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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 nine-game slate starting at 7:00 ET.
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POINT GUARD
Mike Conley – Utah (vs. Brooklyn) - DK: $7,000 / FD: $6,600 / Yahoo: $25
It’s good news for Utah that Donovan Mitchell will be back tonight, but that doesn’t mean Conley should be off your radar. This is set to be a high scoring and competitive game, with Brooklyn playing at a higher pace and being the better fantasy matchup. On the season, the Nets are giving up the fourth-most fantasy points to point guards, and Conley is having a very good, consistent season. He’s scoring in double-digit points with plenty of rebounds and assists, and has a notable nine steals in his last three games. You can definitely spend more or less at this position tonight, but Conley is a solid, reasonably priced guard cornerstone to build off of.
Also Consider: LaMelo Ball, Fred VanVleet, Luka Doncic, Derrick White (if Murray is out), Anfernee Simons
SHOOTING GUARD
CJ McCollum – Portland (vs. Oklahoma City) - DK: $8,300 / FD: $7,700 / Yahoo: $30
Targeting wing players against OKC is almost always a winning strategy. It’s the matchup that is allowing me to spend more on McCollum than the numbers say he’s worth. He’s a very solid player and DFS option, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been a long time since we’ve seen any 50-plus upside from him. Maybe tonight is that night; OKC allows the most fantasy points to opposing two-guards and third-most overall. McCollum might not have the most upside of anyone on the slate, but he is highly unlikely to tank your lineups either. The announcement of the trade sending Norm Powell and Robert Covington to the Clippers is even more reason to stock up on McCollum, and keep an eye on the starting lineup – there’s sure to be value at F as well.
Also Consider: Terry Taylor, Donovan Mitchell, Brandon Ingram, Josh Giddey, Kyrie Irving, Terry Rozier
SMALL FORWARD
Luguentz Dort – Oklahoma City (at Portland) - DK: $6,400 / FD: $6,500 / Yahoo: $21
Sticking with the same game, the Thunder have some opportunities to thrive against a Trail Blazers team that ranks 10th in overall fantasy points allowed and is particular generous to opposing forwards. Dort has generally been playing above his season average lately, including against Portland earlier this week when he dropped 18 points with three steals and a full line. His defense is never in question, but his ability to score 25-30 points any given night (without SGA) is a reason to roster him. Here the salary is a bit below what the numbers would normally recommend, so if you roster him and McCollum, it kind of averages out and you take advantage of both good matchups.
Also Consider: Jayson Tatum, Ayo Dosunmu, OG Anunoby
POWER FORWARD
Keldon Johnson – San Antonio (vs. Houston) - DK: $6,100 / FD: $6,400 / Yahoo: $21
This Texas showdown is set to be the highest scoring game of the night, with both teams playing at a Top 5 pace and ranking near or at the bottom of the league in defensive rating. Houston is awful defensively, giving up the most overall fantasy points to opponents, second most to PF specifically. Johnson is coming off a tough matchup with the Heat in which he played only 22 minutes. His low-end stat line from last night is one to forget, but hopefully he can hit the high end of his range tonight. Prior to the dud, he was averaging well over 30 fantasy points per game since the last week of January.
Also Consider: DeMar DeRozan, Miles Bridges, Evan Mobley
CENTER
Christian Wood – Houston (at San Antonio) - DK: $8,700 / FD: $8,500 / Yahoo: $29
Wood has become hard to trust but if the Rockets want to trade him and he wants to be traded, it’s in everyone’s best interests to showcase his talents. He’s been doing that in eight of the last nine games – with the lone dud being a blowout loss to these Spurs in which he played only 24 minutes. With Murray back the line on this game has rapidly moved in the Spurs’ favor, but the total has also gone up to 238 points. Wood’s significant savings from the top studs and outstanding matchup should make him an ideal option to fill the center spot in any lineup tonight.
Also Consider: Jarrett Allen, Jusuf Nurkic, Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, Udoka Azubuike, Isaiah Stewart
Additional Notes
Terry Taylor (G/F – IND) His positional eligibility is all over the place from SG to center, but the Pacers are desperate for healthy, talented bodies and he is proving that he can fill the shoes of the injured frontcourt. This game has the highest point total on the slate, and given the way Taylor performed in 37 minutes Wednesday night (after Isaiah Jackson was hurt in the first minute of the game), he’ll be a popular, but productive, play tonight. Also consider Torrey Craig for value for the same reasons.
Udoka Azubuike (C – UTA) is just a super cheap name to keep in your back pocket in case Hassan Whiteside is ruled out again tonight. Azubuike was strong value Tuesday as the Jazz beat the Nuggets, and he’d be getting a better matchup with the Nets tonight, as noted above.
Jusuf Nurkic (C – POR) is not cheap, but the trade the Trail Blazers just made is going to elevate his usage in a big way. He’s been a bit up and down, including a down-ish game vs. the Thunder earlier in the week, but he bounced back from that loss and should have his hands full tonight.
