Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. This week we have a relatively small six-game slate to navigate. There are five studs priced in the five-figure range and only one of them, Anthony Davis, has any kind of injury designation as of this writing. With smaller slates like tonight’s, it’s a great opportunity to take some shots on lower owned, high upside players in tournaments. Let’s dive in.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel 
Point Guard
Kemba Walker (BOS): $7,000 vs. NO
It’s been a rough few weeks for Walker; after missing four games due to injury he was ejected in his return on Wednesday. He followed that up with a sprained thumb on Thursday, though he was able to finish the game. His price has been driven down and it’s hard to imagine that he won’t pay off his $7,000 salary tonight against the Pelicans, who are allowing the fourth-most FD points to point guards on the season.
Welcome to the Saturday edition of FanDuel NBA lineup advice. This week we have a relatively small six-game slate to navigate. There are five studs priced in the five-figure range and only one of them, Anthony Davis, has any kind of injury designation as of this writing. With smaller slates like tonight’s, it’s a great opportunity to take some shots on lower owned, high upside players in tournaments. Let’s dive in.
Check out today’s NBA Shot from FanDuel
Point Guard
Kemba Walker (BOS): $7,000 vs. NO
It’s been a rough few weeks for Walker; after missing four games due to injury he was ejected in his return on Wednesday. He followed that up with a sprained thumb on Thursday, though he was able to finish the game. His price has been driven down and it’s hard to imagine that he won’t pay off his $7,000 salary tonight against the Pelicans, who are allowing the fourth-most FD points to point guards on the season.
Others to consider:
Damian Lillard (POR): $8,500 vs. MIL
Lillard has been a bit up and down this season and put up just 36.8 FD points Thursday in Minnesota, but he should be in for a more productive game tonight against the Bucks. Milwaukee heads to Portland allowing more three-pointers than any other team in the NBA, which sets up nice for Lillard, who’s made the fourth most of any player on the season so far with 126.
Collin Sexton (DEN): $5,900 at DEN
Sexton has been surprisingly consistent lately, averaging 33.4 FD points over his last four games. He doesn’t have a huge ceiling but should be safer than most in a good matchup against Denver, who have given up the second most FD points to point guards over the last seven games.
Shooting Guard
Josh Richardson (PHI): $6,100 at DAL
The minutes have been solid for Richardson all season but his scoring hasn’t been consistent until lately. He’s scored over 20 real points in three of his last four games and will likely continue to be more involved on the offensive end of the court as Joel Embiid is sidelined with a finger injury.
Others to consider:
Zach LaVine (CHI): $8,600 at DET
It’s hard not to play Lavine right now. He’s averaging 49 FD points per game over his last five and hasn’t put up less than 40 over that span. There’s no reason to expect the Pistons to slow him down tonight.
Donte DiVincenzo (MIL): $4,200 at POR
If you need to save some salary DiVincenzo is a nice discount shooting guard tonight. On the Bucks current road trip, he’s averaged 27.1 FD points over three games, in part thanks to his increased scoring. He doesn’t have huge upside but he isn’t likely to bust either.
Small Forward
Jaylen Brown (BOS): $6,300 vs. NO
It’s easy to be scared off of Brown when looking at his recent box scores but he’s in a perfect bounce-back spot tonight at home against the Pelicans, who have the eighth-worst defensive rating in the NBA. Look for Brown to break out of his slump tonight and pay off solid value at his affordable price tag.
Others to consider:
Giannis Antetokounmpo (MIL): $11,200 vs. POR
The reigning MVP is coming off of his worst performance of the season after barely notching a double-double last night and logging under 40 FD points for the first time all season. Some people may be foolish enough to fade him tonight, but I won’t be one of them; his chances of putting up back-to-back duds is extremely low.
Will Barton (DEN): $6,700 vs. CLE
Barton is back with the Nuggets after missing the team’s last game with a personal issue. In his last game out he lit up Atlanta for 28 real points and 48.3 FD points, now he’s taking on an even worse defensive opponent in the Cavaliers.
Power Forward
Al Horford (PHI): $6,400 at DAL
If you’ve paid attention so far this season you know that Horford steps up when Joel Embiid is out. He’s averaging nearly 37 FD points in the eight games that Embiid has missed so far this season. Even with his increased price he’s one of the best values on tonight’s smaller slate.
Others to consider:
Anthony Davis (LAL): $10,800 at OKC
You always have to pay attention to the injury report with Davis and that’s no different tonight. He missed last night’s game with a back injury but hasn’t been ruled out as of this writing. If he does end up playing you can get the player with arguably the highest ceiling in all of fantasy basketball at a relatively discounted price. If Davis does miss, Kyle Kuzma becomes a great play once again at just $4,100.
Michael Porter Jr. (DEN): $3,600 vs. CLE
It’s definitely a risky play but there’s a chance that Porter could see some extended run if the Nuggets blow out Cleveland tonight, which is well within the range of outcomes for the game. At his near-minimum salary, he has the potential to put up 7x value if he gets time on the court against the lowly Cavs.
Center
Nikola Jokic (DEN): $9,500 vs. CLE
There are three big-name centers on tonight’s slate but Jokic is easily my favorite. He’s $1,500 cheaper than Andre Drummond and has a much better matchup than Hassan Whiteside, who’s also listed as a game-time decision as he battles illness. Jokic comes with triple-double upside every night and he could easily put one up tonight against the aforementioned inferior Cleveland defense.
Others to consider:
Dwight Powell (DAL): $5,300 vs. PHI
If you’re spending too much salary at other positions to afford a top center tonight, Powell makes sense at his mid-range price tag. He’s seen a slight uptick in usage with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined and won’t have to deal with Joel Embiid tonight.
If you start your lineup tonight with the featured player at each position you’ll have an average of $6,175 to spend on your last four open spots. That gives you some nice options to adjust to the news of the day, specifically whether or not Anthony Davis takes the floor tonight. Good luck!
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Aaron Larson is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Aaron, check out his archive and follow him @aalarson.
