We have a tight three-game slate Tuesday night, so finding the right foundations for your lineup is more important than ever. With so few options, you can’t afford to miss out on a big performance and need to make sure you have room to pencil in some stud players. Below are some options for those foundational pieces to build around in tonight’s mini-slate.
Point Guard
Save some salary with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($5,100)
With Lou Williams unlikely to play Tuesday after injuring his hamstring Monday night, the Clippers are going to need to have some other players step up. One of the players that stepped up in the second half and overtime Monday was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The rookie out of Kentucky has been a bit inconsistent, as rookies tend to be, but he’s in a great spot to contribute more Tuesday in the second game of a back to back set. There’s some risk involved, but the $5,100 price tag frees up plenty of money to spend up elsewhere in your lineup.
Shooting Guard
Save even more by taking a chance with Danny Green ($4,500)
Green is a bit of a high-risk, high-reward player, but he makes a great value option on a small slate. He sees an average of 33 minutes on the court each game, giving him ample opportunity to collect some solid stats. He isn’t a top scoring option for the Raptors, which does limit his ceiling a bit. It’s been a few weeks since teammate Kawhi Leonard has been held out for rest, so keep an eye out for any news regarding him. If he were to sit out, Green becomes an even better option.
We have a tight three-game slate Tuesday night, so finding the right foundations for your lineup is more important than ever. With so few options, you can’t afford to miss out on a big performance and need to make sure you have room to pencil in some stud players. Below are some options for those foundational pieces to build around in tonight’s mini-slate.
Point Guard
Save some salary with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($5,100)
With Lou Williams unlikely to play Tuesday after injuring his hamstring Monday night, the Clippers are going to need to have some other players step up. One of the players that stepped up in the second half and overtime Monday was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The rookie out of Kentucky has been a bit inconsistent, as rookies tend to be, but he’s in a great spot to contribute more Tuesday in the second game of a back to back set. There’s some risk involved, but the $5,100 price tag frees up plenty of money to spend up elsewhere in your lineup.
Shooting Guard
Save even more by taking a chance with Danny Green ($4,500)
Green is a bit of a high-risk, high-reward player, but he makes a great value option on a small slate. He sees an average of 33 minutes on the court each game, giving him ample opportunity to collect some solid stats. He isn’t a top scoring option for the Raptors, which does limit his ceiling a bit. It’s been a few weeks since teammate Kawhi Leonard has been held out for rest, so keep an eye out for any news regarding him. If he were to sit out, Green becomes an even better option.
Small Forward
Lock up Danilo Gallinari for guaranteed output ($6,700)
I’m already taking some risks at the guard positions, so I need to lock up some guaranteed points here. Gallinari has been averaging 32.64 FanDuel points so far in December. That includes two performances of over 34 FD points on both nights of a back-to-back set at the beginning of the month. Gallinari is one of the safest bets on tonight’s small slate.
Power Forward
Stick with the Clippers and Tobias Harris ($7,700)
Much like his teammate Gallinari, Harris has been a model of consistency this season as he leads the Clippers in both scoring and rebounding. He has double-double potential every night and will once again be the focus of the Clippers offense in the second set of back to back games tonight.
Center
Roll with rookie DeAndre Ayton at center ($6,600)
Finally, we have a player that won’t be playing at the Staples Center tonight. There are some high-priced centers in front of Ayton for tonight’s slate, but he has as good of a chance as either of them to put up a big fantasy performance. The number one draft pick is averaging a double-double on the season and has seen his scoring increase in each of the past three games. He should be an excellent spot to have a solid night against the Spurs.
There you have it; if you use those five players as a starting point for your lineup, you have plenty of room to pay up for some of the studs on the slate tonight, whether that’s James Harden or Damian Lillard. Micro slates like Tuesday can be a challenge, but that makes the payouts even more rewarding.
Aaron Larson is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.
