It is Thursday and the NBA trade deadline comes to an end at 3pm ET. This is a relief for many as players were ruled out right after lock last night after being traded. Marc Gasol did not travel with the Grizzles and it is possible he is on a new team by tonight. Ivan Rabb filled in for Gasol last game and put a 19/11 and posting 41 FPs. His priced increased to 5.1k on DK and 6.3K on FD. A lot can happen before the lock, so we could see some value open up as the day goes on.
DvP Chart for tonight’s games(time-frame past 2 weeks).
Hawks continue to run at a fast pace and allow the most FPs. Lakers are right behind them in pace and FPs allowed(ranked last vs centers as well). The Spurs have been known as a defensive team, but this year and as of late they have been allowing the 3rd most FPs on this slate and the 4th most over all(2 week time-frame).
**Trades were made today and some teams will have limited roster- Raptors available players(Lowry, Green, Leonard, VanVleet, Siakam, Ibaka, Lloyd, McCaw, Powell & OG), Clippers(Beverly, SGA, Robinson, Gallo, Harrell, Lou Williams, Wallace, Thornwell & Motley), Grizzlies(Conley, Holiday, Raab, Jackson, Noah, Cabolco, Washburn, Carter, Watanbe).
*Fastest Pace- Hawks, Thunder, Lakers & Clippers(They are also among the teams allowing the most FPs). Good teams to target players against.
*Russell Westbrook & Paul George have both been playing well and in play just about every night. I will be faded them both due the potential blowout vs a depleted Grizzlies team. They both posses solid floors and could be considered for that.
CORE
Kyrie Irving
Fred VanVleet
Julian Washburn- way too cheap on DK
Danillo Gallinari- only if no minutes limit.
Domantas Sabonis- GPP only
Favorite punt play- Jonathan Motley
POINT GUARD
Kyrie Irving
A few things to look at for Irving. First, his home/road splits, going against a poor defense and playing LeBron James. At home Irving is averaging 48.2 FPS and 1.46 FPPM vs on the road 42.2 FP & 1.29 FPPM. This is also a pace up spot for Irving and the Celtics and they play the 2nd worst defensive team over the past 2 weeks. Lastly, Irving is playing against his old teammate LeBron James and I think he steps up his game a bit vs him tonight on TNT. I will have Irving, James, Rondo & Horford in one of my lineups tonight.
Damian Lillard
Lillard did not play well last game vs a tougher Heat defense. Tonight he gets a much better matchup at home vs a Spurs defense that has allowed the most FPs to opposing PGs.
Kyle Lowry
Lowry looked in better form last game taking 16 shots and hitting 7 of them while dropping 6 dimes. This is a pace up spot for Lowry and the Raptors and they get the best matchup on the night.
Rajon Rondo
Rondo will be the main ball handler tonight and play over 30 minutes. He gets a crack at one of his old teams and is playing on national TV. This is a spot where he will step up and put up solid line. I do not see many on him tonight on this slate, so he should come in at lower ownership.
VALUE
DJ Augastin
Augastin is under 5K and playing around 30 minutes a night. He gets a solid matchup against the Wolves and has a good shot to hit value tonight.
Fred VanVleet
Lowry is listed in and I still like VanVleet. The Raptors get the biggest bump in pace and play the worst defensive team. VanVleet has been playing solid minutes as of late and the Raptors are down a few players. He could see some additional minutes. One of my favorite GPP plays on the night.
Corey Jospeh
Joseph is in a similar situation as VanVleet. Nice bump in pace and gets an excellent matchup.
SHOOTING GUARD
Lou Williams
The Clippers will be limited tonight as they traded away a few players yesterday and today. Tobias Harris is gone which opens up 25% usage and they just traded Avery Bradley away, so now they are down another guard. With these 2 players gone and Gallo back Williams has a 33.5% usage rate. This is a tougher matchup for the Clippers, but they will need Williams to take score tonight to keep in this game.
DeMar Derozan
Derozan is coming off a rest game and is slated to play tonight. He is priced under 8k and has a decent matchup. He continues to play over 30 minutes a night and has a decent floor. The price/value is what I am looking at tonight and the upside he has shown this year. This is a night where Derozan could return 6x+ at his price.
Andrew Wiggins
I prefer Wiggins if Teague sits out tonight. This would open up more opportunities and shots where Wiggins needs the points to hit value.
VALUE
Dennis Schroder
Schroder is the player I will look at tonight for the Thunder as he plays with the second unit and should easily handle to Grizzlies 2nd team. He has played well as of late and his price has stayed under 5K.
