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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
Cameron Payne – Phoenix (vs. New York) - DK: $4,800 / FD: $5,000 / Yahoo: $14
With Paul and Booker out, Payne figures to be a very popular play tonight. Given that he’s still very reasonably priced after a decent first start Wednesday night, I think he’s a nice piece to build around. He should see more than 20 minutes tonight, and while New York is a pace downgrade, and middle-of-the-road defensive team, Payne’s usage should allow him to post above average numbers in every category tonight. Aaron Holiday is another cheap option, while Cam Johnson remains a solid mid-range play.
Also Consider: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Cade Cunningham, Trae Young, Malcolm Brogdon, Kevin Porter Jr., Malachi Flynn, Ish Smith
SHOOTING GUARD
Jalen Green – Houston (at Denver) - DK: $5,300 / FD: $5,700 / Yahoo: $19
Riding the hot hand before it gets too pricey is a smart way to go. Houston is loaded with young talent and Green’s has been shining through. He started the season with a lot of inconsistency, but you have to go back to the end of January to find a game where he didn’t score double-digit points, and he’s generally good for at least one steal and a few other peripherals. Denver is a top guard matchup for fantasy, and although the Rockets are huge underdogs tonight (per usual), Green has performed well against them, with a 33-fantasy point game the last time they met.
Also Consider: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Gary Trent, Zach LaVine, D’Angelo Russell
SMALL FORWARD
Buddy Hield – Indiana (at Detroit) - DK: $7,400 / FD: $7,500 / Yahoo: $24
Hield has been great with his new team, where it’s starting to look like 35-40 MPG and 30 fantasy points are his floor. Tonight he gets a dream matchup with the Pistons, who rank 30th in rebounding, and first in fantasy points allowed to small forwards. This is a nice game to target given its relatively high point total and narrow spread. There are pricier Pacers to consider, but Hield is the best dollar per value option for cash games (if he’s too much salary for you, it’s easy to go down to one of the Suns’ SF eligible players).
Also Consider: Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Saddiq Bey, Malik Beasley, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Khris Middleton, RJ Barrett
POWER FORWARD
Aleksej Pokusevski – Oklahoma City (vs. Minnesota) - DK: $4,900 / FD: $5,200 / Yahoo: $16
There are other Thunder players who will be rostered at higher levels, like SGA and Roby (see below), but Poku still makes a lot of sense tonight. They are without Dort, Williams and Wiggins, and he’s really stepped up when given an opportunity, something we even saw last year in his rookie season. Pokusevski has back-to-back games with two blocks and two steals, to go along with full stat lines for 36-37 fantasy points per game. It may not last long, but I’m happy to save on him tonight in a friendly matchup with a Timberwolves team that ranks 10th in overall fantasy points allowed and offers a significant pace bump (Minnesota is third in pace).
Also Consider: Kyle Kuzma, Giannis Antetokounmpo, DeMar DeRozan, Scottie Barnes, Jaden McDaniels, Chuma Okeke
CENTER
Karl-Anthony Towns – Minnesota (at Oklahoma City) - DK: $10,100 / FD: $9,300 / Yahoo: $39
With the second-highest point total of the night (230.5 points), and the Timberwolves being big favorites, there is a lot to like about Minnesota tonight. In addition to nice values like Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley, and Jaden McDaniels (if Vanderbilt sits), Towns and Russell are both viable. Towns is coming off his best game in a while vs. the Warriors Tuesday night, clearly looking ready to pick up some of the offensive slack in addition to his normal effective rebounding. The Thunder rank second in fantasy points allowed to opponents, and fourth to centers. This is a great opportunity to catch a ceiling Towns game for significantly less salary than Embiid (difficult matchup, lower scoring game) or Jokic (big blowout risk).
Also Consider: Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, Mo Bamba, Deandre Ayton, Isaiah Roby
Additional Notes
Mo Bamba (C – ORL) is a mid-range center play I like in lieu of Towns if you decide to spend at PF or SG tonight. Especially if Wendell Carter Jr. is ruled out, Bamba would inherit some extra usage. As is, he’s been very solid in his last two games, producing double-doubles in back-to-back bouts with the Pacers, one of the best rebounding teams in the league and not a fantasy-friendly matchup for centers.
Isaiah Roby (F/C – OKC) is bound to be popular tonight, coming off his superb effort Wednesday night. As long as he remains cheap ($16 Yahoo, $4600 DK -- one of our NBA DFS Optimizer‘s best dollar per fantasy point values) I’m fine with rolling him out tonight for many of the same reasons outlined above for Pokusevski. He’s a bit pricey on FanDuel, given the flukiness of his high-scoring night and higher than normal assist totals on Wednesday. Still, if he starts, it’s a reasonable way to save on at least some sites.
Hamidou Diallo (G/F – DET) is a name to tuck away in case Cunningham does indeed sit out tonight. Cunningham was a late addition to the injury report today, so this is a situation to monitor. I mentioned that there is a lot to like about this game, and if he were to pick up some extra minutes and usage with Cunningham out, Diallo is more than capable of producing 30-plus fantasy points. For the price, that’s a great GPP value.
