March madness is here!
We are coming to the final countdown of the NBA regular season, or at least our own coverage of the NBA season, while MLB starts to slowly creep our way.
Opening Day is March 29! That’s awesome.
But until that time, we still have NBA to cover you down the stretch of the season.
As you have know, the NBA Value Index has been renovated a couple of times this season. Some of the modifications were personal reasons, some were time-related reasons, some reasons were because it was difficult to truly feel comfortable with but not knowing who was actually going to play the next day, and here we are.
The format won’t change before we end NBA coverage, but please be on the look out for some type of version of this for the MLB season. What my content will look like is still up in the air, but if you have any suggestions, ideas, etc., please feel free to hit me up here or on Twitter @hotdogdailyDFS.
As a reminder, all information below is used from the following sites and arranged for you:
The suggestions of plays is my own, derived from Vegas odds, usage rates, fantasy points per minute, pricing, DvP, pace and the rest because I either can or can’t ever get certain players correct.
Lastly, the numbers you see next to the players listed is their usage rates and fantasy points per minute (i.e. LeBron James, 38%, 1.51). Projected starters have these numbers calculated using the above Rotogrinders tool for when all 5 guys are starting (unless there is very little time played between the starters like Cleveland’s projected starters tonight). The rest are calculated with the team as a whole, minus injured players.
All players listed below are someone you can at least consider tonight. If they aren’t on this list, unless there is some worthy breaking news, I am not recommending you touch them at all.
Good luck!
| O/U | Spread | Pace | |
| Detroit Pistons | 21 | ||
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 218.5 | -7 | 14 |
Injury News
Out: Jeff Green, Tristan Thompson
Detroit Pistons
Projected Starters
PG – Ish Smith – 21.1%, 0.93
SG – Reggie Bullock – 18.1%, 0.77
SF – Stanley Johnson – 17.3%, 0.63
PF – Blake Griffin – 27.9%, 1.04
C – Andrew Drummond – 20.1%, 1.31
Bench Players
PG – Dwight Buycks – 28.2%, 0.96
SG/SF – James Ennis III – 19.1%, 0.79
Cleveland Cavaliers
Projected Starters
PG – George Hill – 15%, 0.90
SG – J.R. Smith – 16.9%, 0.70
SF – Cedi Osman – 20.4%, 1.17
PF – LeBron James – 32.7%, 1.56
C – Larry Nance – 13.9%, 1.02
Bench Players
SG/SF – Rodney Hood – 16.9%, 0.68
PG/SG – Jordan Clarkson – 25.7%, 1.27
Must Plays – Andre Drummond, LeBron James
Bubble Plays – Blake Griffin, Ish Smith, Jordan Clarkson
Value Plays: Larry Nance, George Hill, Rodney Hood
| O/U | Spread | Pace | |
| MIlwaukee Bucks | 24 | ||
| Indiana Pacers | 208.5 | -2.5 | 20 |
Injury News
Questionable: Matthew Dellavedova
Milwaukee Bucks
Projected Starters
PG – Eric Bledsoe – 25.9%, 1.07
SG – Tony Snell – 10.4%, 0.49
SF – Khris Middleton – 21.8%, 0.85
PF – Giannis Antetokounmpo – 32%, 1.37
C – John Henson – 14.2%, 0.82
Bench Players
SF/PF – Jabari Parker – 24.3%, 0.94
Indiana Pacers
Projected Starters
PG – Cory Joseph – 13.4%, 0.63
SG – Victor Oladipo – 35.5%, 1.52
SF – Bojan Bogdanovic – 17%, 0.68
PF – Thaddeus Young – 19.2%, 0.87
C – Myles Turner – 19.5%, 1.21
Bench Players
SG/SF – Lance Stephenson – 22.8%, 0.93
PF/C – Domantas Sabonis – 23.9%, 1.07
Must Plays – Giannis Antetokounmpo
Bubble Plays – Domantas Sabonis, Victor Oladipo, Eric Bledsoe, Khris Middleton, Thaddeus Young, Myles Turner
Value Plays – Lance Stephenson, Jabari Parker
| O/U | Spread | Pace | |
| Phoenix Suns | 3 | ||
| Miami Heat | 216.5 | -10 | 28 |
Injury News
Questionable – Tyler Johnson, Wayne Ellington, Bam Adebayo, Tyson Chandler (sits on back-to-backs usually)
Phoenix Suns
Projected Starters
PG – Elfrid Payton – 23.6%, 1.15
SG – Devin Booker – 38.3%, 1.58
SF – T.J. Warren – 26.5%, 0.71
PF – Dragan Bender – 6.2%, 0.74
C – Alex Len – 10%, 1.10
Bench Players
SG/SF – Josh Jackson – 25.5%, 0.91
Miami Heat
Projected Starters
PG – Goran Dragic – 29.7%, 1.23
SG – Tyler Johnson – 22.9%, 0.95
SF – Josh Richardson – 15.3%, 0.73
PF – Justise Winslow – 13%, 0.63
C – Hassan Whiteside – 23.6%, 1.31
Bench Players
PG/SG – Dwayne Wade – 32.2%, 1.06
SG/SF – Wayne Ellington – 18.9%, 0.71
SF/PF – James Johnson – 20.7%, 0.92
PF/C – Kelly Olynyk – 24.1%, 1.04
PF/C – Bam Adebayo – 16.3%, 0.95
Must Plays – Hassan Whiteside, Elfrid Payton, Goran Dragic
Bubble Plays – Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, James Johnson
Value Plays: Justise Winslow, Dragan Bender
