We want to welcome you back to Going For 2 for the beginning of what should be a very promising 2016-17 NBA DFS season. While the outcome of the actual NBA season may be a foregone conclusion to some, the results of the NBA DFS contests for the next several months are still yet to be determined, and we hope that with our assistance we can win you some money with our advice and daily suggestions.
Let’s get started!
For opening night, it’s a very small slate with just a three-game schedule to build your roster. I’ll break this down position-by-position, starting with cash plays and then we’ll move on to GPP plays. Here we go!
Point Guards
Cash Plays:
Kyrie Irving $8,000 vs. NYK
Championship ring night for the Cavaliers on their home floor against the Knicks, a team that has Derrick Rose and Brandon Jennings attempting to stay in front of Irving. Only thing preventing a huge night for Irving is a blow-out, but with this new-look Knicks’ team and coach trying to make a decent impression, I see this game being closer than it should be. Ultimately, there is no guard on the Knicks’ roster that has any ability to contain Irving and he should feast Tuesday night.
Stephen Curry $9,600 vs. SAS
Due to the small slate, you might still have to roster Curry, even though he might not reach the 5x value we need from his price point. While the Spurs are led by one of the most brilliant coaches of all-time, Gregg Popovich, I don’t know if even he has the answer for disrupting the most complete team ever constructed, on paper anyway. You might be able to take away one or, perhaps two, of the best weapons on a juggernaut with your best two defenders. But Golden State simply has too much talent to restrict one of Curry or Klay Thompson from going off. Curry should have Tony Parker defending him, at least for a decent portion of the game, so look for Curry to exploit this match-up while he has it. The Warriors offense will be a juggernaut all year.
C.J. McCollum $6,300 vs. UTA
McCollum averaged close to 40 FPPG last year in his three contests with the Jazz and while the Jazz did upgrade defensively at point guard with George Hill, McCollum should see a heavy dose of Rodney Hood on defense. His flexibility between the two guard spots as well as his affordable price tag makes McCollum a good cash and GPP play. Look for McCollum to take on a larger role this season if the Blazers want to make the jump to the next level.
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GPP Plays:
Brandon Jennings $4,500 at CLE
Jennings will have the green light coming off the bench behind Derrick Rose. The Knicks second unit does not have a ton of talent so look for Jennings to get plenty of shots up. He looked much like his old self in the preseason and also spent a lot of time looking to set up assists for Kristaps Porzingis when they played together.
Shaun Livingston $3,000 vs SAS
If the Warriors go up big, Livingston might play some larger minutes to help close out the game. He’s fully capable of stuffing the stat sheet in limited minutes. It’s a bit of a reach, but with a small slate, you might be better off going with the big names for point guard.
Shooting Guards
Cash Plays:
Klay Thompson $6,500 vs SAS
Yes, there is a possibility you can roster both Curry and Klay Thompson tonight. That’s how good this Warriors team will be. There will be no shortage of points from them and while Thompson’s splits against the Spurs were not great last season, he averaged 34 FPPG at home and his team is even better this year. Also, Danny Green, one of the Spurs’ best defenders, is out and Kyle Anderson or Jonathan Simmons will be starting at shooting guard.
Rodney Hood $6,000 at POR
Hood is a solid play for both cash and GPP games tonight with Gordon Hayward out. He’s expected to lead the team in scoring and against a bad Blazers defense, he’ll have no trouble getting buckets.
C.J. McCollum would also be a play here if he’s not used at PG.
GPP Plays:
Iman Shumpert $3,100 vs NYK
With Kay Felder out, the Cavaliers have little to no PG depth. Shumpert should see a lot of minutes behind Smith and with Felder out, he may assume ball-handling duties as well. With his price tag being what it is, Shumpert is worth a flier with the minutes he’ll see tonight.
Joe Johnson $4,300 at POR
With Hayward’s injury, Johnson will start the season at the SF spot, but he’s also eligible at SG. He’s still got the ability to score when asked and while the match-up with Maurice Harkless or Al-Farouq Aminu is not ideal, Johnson should get plenty of minutes to hit his value.
