Welcome to the Tuesday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. We have a nice seven-game slate to navigate today. The slate features a moderate amount of high-priced options, with seven players checking in at salaries over $10,000. The highest point total of the night is expected to be 237.5 in a fast-paced matchup between the Bucks and Pelicans in New Orleans. With less than a month remaining in the regular season, some teams have more to play for than others. Teams like the Lakers and Bulls are basically waving the white flag, limiting studs like LeBron James and opening value for bench players who’ll get extra run down the stretch. Other teams, like the Blazers or Pacers, are battling for playoff seeding and will lean on their stars to try and secure a better seed. With all that in mind, here’s my advice for tonight.
Point Guard
Ben Simmons (PHI): $10,000
Simmons has a few things going for him tonight, starting with the matchup. Cleveland has been the second worst team defending point guards this season, allowing an average of 49.86 FD points to the position. That number has been even worse over the last seven games, at 51.42 FD points. Then you have the fact that Jimmy Butler is being held out for rest tonight. While they don’t play the same position, they both have a similar usage rate of around 22%. Simmons should see a slight usage bump without Butler, giving him even more opportunities to take advantage of the weak Cleveland defense, which will be playing in the second half of a back-to-back after surprisingly topping the Raptors last night. The only hesitation with Simmons is the fact that this game could get out of hand and he could be pulled early if the 76ers run away with it early.
Welcome to the Tuesday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. We have a nice seven-game slate to navigate today. The slate features a moderate amount of high-priced options, with seven players checking in at salaries over $10,000. The highest point total of the night is expected to be 237.5 in a fast-paced matchup between the Bucks and Pelicans in New Orleans. With less than a month remaining in the regular season, some teams have more to play for than others. Teams like the Lakers and Bulls are basically waving the white flag, limiting studs like LeBron James and opening value for bench players who’ll get extra run down the stretch. Other teams, like the Blazers or Pacers, are battling for playoff seeding and will lean on their stars to try and secure a better seed. With all that in mind, here’s my advice for tonight.
Point Guard
Ben Simmons (PHI): $10,000
Simmons has a few things going for him tonight, starting with the matchup. Cleveland has been the second worst team defending point guards this season, allowing an average of 49.86 FD points to the position. That number has been even worse over the last seven games, at 51.42 FD points. Then you have the fact that Jimmy Butler is being held out for rest tonight. While they don’t play the same position, they both have a similar usage rate of around 22%. Simmons should see a slight usage bump without Butler, giving him even more opportunities to take advantage of the weak Cleveland defense, which will be playing in the second half of a back-to-back after surprisingly topping the Raptors last night. The only hesitation with Simmons is the fact that this game could get out of hand and he could be pulled early if the 76ers run away with it early.
Others to consider
Eric Bledsoe (MIL): $7,200
The Pelicans have given up the third-most FD points to point guards this season. Bledsoe still doesn’t have a true point guard backing him up with George Hill still injured, so he should see plenty of minutes in what’s expected to be the highest scoring game of the night.
Ryan Arcidiacono (CHI): $3,500
Even though he’s listed as a point guard on FanDuel, Arcidiacono got the start for the injured Zach Lavine on Sunday. Lavine is doubtful for tonight’s game, so Arcidiacono shapes up to be a great value against the Lakers, assuming he gets the start again.
Brandon Knight (CLE):$3,500
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Brandon Knight as a value play, so you get a bonus fourth point guard option to choose from today. In the past two games, he’s averaged 24 minutes on the court and 29 FD points, so he’s worth taking a shot on at the $3,500 minimum.
Shooting Guard
DeMar DeRozan (SA): $8,900
Shooting guard is a mess on tonight’s slate. Three of the highest priced options have already been ruled out and Luka Doncic, the highest priced option, is currently listed as questionable after tweaking his knee in Sunday’s game. DeRozan is the safest play, as he’s played at least 32 minutes in eleven straight games. On top of that, he gets a solid matchup against the Mavericks, who have given up the seventh-most FD points to shooting guards on the season and the second-most over the last 15 games.
Others to consider
Luka Doncic (DAL): $10,100
As mentioned above, Doncic tweaked his knee Sunday, though he was able to return to the game. The Mavericks might take a cautious approach and hold him out, but if he does play you have the potential to get the highest FD point total at the position at low ownership.
