New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) moves to the basket in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Memphis Grizzlies in New Orleans, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
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Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 36.78 DK - 37.45
Bledsoe saw some cash game play on Friday even in a very competitive slate, and I have a strong feeling he'll be among the highest owned point guards on a tiny Sunday slate. With Hill and Divicenzo likely out the Bucks honestly don't have a whole lot of other traditional point guard options, and Bledsoe has already been totally reasonable on these prices recently. While the Suns have improved defensively this season they still play a top 10 pace with a league average defense, and Bledsoe should have plenty of possessions to pay his value.
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 56.51 DK - 59.24
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 36.36 DK - 37.3
The Rockets/Pelicans game has by far the highest total on the day (245!), and a tighter spread at 4.5 than many people would have imagined. If this game does stay close, these two look like equally good values at different price points today. Lonzo's mini-Westbrook approach gives him a ton of floor, and Westbrook himself has been on a tear recently with Harden nursing a sore thigh. I'd be fine with either of these guys for cash game purposes tonight.
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 58.8 DK - 61.27
Rumors of Harden's demise appear to have been exaggerated, as any concerns about his thigh causing long term issues were relieved on Friday night. Big game James simply dominated the Mavs, netting 35 points and 6 assists while crashing the boards for 16 rebounds. If he's going to be playing at this frenetic pace he's still too cheap, and even the 8% price increase isn't enough to scare us off him in such an excellent match-up.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 42.28 DK - 42.35
Holiday has been thriving recently, with his latest opus being a 46 fantasy point performance against Memphis in just 25 minutes. Zion's arrival has revitalized Holiday, who has compiled 12 defensive stats in his last two games. That pace is obviously unsustainable, but the effort alone has to be worth a whole heck of a lot. We've already discussed a lot of expensive plays, and you won't be able to afford them all, but if you find room for Holiday's salary this is a terrific spot against a Houston team that's allowed the 5th most fantasy points to opposing back courts this season.
Keep an eye on the Bucks situation. Injuries to Hill and Divincenzo opened up more minutes for Connaughton last game, and on a small slate that could be relevant today.
Opponent - NO
Proj Pts FD - 26.04 DK - 26.39
House filled in for Capela on Friday, and filled in admirably, putting up 29.6 fantasy points across 38 minutes of action against the Mavs. If there was a fly in the ointment it was that his big performance was fueled by an unsustainable number of defensive stats, but you could argue he ran bad with just 3 rebounds and assists. He's just a price and opportunity mismatch against a fast paced New Orleans team.
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 32.87 DK - 32.93
Barton is running a good portion of the offense with Murray sidelined, and you can probably tell that FanDuel and DraftKings have very different ideas of his current value. If his time of possession is to be trusted right now the DraftKings price is probably a lot closer to fair than the FanDuel price, and that means we're really getting away with something here. Detroit is a solid match-up, playing a league average pace with a bottom 10 defense, and Barton has a fantastic floor on FanDuel tonight.
Also considered: Giannis, and Kelly Oubre.
Opponent - CHI
Proj Pts FD - 36.11 DK - 37.84
Gasol has already been ruled out of this game, and given that Ibaka has been nearly unanimously owned in each of his last two games I don't see that changing much on such a small slate. Everything worked against Ibaka in the Detroit game - he got into foul trouble and the Raptors crushed the Pistons - and he still almost scraped out 5x points per dollar on these prices. The usage has been excellent when he's started, and going up against a Bulls team that's allowed the very most fantasy points per game to opposing centers this season is just icing on the cake.
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 35.95 DK - 37.45
The Pelicans have won in back to back blowouts, and that leads me to believe that we still have room for growth in Zion's price here. DraftKings seems to be pricing him based on a forceast of more minutes, but FanDuel is stuck in the past, as usual. Look for Zion and his 62.5% field goal percentage to pay value handily in what could be a big time break out game against such a high profile opponent.
also considered: PJ Tucker.
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 45.3 DK - 46.06
Opponent - DEN
Proj Pts FD - 50.18 DK - 50.13
Center is abominable today, and while I don't relish the idea of paying up at a terrible position, these really aren't terrible options all things considered. I consider Drummond mostly a big tournament play here, since he could lose minutes for any number of reasons in a tough match-up with Jokic and the Nuggets.
Ayton might not fare much better against the Bucks, but he at the very least has a big time athleticism advantage over Brook Lopez and/or Thon Maker. The Bucks are resounding 12 point favorites here, and you hate taking a center as that big of an underdog, but I'm not sure what your other options really are.
Let's talk briefly about Nikola Jokic. He just hasn't been worth his current prices this season, straight up. He's been better recently, but I just don't know that you can invest $10,000 in him and still fit in the actually good plays elsewhere.
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