NBA Starting 5: Saturday, February 25th
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: Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
Rubio came out ready to play after the trade rumors swirled around his name all week, dishing out 14 assists, which makes double-digit assists in five of his last seven games. Tonight should be no different in this track meet game versus the Rockets. The Rockets are double-digit favorites but we all know Thibs doesn’t rest his players, so Rubio is locked into mid-30s minutes regardless. I’m expecting another points/assists double-double from Rubio with a healthy share of rebounds and steals. My hope is that the threat of Patrick Beverley defense will scare some people off of Rubio and he will come in under-owned.
Shooting Guard: Dion Waiters, Miami Heat
Dion Waiters might be one of the safest plays at shooting guard tonight, and man is that a scary thing to say. He came out of the All-Star break firing, putting up 19 shots. The thing that I like the most, though, are his recent assists numbers. In his last three games, he has gone for 10, 7, and 6 assists respectively. Waiters also gets a bump up in pace in this game, as the Heat are projected to score 106 points, which is five points higher than their season average.
Small Forward: Terrence Ross, Orlando Magic
Everyone in the Magic front office should be fired, but that thinking is a rant for another day. Ross started and played 33 minutes in his Magic debut. I watched a lot of the game, and Vogel seems to want to get the ball in hands of Ross a fair amount. They were running him off multiple screens for jumpers. They ran a few plays to get him in pick-and-roll situations. I like what I saw, especially for someone still near min-price on FanDuel. Ross will certainly be popular, but he’s tough to fade based on his price and new role with the Magic.
Power Forward: Dario Saric, Philadelphia 76ers
Make your money with Saric now before he’s flirting with an $8k price tag. There might only be a few slates left before he hits that range though, as he is now locked into 30+ minutes every night with Noel and Ersan gone. He’s gone for at least 34 FanDuel points in five straight, and tonight should be no different. Saric should also get a nice boost because he won’t have to deal with Porzingis, as he will be sitting out with an ankle injury. Saric will be highly owned, but he’s worth it; differentiate at other spots in your lineups.
Center: DeMarcus Cousins, New Orleans Pelicans
Boogie put up 68 FanDuel points and his price went down $1000. Now I agree that his price probably should go down now that he will be sharing usage with Anthony Davis, but $1000 might be too much. Dallas has nobody that can compete with Cousins in the post or on the perimeter. He’s a near lock for mid-40s FanDuel points with a massive ceiling. There are several good center options going tonight too, so ownership should be spread out. It will be worth it to check out Gimino’s ownership projections, though. If he predicts Boogie to be massively owned, then it might be worth pivoting in tournaments.
Starting your FanDuel lineup with these five guys will leave you with an average of $6,575 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.