Wayne Selden (CHI): $3,700
Another huge value on tonight’s slate, Selden led the Bulls in scoring in Zach Lavine’s absence Sunday. He should be set up for another strong performance against the Lakers, who have allowed the second-most FD points to shooting guards for the season.
Small Forward
Cedi Osman (CLE): $5,800
The Cavs may be shorthanded tonight in the second half of a back-to-back when they take on the 76ers. Kevin Love has already been ruled out and Larry Nance Jr. is considered a game-time decision after leaving Friday’s game early and sitting out Sunday’s game with a chest injury. Osman has seen at least 31 minutes in nine straight games and should have increased usage without Love and Nance, giving him ample opportunity to pay off his moderate $5,800 price tag.
Others to consider
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): $12,000
He’s the highest priced player on the slate, but he also comes with the highest ceiling. The Pelicans have struggled against bigs lately and the matchup is the highest projected point total of the night, so if you’re making multiple lineups, make sure the Greek Freak is sprinkled into some of them.
Nikola Mirotic (MIL): $5,200
If you want to roll with the revenge game narrative, Mirotic is your guy. He’s been up and down since joining the Bucks at the trade deadline but is beginning to look more comfortable with his new teammates. He could easily hit enough threes and grab enough boards against his former team to more than justify his $5,200 price tonight.
Power Forward
Tobias Harris (PHI): $7,400
Harris, much like Ben Simmons, could see a nice usage increase when Jimmy Butler rests tonight. I’m playing him primarily in cash games because of his extremely safe floor. He’s taken an average of 15.2 shots per game since joining Philadelphia, and never taken less than 12. He’s also put up enough rebounds (8.0) and assists (2.6) that you should feel very comfortable playing him at $7,400.
Others to consider
Julius Randle (NO): $9,000 or Anthony Davis (NO): $7,600
I list the Pelicans power forwards here together because of the murky situation we have to navigate with Anthony Davis for the rest of the season. If Davis plays he still won’t see more than 21 minutes of court time, but he can do enough in that time to pay off at $7,600 against Milwaukee. On the other hand, if he’s ruled out before the lock, take a look at Randle. He’s averaged nearly 40 FD points in the past three games that Davis has sat, and has 50+ FD point upside in this matchup.
Marquese Chriss (CLE): $3,500
Chriss is yet another value target on this slate. As mentioned earlier, Kevin Love has already been ruled out and Larry Nance is extremely questionable, leaving the Cavs potentially thin in the frontcourt. Chriss should be well-rested after yesterday’s ejection, and won’t need much to pay off his minimum price tag.
Center
Jusuf Nurkic (POR): $9,000
There are several great options to choose from at center tonight, but I’m making Nurkic my preferred play. First of all, he has the best matchup with the Clippers, who are giving up the most FD points to centers this season at a staggering 62.32. Next, the Blazers are just two games in front of the Clippers for the for the five seed in the playoffs right now, and just a half game back of Oklahoma City for the coveted four seed, so they won’t be afraid to keep Nurkic and feeding him if he gets hot, which he should given the matchup. Finally, he’s cheaper than the other elite options at the position; at only $9,000 he’s a relative discount.
Others to consider
Karl-Anthony Towns (MIN): $11,700
As of this writing, Towns is listed as questionable for tonight’s matchup with the Nuggets. He’s been putting up huge numbers when he plays and was hoping to play Sunday before the team brass shut him down. If he plays tonight he might go crazy, and you could get him at low ownership.
Nikola Jokic (DEN): $10,900
Jokic is a nice compromise between Nurkic and Towns at $10,900. He’s a triple-double threat every time he steps on the floor and has a reasonable salary considering his ceiling. I won’t argue with anybody that wants to play the Joker tonight.
If you start your lineup tonight with my five featured players, you’ll only have an average of $4,725 per player to spend on your remaining four roster spots. That may not be much on a typical slate in the middle of the season, but this time of year there is so much value to be found that you should have no problem rounding out your lineup. As usual, keep an eye on the latest news and injuries leading up to tipoff, especially with so many questions surround some high impact players tonight. Good luck out there!
Aaron Larson is a correspondent at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.
