Which players should you build around and which players should you fade in DFS as we tip off Friday's NBA action? Our experts have the answers.
Today's panel includes ESPN Fantasy's André Snellings and Kyle Soppe, and DFS expert Renee Miller.
Players to build around
Renee Miller -- Domantas Sabonis, Indiana Pacers
The top tier of PF options tonight find themselves in tough matchups, such as Utah, the third-worst DvP, or Toronto, which ranks sixth overall in defensive efficiency this season. I'm drawn down to Sabonis for his price and his consistency while Myles Turner has been out. His sore shoulder may be affecting his shot lately, but he has still been at or near a double-double in his last six games. In the last two, his shot volume is back up and he has been on the court over 30 minutes. Tonight he takes on the Los Angeles Lakers, one of the best frontcourt matchups in the league for fantasy. Sabonis provides solid production with upside for a reasonable salary. You can fit stars around him, or take an overall more balanced approach to your lineups tonight ... either way, building around Sabonis should be a safe play.​
André Snellings -- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
There are seven NBA games Friday, and five of them feature at least one team that is either top nine in the NBA in team defensive rating or top five in the NBA in slowest pace. Of the other two games, the Indiana Pacers at the Los Angeles Lakers and the Phoenix Suns at the Denver Nuggets, there are two players who stand out as likely to explode. While Devin Booker is always a threat to put a monster number on the board, the Nuggets actually allow the eighth-fewest fantasy points to opposing shooting guards, so he'll at least have a challenge to produce larger than normal numbers. Jokic, on the other hand, is at home against a Suns defense that has allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing centers and the 10th-most to opposing power forwards. He just has the better matchup, among explosive players with good matchups Friday.
Kyle Soppe -- Victor Oladipo, Indiana Pacers and Donovan Mitchell, Utah Jazz
I'm nothing if not consistent, so on the day following our midseason fantasy basketball awards, I'm banking heavily on two players who garnered only my vote in a specific category. I'm of the belief that most players in the NBA are pretty good, so I try to gain an edge in players with extreme usage and/or games that figure to be played at a break neck tempo. Well, you probably knew that the Lakers function at the fastest pace in the league, but did you know that Oladipo ranks 18th in usage this season (ahead of Kevin Durant)? It's possible that you knew that, but how about the fact that none of his teammates rank inside the top 90? Oladipo is averaging 0.785 points per minute in the Pacers' last 10 wins in which they scored at least 100 points, so I'm penciling him in for at least 26 points and nice counting numbers in this spot. As for Mitchell, the Knicks have been gashed a bit by shooting guards who are less talented than him over the last two weeks (Tyreke Evans, Caris LeVert, E'Twaun Moore and Justin Holiday), and with Mitchell learning how to use his athleticism to his advantage (shooting 75 percent on two-pointers over the last week), I'll happily pay up to get the rook tonight.
Players to fade
Renee Miller -- Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons
Drummond is in the midst of an amazing season, and the case could be made for him to have been an All-Star from the East. His salary reflects his double-double potential and the fact that he is averaging a crazy 15 rebounds per game. Tonight he'll face the Washington Wizards at home, where two things stand out. First, he's averaging nearly eight fewer fantasy points per game at home (less than 40), and second, the Wizards, while an average defensive team overall, have held Drummond to an average of 42 fantasy points per game. Ultimately, I have a hard time paying $1-2K more for Drummond in this game than someone like Hassan Whiteside in Brooklyn.
André Snellings -- Derrick Favors, Utah Jazz
Rudy Gobert is probable to return to the court Friday, which is bad news for Favors' potential production. Favors has averaged a respectable 13.4 points (56 FG percentage) with 7.9 rebounds in the last 12 games that Gobert has been out. But he only averaged 7.5 points (45 FG percentage) with 5.8 rebounds in the last six games that Gobert played in. That pattern has been consistent when Gobert plays or sits all season, so Favors is probable to underachieve his price tag on Friday night.
Kyle Soppe -- Spencer Dinwiddie, Brooklyn Nets
With D'Angelo Russell finally expected back and Dinwiddie's price yet to account for that, there is no way I'm going in that direction tonight. The Heat boast a reasonable defense that operates at a slow pace, so they aren't exactly an opponent that I'm targeting anyway, but with an unknown role? No thank you. That's not to say that I think Russell steps right back into the lead role, but there is enough risk of him cutting into Dinwiddie's usage/minutes that I am much more comfortable with just about any other guard on tonight's packed slate.
