NBA daily fantasy: February 19 picks
The NBA may have returned to action on Thursday, but Friday feels like its first true day back after All-Star Weekend. All but two of the league’s 30 teams are in action on Friday, with only the Clippers and Cavaliers enjoying a night off. That also makes this one of the hardest nights to build a daily fantasy team. We have too many options at our disposal, including six players priced in excess of $10,000, and six more who check in at a minimum of $9,000. Pick your favorite superstar and build around him.
PG: Kyle Lowry ($8,700) @ CHI:The Bulls are one of the few teams that played Thursday and are back in action Friday, which gives Lowry a bit of an edge. He also should thrive against a team that has surrendered the fourth-most fantasy points per game to point guards this year. In two games against Chicago this season, Lowry has averaged 25 points, 9.5 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 2 steals.
NBA trade deadline winners and losers
SG: Zach LaVine ($4,900) @ MEM:It’s time for Sam Mitchell to unleash LaVine in the second half. The last time we saw him, he was entertaining us with the best slam dunk contest in years, en route to his second straight title in the event. Now we just want to see him get a chance to wow us in more conventional ways. Mitchell hinted at getting LaVine more playing time, which would be welcome sight for daily fantasy players and Timberwolves fans alike.
SF: Chandler Parsons ($6,600) @ ORL:Now that Tobias Harris plays his basketball in Detroit, there might not be anyone in Orlando capable of slowing down Parsons. At the very least, the Mavericks’ swingman should have a matchup advantage. Parsons went into All-Star Weekend with a bang, averaging 25 points over his last two games, and surpassing 30 fantasy points in six of his last 10.
PF: Markieff Morris ($6,000) vs. DET:Morris was potentially the best player traded at the deadline, leaving his personal purgatory in Phoenix for the brighter skies of Washington. Morris should be a major player for this Wizards team, and he showed the entire league what he’s still capable of once the Suns fired Jeff Hornacek. In his last five games before All-Star Weekend, he averaged 38 fantasy points.
C: DeMarcus Cousins ($10,600) vs. DEN:With all due respect to Stephen Curry, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Kevin Durant and John Wall, Cousins is the superstar we want to back on Friday. There are plenty of pivots at point guard, shooting guard and small forward. The same cannot be said at center. On top of that, Denver has allowed the eighth-most fantasy points per game to the position this season, and Cousins has turned himself into a top-three bankable fantasy commodity, alongside Curry and Westbrook.
