NBA Starting 5: Saturday, February 11th
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 four 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: Tyler Johnson, Miami Heat
Johnson has now played over 30 minutes in three of the last five games. He should be in line for a similar workload tonight against the Embiid-less Sixers. We have a good idea of what Johnson can do in this matchup, as he put up 34 FanDuel points against the Sixers just a week ago. Dion Waiters is still questionable, so keep an eye on that news. If Waiters sits then Johnson is in play for all formats, but I would lean towards GPP only if Waiters suits up.
Shooting Guard: Evan Fournier, Orlando Magic
Fournier is definitely over his injury, as he has played 30 or more minutes in five straight games. He also saw is workload increase even more with Elfrid Payton moving back to the bench, producing 42 FanDuel points, his second-highest single-game output of the season. I’m not predicting another 40+ game, but Fournier is certainly underpriced based on his current role. He should be around 18 shot attempts tonight with a clear advantage over any of the guards that Dallas throws at him.
Small Forward: T.J. Warren, Phoenix Suns
You’ll need to have pieces of the Suns/Rockets game tonight, and Warren is a nice high-upside play to roster tonight, as he has seen an uptick in minutes and shots over the last few weeks. He’s played over 30 minutes in four of the last five while his lowest shot attempt total in those four games was 13. It’s highly unlikely that Warren doesn’t massively exceed value if he plays at least 30 minutes tonight, which he should do regardless of a blowout. We know this because Warren played 37 minutes in two 20-point losses just this week.
Power Forward: Serge Ibaka, Orlando Magic
Ibaka’s price continues to hover around $6k, so he continues to be a solid play in all formats. He’s gone for over 6x in four of the last six games with only one dud. Ibaka should be tasked with chasing Dirk out to the three point line so his rebounding numbers will likely suffer. Even with that said, he still has a plus matchup on the offensive end, as Dirk is just too old and too slow to stay with someone as athletic as Ibaka. I’m comfortable with Ibaka in all formats, especially if Gordon sits again.
Center: Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz
If you look at our Defense vs. Position tool, you can see that the Celtics are giving up 16 rebounds per game to centers over the last four weeks. We just saw them give up a huge game to Andre Drummond, and I can see another huge game coming from Rudy Gobert tonight. Gobert has pulled down 31 rebound in his last two games, and I wouldn’t be surprised he flirted with 20 rebounds tonight. Gobert gets a nice bump at home too, as he’s shooting 71 percent from the floor at home versus 58 percent on the road. I love that his price dropped to under $8k, as well. This makes him a strong cash play who can also pay off in tournaments.
Starting your FanDuel lineup with these five guys will leave you with an average of $7,650 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.