Only two games on the schedule in a light night for the NBA. Some sites like Fan Duel are combining their Thursday-Friday games together in cash games and tournaments which is a stayaway for me. Too much variance with the Friday roster moves. I’m sticking just to Draft Street here.

I love nights with smaller player pools. Just seems like it’s too easy for others to make mistakes and talk themselves into suboptimal plays. Here are some value picks for Draft Street’s Thursday games so you can get the big money guys into your lineup.

Guards

Jamal Crawford $7,850 - Though he’s coming off the bench, Crawford is playing starter minutes for the Clips with JJ Redick out. Honestly, this price seems like a mistake and I can envision a scenario in which he is an 80% or more start. He put up 21/3/3 (29.25 FPs) against the Celts last night and now he gets the Nets who don’t defend the shooting guard position, well, or really at all. He’s a chucker for sure and Draft Street subtracts for missed FGs which hurts him, but I think he pays this price going away.

Wesley Matthews $10,431 - I tend to gravitate towards point guards on Draft Street because they tend to control their own destiny (so to speak). But tonight we find value in the SG in order to save on a big name (or two). Matthews is remarkably consistent in the Blazer offense. Though Lillard and Aldridge get most of the pub, Matthews gets his almost every night. His FG% could be considered running a little hot, but when he gets his looks, they tend to be open ones. Houston is about average against shooting guards and Matthews is a safe play in cash games.

Forwards

Chandler Parsons $13,222 - It’s too bad Matthew Lillard is getting long in the tooth because he would have been the perfect casting move in any Parson’s biopic. These guys are like twins (And I want to point out that I thought of this comp and then looked it up on the internet only to find others had blazed the doppleganger trail well before me.) Anyway, get Parsons in your lineup. His minutes the last two games suggest his back is feeling fine and I have a feeling he will be underplayed tonight.

Kevin Garnett $9,674 - I was going to say Antawn Jamison here, but as you’ll read in a moment, I saved my punt for the center position.  Garnett has been performing well below expectations, but his last couple of games suggest he might be primed for a *ahem* rebound. His minutes increased over the last two and he spreads his little bits of nothing around the stat sheet enough to get a look. Wiith DWill back in the fold, and the Nets possibly pulling out of their tailspin, look for Garnett to see a modest bump in production.

Center

Mason Plumlee $4938 - Hear me out on this one. If you think the game turns into a blowout (the line doesn’t suggest it, but you might think it) and are looking to fade the game altogether (because the o/u is only in the 190s), or if you want to hedge against a Chris Paul/ Blake Griffin not getting their minutes because the Clips are boat-racing the Nets into oblivion, then Plumlee is your man. He gets his run when the Nets get shlacked. This is of course super speculative, and the Nets minutes are in flux with the team getting healthy. But punting and praying on Plumlee means you can basically populate the rest of your lineup with superstars. Probably more a GPP move, but I can almost stomach it in cash games. (And if you want to run Brook Lopez out there, feel free, the Clips can’t guard the center position).