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This article aims to highlight some of the best NBA DFS Plays at every position for your cash game lineups. Keep in mind that the following player write-ups were constructed earlier in the day, and sometimes injury/rest situations can alter the fantasy landscape. Monitoring our NBA News & Headlines Feed throughout the day will keep you in the loop while giving you the subsequent DFS consequences of each information piece.
We’ll take a look at Friday’s 10-game slate starting at 7:00 ET.
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POINT GUARD
Malcolm Brogdon – Indiana (at Washington) - DK: $7,500 / FD: $7,700 / Yahoo: $32
Today’s strategy is a solid, middle-of-the-road lineup build. I’m going for mid-range salaries that have high floors with the upside of a favorable matchup. The first player that comes to mind is Brogdon. When healthy, he’s a machine, with a little bit (or a lot, as we saw Wednesday) of everything in his final stat lines. The matchup with Washington is a favorable one from a DvP standpoint, and also from a pace/defensive efficiency one.
Also Consider: Dejounte Murray, Dennis Schroder, LaMelo Ball, Kemba Walker, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Tyrese Maxey
SHOOTING GUARD
Evan Fournier – New York (at Orlando) - DK: $6,500 / FD: $6,100 / Yahoo: $23
Fournier benefitted from overtime the way all the Knicks and Celtics did Wednesday night, but even if he gives us two-thirds of that 56-fantasy point game, I’ll be happy. He’s a routine scorer who figures to have the ball in his hands plenty. The Magic rank as one of the best SG matchups for fantasy, and New York is a pretty big favorite in Florida tonight.
Also Consider: Zach LaVine, Donovan Mitchell, Jaylen Brown, Chris Duarte, Josh Giddey, Furkan Korkmaz
SMALL FORWARD
Gordon Hayward – Charlotte (at Cleveland) - DK: $7,000 / FD: $7,100 / Yahoo: $26
Along with LaMelo Ball, Hayward is a key offensive cog in this Charlotte team. He reminded us what he’s capable of when healthy with a solid performance against the Pacers Wednesday night. Tonight the Hornets take on another fantasy-friendly opponent in Cleveland, where Hayward should once again play heavy minutes en route to 40ish fantasy points.
Also Consider: Harrison Barnes, OG Anunoby, LeBron James, Brandon Ingram, R.J. Barrett, Kevin Durant, Michael Porter Jr.
POWER FORWARD
Tobias Harris – Philadelphia (vs. Brooklyn) - DK: $7,200 / FD: $7,600 / Yahoo: $32
Joel Embiid is questionable already with knee soreness, as the 76ers take on their Eastern Conference rival Brooklyn Nets. Ben Simmons is out. The cheaper 76ers could make for solid value plays tonight (see below), but Harris is the Mr. Reliable. He has upside, but I’m slotting him in at his reasonable salary to ensure I get my 30-40ish fantasy points from the position. This is the position I’m most likely to spend up on if the rest of my cash game lineup allows it, and definitely in large field tournaments. Any of Randle, Sabonis, or Davis could be the top scoring player of the slate, where I don’t think Harris is in that conversation.
Also Consider: Julius Randle, Domantas Sabonis, Anthony Davis, Evan Mobley
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CENTER
Jarrett Allen – Cleveland (vs. Charlotte) - DK: $6,600 / FD: $7,400 / Yahoo: $24
Allen’s opening night effort was overshadowed by rookie Evan Mobley’s break out game, which is fine with me. Allen is going to continue to be a critical part of this Cleveland team, and he quietly scored 25 points with four blocks and three steals in Memphis Wednesday night. Look for more of the same in a fantasy-friendly matchup with Charlotte, and don’t avoid Mobley, either. Allen is the cheaper option on DraftKings and Yahoo, but Mobley played 38 minutes in the opener and is still only $6100 on FanDuel.
Also Consider: Myles Turner, Nikola Jokic, Nikola Vucevic, Montrezl Harrell, Mitchell Robinson, Christian Wood, Rudy Gobert, Alperen Sengun
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Kemba Walker (G – NYK) wasn’t great against his former team Wednesday night, and was one of only a couple players that didn’t reach value in double overtime. Still, he’s very cheap tonight and in a more favorable matchup with the Magic, a team that is one of the best matchups for guards. He’s definitely not part of a super high-floor build, but I like the idea of having some exposure to him tonight and expect a better showing in the final numbers.
Christian Wood (C – HOU) is another bounce-back candidate who was overshadowed by a rookie in his first game of the season. Wood just barely missed a double-double in the loss, but he played 32 minutes and did lead the team in scoring. Alperen Sengun was a terrific value and could be again tonight ($3900 DK, $10 Yahoo, $4800 FanDuel) in this plus matchup with Oklahoma City. You’d be hard pressed to find two teams with younger rosters and less defense. Vegas doesn’t have the over/under (223 points) high enough in my opinion, but it should be a good game for fantasy value on both sides.
Furkan Korkmaz (G/F – PHI) and Tyrese Maxey are both very reasonable value plays again tonight. The Sixers need some stability and both looked mature enough and capable enough to offer it in the opening game. This game carries the highest point total (230 points) and Brooklyn’s backcourt defense is suspect. Maxey played significantly more minutes than Korkmaz, but Korkmaz was more efficient, almost matching Maxey’s fantasy output. Do what your salary constraints dictate with these two.
