I’ve been late-swapped a couple of times this year and now I have been bit by the early-foul trouble bug.
Looking at you Malcolm Brogdon. Of course I faded Giannias and Westbrook and that actually worked out pretty well considering their ownership, their price and their down night of production.
It could’ve been a very solid night of basketball for me Tuesday, but I was held back by a damn snowflake.
I digress.
Hopefully any of you reading this had a great Halloween and are able to recover from either partying or hours and hours of trick or treating (such a beating as a dad).
Tonight is one of the bigger slates of the year thus far. We have 12 games and a lot of $10K studs to choose from – Brow, Boogie, Harden, LBJ and the Greek Freak.
So who are we going to build around them?
Joel Embiid – PF/C – Philadelphia 76ers – $7,900
Analysis: I don’t care about his minutes limits, as long as Joel Embiid hangs around $8K, he’s always going to be in play for me. I play him in cash and in tournaments no matter what. Why do I feel so confident? Because as long as he has a minutes restriction, he’s going to play all of those minutes in almost any situation, even blowouts and when he gets in early foul trouble. We saw that last year and we are already seeing that this year. Embiid has one of the highest usage rates in the league at 41%, which is certainly the highest usage rate on the team by a mile. He’s a scoring machine and a rebounding machine, so in my opinion, you can almost lock him in for a double-double right now for Atlanta. Embiid will have to battle the likes of Mike Muscala, John Collins and a slew of journey men to battle Embiid down low. While Atlanta is middle of the pack in points per game, there’s no one on this team that can match the skill set of Embiid, who hasn’t scored less than 38 DK points this season.
Tyreke Evans – Memphis Grizzlies – SG/SF – $5,300
Analysis: I already liked Tyreke Evans today against Orlando, but the fact Mike Conley and Marc Gasol are questionable gives Evans a bump in my mind. He’s been one of the first guys off the bench this season. Without Conley and Gasol on the court, Evans has a 36% usage rate. If either of them or both sit, Evans gets an immediate lock button for me. But even with Conley and Gasol playing the past two games, Evans has shined, scoring at least 30 fantasy points in three straight. Tonight he gets the Orlando magic, a defensively devoid team that is fifth worst in fantasy points allowed to SFs. Evans is a cash-game lock should either Conley or Gasol sit.
Malcolm Brogdon – PG/SG – Milwaukee Bucks – $5,400
Analysis: Two early fouls yesterday pretty much sunk Brogdon’s fantasy production and ultimately, the Bucks struggled from there and got blown out at home by the Thunder. But this is a classic bounceback spot for Brogdon as he should see his full allotment of minutes and gets to take on the Charlotte Hornets, who have Kemba Walker at PG. Kemba Walker and the Hornets are semi-sieves for fantasy production to opposing point guards. Brogdon is third on the team in usage, but he’s a double-digit scorer night in and night out and can pad the stats with assists, rebounds and steals.
Domantas Sabonis – PF/C – Indiana Pacers – $5,700
Analysis: Filling in for an injured Myles Turner, Sabonis has really shown this season that he might be someone to consider using on the court more when Turner returns. Personally, I would be fine with that because he’s a young player with a lot of fire and drive, and he’s putting up double-doubles and fantasy points in Turner’s absence as well. Now Cleveland looks like an iffy matchup on paper, but the Cavs have been pretty dreadful this season, even getting blown out by New York in their last outing. Sabonis should see a lot of minutes here and is one of the better value plays on the board.