Marcus Smart & Jaylen Brown
Smart will most likely get the duty of guarding James tonight and he lives for these games. With Irving back most will stay away from Smart, but I prefer to play him in certain games against players like James, Westbrook and Harder as he steps up his game. Brown has been playing well on the second unit and this is a pace up spot for the Celtics where he tends to play better.
Tyreke Evans
Evans has been all over the place this year with minutes, points, FPs. This is an excellent spot for him tonight as he gets a pace up spot against a poor defense.
SMALL FORWARD
Danillo Gallinari
Gallo is listed as playing tonight and there is no word on any restrictions. If he does not have any minutes restrictions or listed as playing 30 plus I will have a lot of interest in him tonight. The Clippers lost Harris to a trade, which opens up a lot of usage and Gallo and Williams will be the Clippers primary offense going forward. Prior to his injury he was averaging just shy of 20 points a game and 32.8 FPs. On DK he is under-priced, especially if he is not limited.
LeBron James
I see James coming out on fire tonight after watching the Lakers get blown out by the Pacers. This is also a national televised game against one of his former teammates.
Bojan Bogdanovic
Excellent matchup and pace up spot.
VALUE
Justin Holiday
Holiday is still fairly cheap and will be expected to play well over 30 minutes against a team that has allowed the 4th most FPs on this slate over the past 2 weeks. Ranked 20th vs opposing SGs.
POWER FORWARD
Montrezl Harrell
Harris is gone and Harrell should see a bump in minutes tonight. Posting about 1 FPPM and gets a solid matchup as the one area you can attack the Pacers is the forward position.
Serge Ibaka & Pascal Siakam
These 2 have both played well this year and both priced similarly. Pace up spot for the Raptors and poor defense by the Hawks puts both in play tonight. Slight bump to Ibaka.
Jaren Jackson
Gasol & Green have been traded opening up more playing time for Jackson and Rabb. In the last game with Gasol out Jackson posted 23 points, 6 rebounds and 41.5 FPs. Tonight he get nice bump in pace and very good matchup.
Aaron Gordon
Solid spot for Gordon vs the Wolves.
VALUE
Ivan Rabb
Rabb should start again and see solid minutes. Played very well last game when he got the start posting a double/double. Prefer him on DK with his price in the low 5K range.
Domantas Sabonis
Sabonis is under 6k now on DK and still playing well. This is a very good spot for him tonight with the matchup and potential blowout minutes.
CENTER
Karl-Anthony Towns
Towns has been playing well since the Wolves traded away Butler & Rose & Teague have been out. This year he is averaging 1.5 FPPM along with 37 minutes a game. The Wolves will need him to play big tonight against Vuvevic and the Magic. His price is still under 10k on DK, which gives him 6x upside.
Al Horford
Horford has been playing very well as of late with 33 or more FPs in 7 straight games and 4 of those over 39 FPs. This is an elite matchup for Horford tonight as the Lakers have allowed the most FPs to opposing centers.
Myles Turner
Turner has played well as of late and gets a nice pace up spot vs the Clippers.
VALUE
Meyers Leonard
Leonard has played solid minutes in back to back games(one was when he started for Nurkic). At only 3.5k vs a Spurs team that has allowed the 7th most FPs to opposing centers.
JaVale McGee
Zubac is gone leaving McGee and Chandler. Bottom line is that no one of the Celtics will be able to handle McGee(Baynes is out).
RISK/REWARD
Jake Layman
Layman has been playing very well as of late with 2 40+ performances in his last 4 games. Spurs have been on of the worst defensive teams as of late and Layman should have no problem getting his shot off vs them tonight.
Danny Green
Green is only 4k on DK and should get a lot of open 3s tonight.
Luol Deng
Deng has played 20 + minutes in 4 of the last 5 games and hit value in 3 of them. He is priced at only 3.3K and gets a decent matchup tonight.
Jonathan Motley
Put play for the Clippers. He should see solid minutes tonight on the depleted Clippers team, In limited minutes this season Motley has put up 1.35 FPPM, so if he gets 15-20 minutes Motley should crush value. One of my favorite large tournament GPP plays.
Julian Washburn
Washburn is the Grizzly I have the most interest in due to his price and his potential to play 30 plus minutes tonight against the Thunder who allow the 4th most FPs on the slate tonight.
Daniel Theis
Theis should see a few extra minutes with Baynes still out and he gets a very good matchup against the Lakers.
