Which players should you build around and which players should you fade in DFS as we tip off Monday night's NBA playoff action? Our experts have the answers.
Today's panel includes ESPN Fantasy's Kyle Soppe and Joe Kaiser and NBA DFS expert Renee Miller.
Players to build around
Renee Miller -- LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers
The small forward position is arguably the trickiest to decide on, with James, Paul George and Kawhi Leonard vying for your salary dollars tonight. Coming off a first-game performance of 32 points, 6 rebounds and 13 assists, James is a playoff maniac who is going to keep going all-out to try to get out of the first round in four games. He knows how crucial that rest will be if the Cavs push for the finals again. I'm simply not comfortable building a lineup on a two-game slate without James in it.
Joe Kaiser -- Kawhi Leonard, San Antonio Spurs
As long as the Grizzlies continue to try to defend the Spurs' top scorer with 40-year-old Vince Carter, the ceiling is high for Leonard. He made 11 of 14 shots in the series opener and made all nine free throws en route to 32 points, 3 rebounds, assists and 2 steals. The only thing to worry about here is another blowout; Leonard played just 32 minutes in Game 1 as the Spurs pulled away for a 111-82 victory.
Kyle Soppe -- Jeff Teague, Indiana Pacers
Teague averaged a career-high 7.8 dimes and 4.0 rebounds this regular season without seeing much of a downtick in the scoring department and I like that to continue tonight against Kyrie Irving (437th out of 468 players in defensive RPM). Yes, I realize Teague was less than productive in the series opener, but he did manage to get to the line seven times and dished out four assists to only one turnover. I'm looking for Teague to take on a greater role as the Cavs defense continues to shade George, making him a very good bet to achieve value this evening.
Players to fade
Renee Miller -- Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs
In the brother vs. brother battle, Marc Gasol was the big winner in Game 1, and I think we saw how the Spurs intend to play it. Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge will dominate the shot attempts and enjoy much higher usage overall than Gasol. He took only seven shots, and while he can potentially reach value if he gets multiple blocks or has an unusually good rebounding game, if you're not scoring, you're simply not a safe DFS play. With only two games on the slate you may be tempted to save here, but my advice is to spend up on M. Gasol or save even more with Tristan Thompson, who could easily post double-digit rebounds in every game of the series.
Joe Kaiser -- Kevin Love, Cleveland Cavaliers
Love took only nine shots and grabbed a mere four rebounds in the narrow Game 1 victory over the Pacers, and isn't as engaged in the offense as you'd like the night's most expensive power forward to be. Love's floor and ceiling are both too low to get excited about heading into Game 2 against the Pacers.
Kyle Soppe -- Pau Gasol, San Antonio Spurs
This game figures to be considerably lower scoring than the Cavs/Pacers matchup and Gasol simply isn't a large enough piece of this offense to justify rostering him in a tough matchup (Memphis ranked in the top half of the league in both rebounding rate and overall efficiency). Realistically speaking, I'm not confident in Gasol even in a plus matchup, as he hasn't averaged more than 10 shots per game for a month since December and double-doubles are now the exception and no longer the rule. He's probably better than the 6-point and 4-rebound effort from Saturday, but the ceiling simply isn't high enough for me to spend my DFS dollar on the lesser Gasol tonight.
