NBA Starting 5: Saturday, December 31st
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: Eric Bledsoe
Bledsoe is a GPP-only play for me today, but he has tremendous upside for under $8k. George Hill should be in the lineup tonight, so that will make it a bit tougher matchup for Bledsoe, but he’s still an elite talent who can get the best of talented defenders like Hill. Kemba being priced the same will also drive Bledsoe’s ownership down. The Jazz are 11-point favorites, so if this game has any chance of staying close, then Bledsoe is going to need to have a big game.
Shooting Guard: Nicolas Batum
Batum has gone for over 40 FanDuel points in seven of his last eight games. His price has jumped to $8,000, but I’m still on board with rostering him today, as Harden and Giannis will soak up a lot of ownership. The Cavs have struggled to defend the shooting guard position all season, and Batum’s skill set puts him in line for another big game tonight. Batum has also already put up a 40+ game against the Cavs earlier this season.
Small Forward: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
MKG has had two matchups with the Cavs so far this season. He’s put up one dud and one double-double. He’s played at least 30 minutes in five straight while putting up over 28 FanDuel points in three of them. The total in this game is sitting at 213 with a three-point spread, so Vegas expects this to be a close one. All signs point to MKG getting 30-plus minutes again with a good chance to hit over 5x value.
Power Forward: Jabari Parker
Jabari has been on a tear recently and is play in all formats for his current price. The Bulls are a bottom-third team against the power forward position on the season. The Bucks have already played the Bulls twice this season, and Jabari is averaging 20 actual points per game. He’s in line for 16-20 shots again today, and I fully expect him to exceed value.
Center: Joakim Noah
Noah put up a dud last night, as he only played 16 minutes. I’m hopping back on the Noah train tonight, though, as he should get back to his 28 minute range. A lot of shots are going to be put up in this fast-paced game, so that means more rebounding opportunities for Noah. DeAndre Jordan just put up 20 and 13 against the Rockets front court last night. While I don’t expect those scoring numbers from Noah, he certainly has double-double upside.
Starting your FanDuel lineup with these five guys will leave you with an average of $6,875 left per player.
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.