NBA – Industry Expert Consensus – January 19th

MLK Day brought us a plethora of NBA action; therefore, we are a little short on games for this Tuesday evening.  With only four contests, there is a smaller pool of players to choose from which makes those value picks even more important.  We started doing something a little fun last week coming out of our daily Consensus article.  Check out Brad’s NBA – Industry Expert Grading article to see how we fared constructing lineups strictly from the Consensus picks.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and think that as we keep chugging along, we will only get better at it.

The numbers in the parenthesis are the number of experts that picked that player to give you more context as to the gaps between players and the tiers.

Highly Touted

• Tyler Johnson (8x) – He continues to see big time minutes in Goran Dragic’s absense.  Beno Udrih will also be out tonight so Johnson should shoulder more of the load.  Has averaged 15.5ppg, 5prg and 4apg in the last two.
• Markieff Morris (8x) – The Suns want to trade Morris.  What better way to showcase his talent then to let him play big minutes and get plenty of touches.  Averaging 14ppg and 7.7rpg over the last three.
• Kevin Durant (7x) – The Thunder have enjoyed three straight blowout victories.  I’m guessing the Nuggs keep it tight in Denver tonight.  KD has averaged 26.4ppg and 7.8rpg over the last five games.

Recommended

• Hassan Whiteside (6x) – He is averaging a double-double on the season but has been on another level over his last three games.  Has posted one triple-double and two double-doubles in which he’s putting up 14.3ppg, 13rpg and 6bpg.
• Monta Ellis (6x) – Monta shows up in the article again today.  Had 24 points and 5 assists in his last game.
• Russell Westbrook (6x) – Back-to-back triple-doubles for Russ.  He’s averaged 12.5ppg, 12.5apg and 10.5rpg in those two.
• Karl-Anthony Towns (6x) – The big man has been seeing at least 25 minutes/game lately.  He’s posting double-digit rebounds on most night and even adding double-digit scoring numbers on occasion too.
• Jrue Holiday (5x) – Holiday had a great game on Monday in the absence of Tyreke Evans.  Evans is listed as day-to-day so keep an eye out as to whether he plays tonight or not.
• Giannis Antetokounmpo (5x) – The Greek Freak has four straight double-doubles.  In those games he’s posting 22.5ppg and 12rpg.

Suggested

• Brandon Knight (4x) – He’s averaging 20ppg in his last four appearances.
• Danilo Gallinari (4x) – Danilo is on a roll.  Has put up at least 23 points in four of his last five games.
• Paul George (4x) – He’s back to being one of the league’s top players.  Putting up 20.8ppg and 5.8rpg over the last five.
• Nikola Jokic (4x) – Jokic has seen inconsistent minutes of late.  He scored 18 points in his last game.
• Norris Cole (4x) – Another Tyreke Evans lookout alert.  If Evans misses the game, Cole will see a significant uptick in his minutes.
• Serge Ibaka (4x) – Serge is stealing money from the Thunder with his efforts this season.  He is averaging 17.3ppg in his last three though.
• Emmanuel Mudiay (3x) – With the Thunder’s porous perimeter defense, Mudiay is not a bad play tonight.  Averaging 13ppg and 5apg over the last two.
• Chris Bosh (3x) – Two double-doubles in his last four.
• Ricky Rubio (3x) – Averaging 9.6ppg, 6.2apg and 4rpg over the last five games.
• Myles Turner (3x) – Turner is starting to come around.  He’d benefit even further if he were able to see consistent minutes.  In his last game, he scored 25 points and grabbed 7 boards.
• Gary Harris (3x) – Another potential benefactor of the Thunder’s poor defense.  Harris is putting up 16.7ppg over the last three.

Good luck everyone and catch us next tomorrow for the next edition of Expert Consensus.

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