T.J. Warren ($5,900) – T.J. Warren has not scored less than 22 fantasy points in over a month. He’s on a consistent streak that always has him on my cash game radar, and that is exactly what is going on again tonight. He’ll be going up against a Sacramento Kings team that doesn’t contain small forwards well, giving up the 3rd most fantasy points to the position (47.4) over their last 10 games. Warren has been scoring like the player we saw earlier in the year and I think his success will continue tonight when Sacramento comes to town.
Marvin Williams ($6,500) – Marvin William’s price is up a bit more than I think anyone expected it would ever be at, but to be honest I still don’t think it fully reflects his recent production. He has put up 44+ fantasy points in his last 3 contests and is averaging 37 minutes during those 3 games. He’s been the Hornets primary rebounder as well, averaging over 15 rebounds to go along with 17 points during that time frame. He will get a matchup tonight against an Indiana team that gives up right around 45 FP a game to opposing power forwards. He needs just a little over 30 to reach value tonight and I don’t think he’ll have any trouble doing that on the road.
DeMarcus Cousins ($9,000) – Cousin’s price is still down for tonight’s tilt with the Miami Heat in South Beach. Last night his price was 9k (which it is again tonight) and many took advantage of it, as he was close to 40% owned in cash games on the 5 game slate. Tonight, I don’t necessarily expect it to be that high with twice as many games and twice as many options throughout Fanduel. However, he has the potential to score 50-60 fantasy points any time he takes the floor, so the fact that he only needs 45 to reach value tonight makes him very intriguing. I expect many to think the same and plug Cousin’s into their lineups, so you should do the same.
GPP Plays
Eric Bledsoe ($8,000) – With some recent subpar performances I don’t expect too many people to be reaching up for Eric Bledsoe tonight. He hasn’t convinced anyone he has the consistency to go along with his price tag, which generally leads people to fading him out of cash game consideration. However, he has always maintained his place as an elite GPP play in my mind. At 8k he offers upside of 50+ fantasy points and could definitely be the reason why you cash in tournaments. He always seems to do well against his Pacific division rivals as well, which is the exact matchup he gets tonight as the Sacramento Kings come into town.
Lou Williams ($5,400) – I can’t be the only one that likes when a player faces an old team for a rivalry game, right? This one’s pretty fresh as well, considering the Lakers just traded Williams to the Rockets last month. I always feel like guys play with a chip on their shoulder when they go up against old teams, which leads to a desire to prove they made a mistake. I think Williams will try to take advantage of his court time and may even fire up some extra shots tonight against a weak Lakers defense. He’s definitely a guy I’ll be considering for tournament play tonight.
Maurice Harkless ($4,500) – After back to back performances of 5 or less fantasy points I assume most will do everything in their power to start anyone other than Maurice Harkless tonight. However, I have seen too much good out of this kid to just throw him to the side and forget that he helped me cash multiple times in the 2 last weeks. Evan Turner could be rejoining the Blazers for tonight’s matchup against San Antonio, but if he does sit I think Harkless becomes an ideal GPP play. His matchup and awful play of late should lead to a low own % and I highly doubt he has another sub par performance, even if he is going up against Kawhi Leonard and the Spurs.
Blake Griffin ($8,800) – Blake Griffin has been the definition of high risk/high reward since the all-star break, posting multiple games of 30 or less fantasy points and only one with 50+. That 50+ game did result in 43 points and 10 rebounds for an insane 65.5 fantasy points. Needless to say, he was in all of the winning GPP lineups by the end of the night. I think the same could be in store for him as he goes up against a Milwaukee Bucks team that is middle of the road when it comes to defending the power forward position. No one should really be looking toward Griffin in cash games, but his high upside makes him an ideal tournament play tonight at the Staples Center.
Kosta Koufos ($4,400) – Koufos sat out against the Magic on Monday for rest, but he will resume his center duties tonight against the Phoenix Suns. In his last 4 games, Koufos has played pretty well, putting up over 20 fantasy points in each of those contests. He’ll be facing a Suns team tonight that is giving up 54.3 fantasy points to centers over their last 5 games. I think he is in a great position to produce and should bring good value/upside to your GPP lineup.