Small Forwards
Cash Plays:
LeBron James $9,000 vs. NYK
Take advantage of LeBron’s price while you can. The Knicks will not be very good on defense, at least not right away. Carmelo Anthony does seem to relish the match-ups between LeBron and himself, but not on defense. James scored 50 FPPG against the Knicks last season. We just need to hope for a close game and I believe we’ll get one.
Carmelo Anthony $7,600 at CLE
As I mentioned above, Anthony seems to love his match-ups with LeBron James; he scored almost 45 FPPG in his games against Cleveland last season. His team’s offense should be better under Jeff Hornacek and Anthony should be heavily involved no matter who is scoring on his team. He may not be as highly owned as James, Kevin Durant or Kawhi Leonard so Anthony would be a good play in both cash and GPP for me.
GPP Plays:
Andre Iguodala $3,500 vs SAS
Iguodala should see plenty of minutes working with some of the Warriors’ starters and when he does, there will be plenty of easy points due to all the weapons they possess and their excellent ball movement. Also, the Warriors love to get out and run and I expect Iggy to be at the heart of that when he’s on the floor.
Kyle Anderson $3,500 at GSW
With Danny Green sidelined, Anderson or Jonathan Simmons should get the starting nod at PG. I like Anderson here because he’s capable of grabbing rebounds and dishing assists with his big, lanky frame. If the game gets ugly, look for Anderson to grab some garbage points as well.
Power Forwards
Cash Plays:
Draymond Green $7,200 vs SAS
Green is a triple-double threat whenever he steps on the floor. He has plenty of lethal teammates to get the ball to and he should be the beneficiary of a lot of easy points as well due to defenses collapsing on Curry, Thompson and Durant. If you haven’t noticed, I’m very high on the Warriors offense.
Kevin Durant $9,400 vs SAS
While I don’t think Durant will have an incredible night with Kawhi Leonard guarding him, I do think that Steve Kerr will make it a point to get Durant heavily involved on offense in the opening game. Durant is also a very underrated passer and with Curry and Thompson at his disposal, his assist numbers should see an uptick even if his scoring drops a bit.
LaMarcus Aldridge $7,100 at GSW
Aldridge does have a tough match-up with Green on him, but he will still take plenty of shots and grab rebounds. The Spurs don’t have any other low post options and Aldridge’s fadeaway is borderline unblockable.
GPP Plays:
Trey Lyles $3,600 at POR
If Derrick Favors can’t go, look for Trey Lyles to pick up the slack. Lyles is a good rebounder and a very good outside shooter for the power forward spot. Lyles is still a sneaky play if Favors plays due to his production off the bench and cheap price tag.
Lance Thomas $3,100 at CLE
Thomas does have a bad match-up with Cleveland, but if the game gets out of hand, Thomas is a prime candidate to rack up garbage points. He will also serve as back-up to Carmelo Anthony so his minutes should be in the 15-20 range.
Centers
Cash Plays:
Rudy Gobert $7,000 at POR
Gobert should be a good play tonight, albeit with a slightly high price tag, with his match-up against Mason Plumlee. Gobert’s looked very good in the preseason so far and if Favors is out tonight, he shouldn’t have a problem snagging rebounds. Also, Gobert’s improvement at the foul line is a great development for keeping him on the floor.
Tristan Thompson $5,100 vs NYK
Thompson is an elite play for both cash and GPP due to his match-up with the Knicks. His energy and motor around the rim will give a broken down Joakim Noah plenty of trouble. The Knicks will have their hands full with the Cavaliers offense tonight and I expect Thompson to feast on the glass and get easy buckets.
GPP Plays:
Zaza Pachulia $4,000 vs SAS
Pachulia should hit value even by accident on this Warriors team. His job will be to grab defensive rebounds and get simple put-back lay-ups along with the easy ones that he will get from defenses over-rotating to prevent three-pointers. Pachulia would be fine to squeeze in a cash game too.
Cash Lineup:
PG: Kyrie Irving
SG: Rodney Hood
SF: Carmelo Anthony
PF: LeBron James
C: Zaza Pachulia
G: C.J. McCollum
F: Trey Lyles
UTIL: Tristan Thompson
GPP Lineup:
PG: Brandon Jennings
SG: Klay Thompson
SF: LeBron James
PF: Trey Lyles
C: Tristan Thompson
G: Stephen Curry
F: Carmelo Anthony
UTIL: Zaza Pachulia
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