Merry Christmas! 5 NBA games on the board today, as always, and this slate actually has some consequential injury news, too. Evan Mobley, Alperen Sengun, Jaden McDaniels, and PJ Washington are all carrying questionable tags coming into the day, so be prepared to ignore your family, hulk over the laptop, and do some late swapping.
It does look like a fun slate – much more so than the garbage the NFL is running out there – so let’s dive in.
DK Core Plays
- Anthony Davis
- Peyton Watson
- Tim Hardaway Jr.
Cam Johnson is out, while Denver is still missing Aaron Gordon and Christian Braun. They’re simply getting thin on playable wings. With Watson missing a couple of games recently we saw a big boost in minutes for THJ regardless of whether he starts. There isn’t a ton of great salary relief on this slate, but Hardaway ($4,000) and Watson ($5,000) should both be in line for significant minutes.
Davis ($9,500) has been too cheap on DK for a few days now, and today’s no exception. Golden State’s defense has been particularly weak this season. There are several good upper midrange spends – Edwards, Towns, Murray – on my radar, but Davis offers the most consistent ceiling, IMO. It’s easier to live in this range than it is to pay all the way up for Jokic/Doncic.
FD Core Plays
- Evan Mobley
- Jimmy Butler
- Jalen Williams
- Tim Hardaway Jr.
Some intern at FanDuel dropped the ball, as Evan Mobley is only $3,500 over here. He’s been out for a little over a week with a calf injury, and there’s no guarantee he plays today through his Q tag. If he does play, he’ll probably face some sort of minutes limit, but there’s simply no world in which this man should cost $3,500. If he plays – which we’ll know since this is the first game of the day – you lock him into your lineups. There is no other remotely comparable value play.
Butler almost always pops on FD, and that’s the case again today at just $7,800 for a matchup against Dallas. I don’t hate a Butler GPP fade considering he hasn’t flashed a super-high ceiling, but the floor is good for the salary, and the Dallas defense has been weak overall.
The Mobley salary makes it pretty easy to spend up at several spots. The Thunder have been struggling recently, especially against San Antonio, but I like the $8,300 price point on J-Dub with OKC missing Ajay Mitchell and a few other depth pieces on the wing. Mitchell is a real source of usage for this team, so Williams should do more heavy-lifting offensively, especially when SGA is off the floor.
Leave a Reply