For there only being four games tonight, there sure are a lot of players labeled ‘questionable,’ like Stephen Curry (played and looked great last night, but want to hear for certain he’ll play this back-to-back against such a bad team), Derrick Rose, Deron Williams, Kobe Bryant, Omri Casspi, Jerryd Bayless and D’Angelo Russell. That’s just as I am writing this intro paragraph at 9:30pm Eastern, so there are sure to be a few more popping up tonight and in the morning. Today we’ll be dissecting this four-game NBA DFS slate by looking at players that the analysis shows should be top plays and values based on many factors. At the end I will give my rankings at each position that should help you build a strong cash game lineup. Let’s start with the Vegas numbers.

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Vegas lines and totals

New York (+8.5) @ Atlanta — projected total of 205
Milwaukee (+7.5) @ Chicago — 198.5
Sacramento (+5.5) @ Dallas — 214
Golden State (-13) @ LA Lakers — 215

The GSW/LAL numbers have arrived and the total is higher than I expected, the line close to what I was imagining but slightly lower. There is definitely big time blow out concerns in this game, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if their studs didn’t need to play much of the second half, but it’s always scary to fade big names like the Warriors have. The SAC/DAL game has a very attractive line, and should stay close enough for it to be a game you consider putting a decent bit of weight in. No game tonight has a total that makes you want to avoid it, and only the Warriors game points to blowout status, so for the most part pick your players freely. Now, let’s delve into the games deeper and find the top targets and values on the slate.

POINT GUARD

Darren Collison (5,300) – Mentioned in the intro that I was sure more injury news would surface today, and we find out this afternoon that Rajon Rondo is doubtful to play at Dallas tonight. This immediately thrusts Darren Collison in as the starting point guard and makes him tough to not use on a slate like this especially. This game is expected to be high scoring and with that being the case, you love rostering a player that should have the ball in their hands as much as DC will. Rondo has only missed one game this season and in that game Collison put up 42 DK points. Use him!

J.J. Barea ($5,700) – This is all dependent on if Deron Williams plays or not. If Deron sits, Barea is a fantastic play. He’s filled in great when Williams has been out this season, and he’d be playing 30+ minutes in a game that has a really high projected total. Anything less than 30 FPs from him in that scenario would be surprising.

Aaron Brooks ($4,400) – Another play that is totally up in the air due to a questionable tag (you see why I said PG is so sketchy tonight?). If Rose is held out tonight, Brooks is a nice bargain play, should see around 30 minutes, but his shot is very hot/cold night-to-night so still not a sure thing. At this price though, the reward would outweigh the risk.

Cheap risk option: Jose Calderon ($4,200) is never a fun/sexy play, but the past three games he’s put up 25, 32 and 21 FPs, which you’d be fine with getting for this cheap on a small slated night like this one.

SHOOTING GUARD

Jimmy Butler ($8,000) – 41+ FPs in three straight games including his huge 58 FP outburst in their last game, Jimmy B is en fuego right now, and hard to pass up on a small slate with so many uncertainties.

Lou Williams ($5,700) – Sweet Lou is playing huge minutes for the Lakers currently, even when Kobe has been active. If Kobe is out tonight, Lou is basically a must play with the results he’s been cooking up. 28, 31, 37, 51 over the last four games, and while the matchup tonight isn’t ideal nor will it stay competitive, Lou should still see a healthy serving of minutes.

Cheap risk option: Ben McLemore left last night’s game due to back spasms and is listed as day-to-day, Omri Casspi missed the game as well, and if either is out again tonight, Marco Belinelli ($3,900) will benefit in playing time. Marco played 34 minutes and scored 21 points in the game last night, so keep an eye on this situation because he’d be a nice cheap play if it all plays out right. With Rondo out, Belinelli should see plenty of minutes regardless tonight since Collison won’t be taking any SG minutes now.

SMALL FORWARD

Carmelo Anthony ($8,200) – Melo is averaging 40 FPs in three games against the Hawks this season, and while that isn’t anything to dab to, there’s not a whole lot of players going tonight that you can project that high, period. Encouraging is the fact that Carmelo scored just 11 points in the Knicks last game and still netted 35 FPs (which happened to be against this same Hawks team), so he’s doing more than just scoring right now averaging 8.8 boards and 4.0 dimes the last five games.

Kent Bazemore ($5,800) – Of the mid-level options, I like going with Baze who looks like he’s back to his pre-injury form in the starter role. He just put up 31 FPs against these Knicks a couple nights ago, so now being at home should only help. He’s a fairly safe cash game play in my opinion at this price.

