NBA Starting 5: Wednesday, November 16th
Tonight is a nice eleven game slate. We have three teams (Cleveland, Atlanta, and Toronto) on the second half of a back-to-back, so as usual I will try my best to avoid players on those teams until we get further into the season when I will have a larger sample size of data to evaluate.
Today, I’m going to discuss how I can quickly glance at two of the Research Tools available to identify good situations for my starting five. First, I will then click the Advanced Player Stats tool and look to find players with a high USG%. Next, I will look at the Defense Vs. Position tool to find matchups I want to target. Basically, I’m looking for high USG% players in good matchups to build my core starting five.
Point Guard: Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder, $11,900
Westbrook’s 44.02 USG% jumps off the page and this game currently has a 218-point total. Houston has been a little above average at defending the point guard position so far this season, but the only elite point guard they have faced so far was John Wall. Westbrook is in a different category and is simply counted on to do everything for OKC. He is $300 cheaper than Harden, at home, and the game is projected to be high scoring and competitive, so I’m expecting a huge night With enough value opening up from injuries in other games, I will be using a stars and scrubs approach and building my lineups around Westbrook.
Shooting Guard: Evan Fournier, Orlando Magic, $5,700
I do like James Harden tonight, but I cannot fit everyone and really like Fournier’s price. The Pelicans have been allowing the eighth most fantasy points per game to shooting guards and I’m all about attacking them at the wing positions. Fournier’s 22.36% USG is respectable and ranks top 10 amongst starters at the position tonight. He should easily reach value and offers plenty of upside at a nice price.
Small Forward: Carmelo Anthony, New York Knicks, $7,500
Carmelo comes into tonight with a 29.25 USG% – which ranks higher than Kevin Durant! He does draw a tough matchup with the Pistons, who play at slow pace, but gets to face them at home. Anthony is in good form recently – putting up over 40 fantasy points in 4 of his last 5 games if we don’t count the ejection game. I’m happy to take Melo and his high USG% as a home favorite in what should be a competitive game in a spot that may be more overlooked than it should.
Power Forward: Paul Millsap, Atlanta Hawks, $7,400
This game has a nice 208-point total and I’m expecting Dwight Howard to be out tonight, putting Millsap in play even though he is playing on a back-to-back tonight. He comes into tonight with a 26.92 USG%, which should increase tonight with Howard out. The Bucks currently rank in the middle of the pack at defending the power forward and Millsap should be able to get the best of a matchup with Jabari Parker, who is not a great defender.
Center: DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings, $8,900
Cousins comes into tonight with a 37.7 USG% – the highest of the night for starting centers. He draws a very tough matchup against San Antonio, but I will overlook that since Boogie’s price has dropped to under 9k. Cousins dropped 37 points with 16 boards in his last matchup against the Spurs on 10/27 and Paul Gasol was simply way too slow to defend him. He creates a mismatch for the Spurs and at $8900 offers immense upside in a game many will shy away from.