NBA daily fantasy picks: Five players who could help your lineup for Dec. 14
We’re back at it with a busy 10-game Monday slate, but despite so many teams in action, there are just two players with five-figure price tags. Anthony Davis and James Harden both check in at $10,700, with John Wall ($9,900) and Paul George ($9,800) coming up just short. We typically roster at least one of the five-figure players, but a 10-game schedule gives you enough flexibility to eschew both Davis and Harden, focusing your resources on the less-pricey guys taking the court.
All prices are courtesy of FanDuel and based on a $60,000 budget.
PG: Brandon Knight ($7,700) @ DAL: Knight bounced back from a one-point game against the Blazers, posting a great all-around effort in the win over the Timberwolves on Sunday. Knight had 25 points, six assists, three rebounds, four steals and two blocks, putting up 44.6 fantasy points. The Mavericks are relatively friendly to point guards, and this game has a nice, healthy 209 over/under. You want investment in this game. Knight gives it to you with some star power to boot.
SG: Wesley Matthews ($5,600) vs. PHO: Matthews has turned a corner over the last week, and is now significantly more valuable than his price tag suggests. In his last four games, Matthews is averaging 22.8 points, four rebounds, 2.5 assists and two steals per contest. Add it up, and Matthews is giving his fantasy owners 35.05 in that stretch. He gets to take advantage of the same pace and high-scoring expectations as Knight, only from the other side. The Suns are allowing the seventh-most fantasy points per game to shooting guards this season.
SF: Paul George ($9,800) vs. TOR: Where’s the respect for George? He has two sub-standard games in a row, and his price comes crashing down below the $10,000-mark? Would someone like Stephen Curry, James Harden or Anthony Davis suffer the same fate if they had a couple disappointing outings in consecutive games? I don’t think so. That creates an opportunity for George to actually be a value play on Monday. Toronto may be tough defensively, but George is a matchup-proof star who’s simply not going to have a third subpar effort in as many games. Take the $600 savings off his high watermark from last week and get him in your lineups
PF: Jon Leuer ($4,600) @ DAL: Leuer posted his seventh straight game with at least 10 points on Sunday, grabbing a stranglehold of the starting power forward job in Phoenix. Over those seven games, he’s averaging 13.6 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and about one block and one steal. We’ve seen Leuer’s 40-fantasy-point ceiling, and that could certainly flash against a Dallas team that has allowed the fifth-most points per game to power forwards this year.
C: Marcin Gortat ($6,300) @ MEM: In Gortat’s three games since returning from Poland, he’s putting up 30.7 fantasy points per game. Rewind to the three games before his hiatus, and he’s averaging 32.2 points in his last six nights. With Bradley Beal out, the usage rate for all of Washington’s regulars should increase, and Gortat has double-doubles in five of his last six games.