Cheap risk option: I can’t sell you on Derrick Williams ($3,500) as a nice value play, there’s nothing to feel great about when it comes to his situation at all. He’s just the one guy under $4K who I would roll the dice on if I had to come up with a punt play at SF. 19 – 18 – 25 – 10 – 17 FPs over the last five games, so you see the ceiling is low and the floor is lower, but of the options….

POWER FORWARD

DeMarcus Cousins ($10,000) – I will likely start the majority — if not all — of my lineups with Cousins and work from there. The Boogie Man was phenomenal last night against the Thunder, posting a monster 33 and 19 line. He was inexcusably low owned last night in the big GPPs, but put up over 60 FPs making those who ignore him pay. Due to the blowout fears and great matchup, I have DMC over Draymond by a decent bit tonight. With the news Rondo is out, it doesn’t change much here. Cousins will beast or tank himself mentally either way, but he did put up 48 FPs in the lone game Rondo missed this season a couple of weeks ago FWIW.

Paul Millsap ($8,100) – Sap has been great lately, posting 45+ FPs in the last four games. He put up 47 FPs against the Knicks the other night and in three games against NY this season, he’s averaged 46 FPs. He just simply matches up really well with the bigs of New York, and continually dominates them. No reason to believe tonight will be any different. I prefer Sap in cash games and Cousins in big tournaments.

Taj Gibson ($5,700) – Taj is my guy at the mid-level in cash games, because the Bucks give up so many boards to opposing bigs and all together have been bottom-5 in the league at allowing FPs to PFs. I have Gibson playing 30 minutes tonight and putting together a 12 and 10 kind of night that nets his around 30 FPs. Nikola Mirotic is the higher upside tournament play, but for cash, I’m going with Taj.

Cheap risk option: Why is Brandon Bass ($3,800) taking minutes away from Julius Randle? I have no answers for this, it’s insanity. As is though, Bass is playing at least 20 minutes a night recently and has hit value (19+ FPs) in three of the last four games, missing by only 2 FPs in the other. If you need a punt play, he’s about all there is that you at least know will get PT (and maybe more in garbage time?).

CENTER

Pau Gasol ($7,800) – He’s the best fantasy center going tonight and it’s not close. Pau should have no problems dominating Monroe and John Henson in the post tonight leading to a high quality double-double. I have him projected at 43 FPs.

Greg Monroe ($6,300) – While he won’t slow Pau down defensively, Monroe should still get his numbers in tonight against the Bulls who allow more FPs to opposing centers than any team in the league. That number is even more so the case with Joakim Noah out of the picture. Look for Monroe to put up around 36 FPs tonight.

Cheap risk option: If Omri Casspi sits again tonight, and maybe even if he plays, Kosta Koufos ($3,800) is the punt target at center tonight, although I don’t recommend punting at C tonight. Koufos saw extra PT with Casspi out last night playing 28 minutes and putting up 8pts, 8rebs and 4blks.

Cash game rankings:

This isn’t necessarily an order of who will score the most DraftKings points. Rather, the rankings are aimed to find the best price, value and production combo to help you win cash games, also taking into account potential ownership levels for each player.

PG
1) Darren Collison
2) J.J. Barea (if Deron is out)
3) Michael Carter-Williams
4) Stephen Curry
5) Aaron Brooks (if Rose is out)
6) Jordan Clarkson (esp if Kobe and/or D. Russell sit)
7) Jeff Teague

SG
1) Jimmy Butler
2) Lou Williams
3) Marco Belinelli
4) Klay Thompson
5) Wesley Matthews
6) Khris Middleton

SF
1) Carmelo Anthony
2) Kent Bazemore
3) Rudy Gay
4) Giannis Antetokounmpo
5) Chandler Parsons

PF
1) Paul Millsap
2) DeMarcus Cousins
3) Draymond Green
4) Taj Gibson
5) Dirk Nowitzki
6) Larry Nance Jr.
7) Nikola Mirotic
8) Kristaps Porzingis

C
1) Pau Gasol
2) Greg Monroe
3) Zaza Pachulia
4) Al Horford
5) Robin Lopez

As always, stay locked to Twitter and Rotoworld for any late-breaking news the hour before the first game tips at 8 p.m. EST. I’ll do my best to update this article as news breaks throughout the day, but the best way to get the latest is always to follow me on Twitter @BigZack44, where I’ll do my best to break down the implications of any late scratches or lineup changes.

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