Starting 5 - Trending Stats Watch: Thursday, March 19th
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 Trending Stats Watch tool. Minutes equals fantasy points in the NBA, so we’ll be looking at which players have seen the biggest bump in minutes over the last week.
Point Guard: Alexey Shved (NYK)
Alexey Shved is still listed at SG in this tool, so I’ll be using the SG tab for this spot as well. Shved is by far my favorite point guard play of the night on FanDuel, as his minutes have been safe regardless of blowouts.
Also, his 25.13% usage rate over the last three weeks trails only Tyreke Evans and James Harden at the guard positions. That price of $7000 is still a bargain based on his matchup tonight.
Shooting Guard: Randy Foye (DEN)
I faded Will Barton after his huge 47 fantasy point game and went with Randy Foye. It paid off and I’ll be looking to do the same tonight as long as Foye isn’t resting.
Foye is the starter but is $1400 cheaper than Barton, which is pretty silly. This is certainly a situation to take advantage of, as Foye is averaging 13 points with six three-point attempts per game through the month of March.
Small Forward: Rodney Hood (UTA)
Rodney Hood finally had a down game last night, but that was to be expected against the Wizards’ stifling defense. Hood now gets a dream matchup versus the Lakers, and hopefully last night’s dud will scare some people off of him.
Hood is averaging nearly 13 shot attempts per game over his last five, so he should be able to pay off his $4600 salary and then some.
Power Forward: Marcus Morris (PHO)
Brandon Knight and Alex Len are out again tonight, so Marcus Morris should be a lock for 30+ minutes again, as he has averaged 35 minutes in the three games he has started since the Knight injury. He is also putting up 12 shots a game in that span.
Both teams are in a dogfight for the final playoff spot, so the starters will be on the court as much as possible. This might be the best game of the night to stack.
Center: Gorgui Dieng (MIN)
The late Justin Hamilton news burned some people last night, but Dieng is still my favorite Timberwolves big man even if Hamilton plays tonight. Dieng is only $800 more than Hamilton and possesses a much higher upside in my opinion. He could potentially be lower owned, as some people might look to save the $800 and go down to Hamilton.
The Knicks have been absolutely dreadful against true centers (ranked 24th), and Dieng is just that. He should be a double-double lock tonight.
Hopefully this information helps you with your roster construction tonight and leads you to a nice score. As always feel free to leave a comment or reach out to me on twitter, @Socky21.