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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 Saturday’s five-game slate starting at 7:00 ET.
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POINT GUARD
Ja Morant – Memphis (vs. Orlando) - DK: $10,400 / FD: $10,500 / Yahoo: $46
Needing no explanation, Morant is the ideal PG option tonight. Still less expensive than Curry on DraftKings, but producing at a fantastic level on all three sites, Morant gets the best overall matchup for fantasy tonight with the Magic. Both teams play fast, but Orlando ranks fourth in overall fantasy points allowed, 20th in defensive rating and 26th in rebounding rate. The Grizzlies are big favorites, but even when they win (or lose) big, Morant has done enough to pay off his increasingly high salary.
Also Consider: Steph Curry, LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Maxey, Dejounte Murray, Markelle Fultz
SHOOTING GUARD
Malik Beasley – Minnesota (vs. Portland) - DK: $3,200 / FD: $3,600 / Yahoo: $11
I feel like people might not trust Beasley with his salary so low, but it seems highly unlikely that the Timberwolves will be getting Anthony Edwards back tonight. Given 23-28 minutes, Beasley has produced an average of 30 fantasy points in his last two games, and the same is true when he got similar opportunities earlier in the season. The Trail Blazers rank 28th in defensive rating, giving up the seventh-most fantasy points to opponents, and Minnesota is the big home favorite in what should be a high scoring game.
Also Consider: Tyler Herro, James Harden, Terry Rozier, Klay Thompson, Jalen Suggs, Desmond Bane, DeAnthony Melton, Devin Vassell
SMALL FORWARD
Kelly Oubre – Charlotte (vs. San Antonio) - DK: $5,700 / FD: $5,800 / Yahoo: $21
Oubre can be frustrating for DFS players, but his salary is pretty good right now, and he’s strung together a quality stretch since the All-Star break. He’s a player that can go between 10 and 60 fantasy points any given night, so the 30-ish that he’s been averaging lately is no guarantee. However, in a plus matchup with the Spurs, who play at the fourth-highest pace, just behind Charlotte, and give up a ton of fantasy points to opponents, Oubre could easily have one of his ceiling games. SF is tougher on some sites (Yahoo) than others, but I like his combination of price and upside on all three sites tonight.
Also Consider: Caleb Martin (if Jimmy Butler is out), Franz Wagner
POWER FORWARD
Jaren Jackson Jr. – Memphis (vs. Orlando) - DK: $6,100 / FD: $6,800 / Yahoo: $26
Coming back to that terrible rebounding rate that Orlando has demonstrated this season, I am giving a slight edge to rostering Jackson over Miles Bridges tonight. Both get great matchups, but Jackson is fairly significantly cheaper (except on FanDuel). He had a couple of off-shooting nights last week, but bounced back Thursday with a 20-point performance. In one previous meeting with the Magic, Jackson played well, scoring 21 points with six rebounds, a block and a steal.
Also Consider: Miles Bridges, Chuma Okeke, Jaden McDaniels
CENTER
Jakob Poeltl – San Antonio (at Charlotte) - DK: $7,700 / FD: $8,000 / Yahoo: $30
Two of my favorite center matchups go at it in Charlotte tonight. With several star names on the slate tonight, people might overlook Poeltl, and he was not great the first time these teams played, way back in December. However, he’s been terrific lately, and for the savings he gets you over Embiid or even Adebayo, I think his 40-ish fantasy points will be a nice fit. Poeltl allows you to fit one more star guard, but if you go with Embiid or Adebayo, facing each other in a slow-paced, defense-heavy matchup, you’re going to have to scrap a bit more at G/U. Charlotte ranks 29th in the league in rebounding rate and is the sixth-best center matchup for DFS.
Also Consider: Bam Adebayo, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns
Additional Notes
Steph Curry (PG – GSW) is a challenge to fit on DraftKings, but he’s due for a big game. The Warriors are in rough shape right now…not as bad as the Lakers, but they’ve lost seven of their last nine games. The Lakers are the best PG matchup on the slate, and second-best in the league. Curry should be able to put up some monster numbers tonight in a high-scoring and fantasy-friendly (for Golden State) game.
Miles Bridges (F – CHA) is a great fit on FanDuel tonight, where he is SF eligible and just $300 more than Jackson, so you can really use both forwards. This game has a ton of fantasy potential and the Spurs are also a great frontcourt matchup. Bridges, like Oubre, has a wide range of outcomes, but put up five more fantasy points than his season average when he first played San Antonio this season.
Markelle Fultz (G – ORL) rested last night, but should be in action tonight. He’s played only two games, but scored about 20 fantasy points in both. For minimum price, and assuming his workload won’t decrease at this point, he’s the best dollar per fantasy point value G/U (per our NBA DFS Optimizer) if you’re trying to fit one or two more second-tier stars (e.g. Bridges, Maxey, Rozier).
