NBA Starting 5: Saturday, December 17th
The Starting 5 Series will provide Grinders with a quick look at the day’s top positional plays, analyzed through the lens of our Daily Research Tools.
Today, we’ll take a closer look at the Ceiling and Consistency tool. I’ll sort by the last three weeks to see what players are performing well in relation to their FanDuel salary.
The Ceiling and Consistency tool shows you how often each player has hit their value based on that day’s salary. The percentage columns (%3x, %4x, etc) show the percentage of the time that particular player has hit that value multiplier. For example, if a player has a salary of $5,000, the %3x column will show the percentage of games in which he has scored at least 15 fantasy points ($5,000 divided by 1000, then multiplied by 3).
Point Guard: Patrick Beverley
The Rockets are taking and making threes at a record clip. They have won nine straight games, and Beverley has made at least one three in every game of their current win streak. He’s made double-digit threes in four straight games. He should face a combination of matador defense from Rubio and LaVine, which should only help his cause tonight. I’m comfortable using Beverley in all formats tonight.
Shooting Guard: Nick Young
Nick Young is at the top of a consistency chart. What a time to be alive! He’s been a pleasant surprise for the Lakers this season on both sides of the ball. He’s going to get some J.R. Smith defense, which has proven to be profitable so far this season. I’m actually more comfortable with Young in cash though. It seems crazy that I’m even saying this, but he’s almost a lock for 4x at his salary and usage. He just doesn’t have the ceiling we want for tournaments, as he’s only gone over 30 FanDuel points once this season.
Small Forward: Maurice Harkless
The Blazers are likely going to try to play small ball with the Warriors tonight. This means that Harkless should be locked into 30+ minutes if the Blazers can keep it close. However, at a 232 total, you’re going to want a piece or pieces of this game somehow. Harkless is a cheap way to get there, and Aminu likely being out only helps the cause for Harkless.
Power Forward: Nikola Jokic
Jokic is major chalk tonight, but I just don’t see how you can fade him given the price and matchup. He was in foul trouble all game versus the Blazers and still went for 4x in 19 minutes. If he can get to 26+ plus minutes tonight, then you’re easily looking at at least 6x value. This is a spot where you don’t need to get cute. Just take the free square and move along.
Center: Tristan Thompson
This isn’t a sexy pick, but Tristan has the best matchup of the night and will surely be low owned with a few other stud centers on the slate. The big three should be back in full force tonight, but that just makes me like Tristan even more. All the attention will go to the big three, so they (mainly Lebron) should be able to find him for a few easy buckets tonight. Tristan is going to do his work on the glass tonight as the Lakers are just a middle-of-the-pack team in rebound differential.
Starting your FanDuel lineup with these five guys will leave you with an average of $8,750 left per player. This leaves us enough to plug in two or maybe three high priced studs.
Hopefully this information helps you with your roster construction today and leads you to a nice score. As always, feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me on Twitter, @Socky21.