Monday Tipps: Week Three Daily Fantasy Bargains
I hope you guys had a profitable first two weeks of the daily fantasy basketball season. If you did, you’ve been doing better than me. Seems like the fatigue of crazy back to back to back scheduling, unexpected DNP’s and injuries all found me last week, turning my play into breakeven, but that’s how streaky daily fantasy can be. Last week I stuck with using a balanced roster strategy, trying to get solid performances from usually reliable players, but that doesn’t seem to be the best strategy early this season. I had much better luck using a strategy of rostering the dependable studs and filling in a few holes with gambles, which mostly paid off. I’ve set out some guys below who are perfect for filling the holes in your roster during week three. Good luck this week and Roll Tide!
Hedo Turkoglu (ORL) – Turkoglu has been an aggravating fantasy player to own over the last couple of seasons, but his stats have been very dependable over his first nine games this year. Jameer Nelson looks completely lost most of the time, which leaves the offense running through Turkoglu as more of a ‘point forward’. He’s not going to put up monster lines, but if you want to dependably plug a roster hole at a decent price, he’s a pretty good play.
MarShon Brooks (NJN) – Brooks should be starting for the Nets, but at least he’s getting 25-30 minutes a night coming off the bench behind Anthony Morrow. He’s still priced at $5200 on Fanduel, $96k on Daily Joust and $8717 on DraftStreet. I expect that the Nets will slowly ease him into a bigger role and make him a useful daily fantasy play.
Iman Shumpert (NYK) – Shumpert wasn’t available on a couple of the daily sites last week, but he shows up today on DraftSteet at $7842 and Fanduel at $4900. Daily Joust had him listed last week at a very low salary, but they have adjusted him quickly to $107,000, which isn’t nearly as good of a bargain as the FD and DS pricing. Shumpert has moved into the New York starting lineup replacing Toney Douglas and should remain there for at least this week, probably longer.
Brandon Knight (DET) – Rodney Stuckey is having some lingering groin injury issues and Knight has had an opportunity to pick up 39 and 37 minutes in his last two games. He’s a must play if Stuckey continues to miss time with the injury. Keep an eye on how the Pistons rotate their top three guards of Stuckey, Knight and Ben Gordon. Stuckey has always been a little better suited at SG, which could let the Pistons insert Knight into the starting PG spot, with Gordon coming off the bench.
Spencer Hawes (PHI) – I hate Spencer Hawes. Actually, I don’t hate Hawes, I hate myself for drafting him with my last pick in the RG Roogslabble league and then dropping him for Mehmet Okur before the season started. Go ahead, make fun. Like you knew he was going to play like this. Liar. Hawes is still a great $6500 bargain on Fanduel, but DraftStreet ($13.4k) and Daily Joust ($139k) have adjusted him quickly to the point where he isn’t such a great deal on those sites. He did tweak his back in his last game, but it doesn’t appear to be too serious. Keep riding him until the wheels fall off (and they will).
Stephen Jackson (MIL) – Jackson’s first two weeks of the season have been horrible and his salary on most sites reflect that performance. He’s got too much skill to slump this badly and should snap out of it soon. At worst, he puts up a mediocre line for the reasonably low salary, but if he’s got the right matchup and he’s on, he’s a huge bargain.
J.J. Hickson (SAC) – Chuck Hayes has to be the unluckiest player in the NBA this year. In the preseason, he was incorrectly diagnosed with a heart problem that could have ended his career and now he’s out for at least a couple weeks with a dislocated shoulder. Hickson will likely start for Hayes at PF and makes a great daily play with a high ceiling.
Marreese Speights Cunningham(player-profile)”:/players/Dante_Cunningham-1259 (MEM) – Zach Randolph is out for the next two months with a torn MCL, so Speights and Cunningham will cover the PF spot for him in Memphis. This is a tricky situation to pick the right guy in the platoon, but both have such a low daily salary that they can each be a bargain with 25 minutes a night. The platoon will probably define itself this week, which should make it much easier to pick the right player.
Nate Robinson (GSW) – Stephen Curry is out for at least the next week and the Warriors have signed Robinson to hold down the PG spot until Curry returns. The Warriors already had Charles Jenkins, Ish Smith and Brandon Rush, so the Robinson signing tells me that Curry may be out quite a bit longer than some fantasy owners expect. Robinson picked up 31 and 27 minutes in his first two games and should continue to average that as long as he’s starting.
Matt Barnes (LAL) – Matt Barnes finally appears to be healthy and has moved back into the starting rotation. He’s averaged 35 MPG over his last two games, putting up lines of 16pt/6reb/5ast and 15pt/10reb/2ast. He’s a great daily play if he continues to get that kind of run.
Derrick Williams (MIN) – Michael Beasley is out for the next three games with foot and finger injuries, so Williams will move into the starting lineup this week. He put up 14pt/7reb last night and if he performs well, there’s no guarantee that Beasley will get his starting spot back. Roll the dice with Williams while Beasley is out.
Delonte West (DAL) – Jason Kidd is out for at least two more games and West will slide into the starting PG spot for the Mavs until Kidd returns. He’s probably not going to put up huge numbers, but he’s a decent roster filler with a cheap price tag.
Ricky Rubio (MIN) – Somebody with the Timberwolves finally figured out that Rubio can play. He’s starting to get 30+ minutes a night and has been putting up huge stat lines for just a $5600 price tag on Fanduel. DraftStreet has him at $10,142 and Daily Joust has him at $106k, which are still pretty reasonable prices.
Marco Belinelli (NOR) – Eric Gordon is out for another couple of weeks and Belinelli will hold down the SG spot. I’m not a huge Belinelli fan, but he’s got a low price tag and a starting job, which sometimes is all you really need to be a decent daily fantasy play.
Al-Farouq Aminu (NOR) – Aminu is starting for the injured Trevor Ariza in New Orleans. He’s a really risky play on most nights, but he does have the ability to put up big numbers as shown by the line in his last game of 15pt/12reb/4stl. Big risk, big reward.
Markieff Morris (PHO) – The rookie is starting to get some run in Phoenix with 32, 17, 31 and 30 minutes in his last four games. He’s put up an average of 12pt/8reb/2ast in those four. It’s a bit risky to know if he’ll continue to get the minutes, but if he does, he’s a great play at a very low salary.