NBA Starting 5: Saturday, January 7th
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: Tony Parker
Tony Parker has averaged 26 minutes per game over his last six, and he’s gone for at least 5x in each of those games. Now, he is shooting nearly 60 percent from the field in those games, which means regression is sure to come sooner or later. I’m willing to ride it out for one more game, though, as he is still a value at under $5k, especially factoring in his matchup against Kemba Walker, who isn’t known for his defense.
Shooting Guard: Buddy Hield
After being hit-or-miss for much of the early part of the season, the Pelicans’ rookie is finally starting to show some promise as an NBA shooting guard. He’s averaged 28 minutes per game over his last five and has reached double figures in scoring in all of them. The truly impressive part is that he’s doing more than just shooting, as he averaging nearly five rebounds and two assists per game. Tonight’s game has a 213 over/under with only a six-point spread, so Hield should get the full allotment of minutes as a starter. The matchup is even better when you consider Hield could get matched up with Isaiah Thomas at times, as Avery Bradley will probably be chasing Jrue Holiday around all night.
Small Forward: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
Given that he’ll be tasked with covering Kawhi Leonard, plus the fact that Nicolas Batum is out with knee injury, MKG should see a slight boost in minutes for this one. This is certainly a tougher matchup, but I’m willing to take on the risk at only $4500. We only need 22.5 FanDuel points from him to reach 5x value, which he’s done in six of his last eight games. If this game stays close, then it will be because of Kemba and MKG having solid games.
Power Forward: Jon Leuer
I’m in love with Jon Leuer’s spot tonight for several reasons, and the first is the matchup with the defensively inept Blazers. Leuer has the type of game and motor that will excel in this matchup, as the Blazers are ranked last in the league versus the power forward position. I also like this spot because he put up a dud in his last game with only 15 FanDuel points in 22 minutes, which could depress his ownership somewhat. Either way, Leuer is viable in all formats.
Center: Jonas Valanciunas
Valanciunas has seen his minutes fluctuate over the last few weeks, which makes him more of a GPP play. However, tonight’s matchup with the Bulls is the type of scenario in which JoVal should see closer to 28-30 minutes, as long as the Bulls keep Lopez on the floor. There is certainly some risk with the play, but like Leuer above, the risk is somewhat offset by his modest $5300 price tag. Another positive sign for Valanciunas is that Raptors head coach Dwane Casey praised the “dominant” performance of JoVal in their last game. This might just be empty coachspeak, or it might mean a few more minutes and touches for JoVal tonight.
Starting your FanDuel lineup with these five guys will leave you with an average of $9,075 left per player. This leaves you plenty of room to roster Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook.
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.