We have a six-game slate Tuesday night and there a handful of player injury statuses to monitor before entering your lineup. This list includes Devin Booker, Anthony Davis, Caris Levert, Mike Conley, De’Aaron Fox, and Lou Williams. PJ Washington and JJ Redick are notable players who will be out tonight. Now let’s get into the players SuperDraft users should consider for their lineups this week.
Guards:
1x-1.3x:
Trae Young, ATL at NY, 1.15x
While it has not resulted in wins for the Atlanta Hawks, Trae Young has exploded fantasy-wise in his sophomore season. He is averaging 27.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 8.5 assists per game on 44% shooting with a usage rate of 35.4 which ranks 4th among all players.
He should exceed those averages tonight as the Hawks are going to Madison Square Garden to play the hapless Knicks. The Knicks rank 26th in the league in defensive efficiency which is the worst defensive team the Hawks have played all year. Young is also playing on one day of rest. In such games, he is averaging 29.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 8.8 assists. As opposed to games on the second night of a back to back where he is averaging 21.2 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 7 assists. The one day of rest and the Knicks’ poor defense combined with the tendency of star players such as Young to show up in MSG, Young is poised to have a huge night and is good value at 1.15x.
1.35x-1.65x:
De’Aaron Fox, SAC at CHA, 1.6x
Kings fans can rejoice as their franchise point guard De’Aaron Fox is finally expected to return to the lineup after an ankle injury sidelined him for just over a month. Fox in the nine games he has played in has averaged 18.2 points, 7 assists, and 4 rebounds per game which is around what he averaged in 81 games last season.
While he could be a risky play after a long layoff, his opponent makes Fox a promising option at 1.6x. The Kings will be in Charlotte to face the Hornets who rank 24th in the league in defensive efficiency. While it is a small sample size, Fox’s best fantasy performance of the season came against these Hornets. On October 30th, he scored 45.75 fantasy points where he racked up 16 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 steals. If he can come close to that with a 1.6x multiplier, it would be a win to have him in your lineup.
1.7x-2x
Aaron Holiday 1.75x IND vs LAL
Holiday after a quiet rookie season has come on nicely for the Pacers in his 2nd season. With Victor Oladipo still out, he has gotten the chance to be the backup point guard to Malcolm Brogdon. He has averaged 18.7 FPPG this season and in 4 of his last 5 games, he has scored 22 FP or more.
In addition to getting real minutes as the backup point guard, he has been a constant for the Pacers in games that get into garbage time. In his top three fantasy outputs of the season against the Nets (52.50), Bucks (31), and Thunder (31), the games were all decided by 19 points or more and he played more than 30 minutes. The Pacers are facing the Lakers who have eviscerated almost every team in their path this season. You should expect Holiday to rack up some fantasy points in garbage time against LA. Those garbage time points make Holiday a nice value play at 1.75x.
Forwards:
1x-1.3x:
Lebron James 1x LAL at IND
There was an expectation from some that Lebron would slow down in his 16th season in the league. That has simply not happened. He is averaging 26.1 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals, a career-high 10.7 assists, and 55 fantasy points per game. He is still putting up these numbers even though he has been co-star with Anthony Davis who is also averaging 55 fantasy points per game.
What makes Lebron appealing even at 1x is Davis’ status in question against the Pacers after he rolled his ankle in the previous game. Even Davis does play, it doesn’t sound like he is 100%. This should allow Lebron to shoulder more of a load and give him more opportunities to score more than his average of 55 fantasy points. Also, if you are thinking this could be a load management game for Lebron, he dismissed that possibility on Monday saying the load management concerns “don’t make sense to me”. Expect a vintage Lebron performance tonight.
1.35x-1.65x:
Marcus Morris 1.5x NY vs ATL
While it has been another depressing season for the New York Knicks, Marcus Morris has been a major plus fantasy-wise. He is having a career year averaging 18.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Morris is one of the main focal points of the Knicks offense and he has been a big part of the six games they have won this year.
Morris has averaged 32.2 fantasy points per game this season and in the games, they have won that number has gone up to 38.7. They are favored by 1.5 to beat the Hawks so this should be a close game where Morris will have the minutes to put up big numbers again. That along with the fact that the Hawks are ranked 27th in the league in defensive efficiency gives Morris great value at 1.5x.
1.7x-2x:
De’Andre Hunter 1.75x ATL at NY
The rookie Hunter has started to become a more consistent player for the Hawks. In six of his last seven games, he has scored 21 fantasy points or more including one game where he exploded for 43 fantasy points. He is now a core member of the Hawks rotation playing 31.9 minutes per game.
As mentioned with Trae Young earlier, he will be facing the 26th ranked defense in the league and with this expected to be a close game he should have a lot of minutes to rack up fantasy points. Combine those factors, this could be one of the games Hunter pops and gives you tremendous value at 1.75x.
Centers:
1x-1.3x:
Nikola Vucevic 1.3x ORL at UTA
Vucevic returned from his 11 game absence due to an ankle injury on Sunday and looked healthy. He put 20 points and 9 rebounds in 29 minutes in Orlando’s win over the Pelicans. Head coach Steve Clifford said that Vucevic will play both games in the back to back they have against Utah and Denver which shows he is very close to 100%.
When healthy, Vucevic was averaging 42.1 fantasy points per game while the other choice in this tier is Rudy Gobert who is averaging 40.7 points per game. With Vucevich healthy again he is a better value pick at 1.3x over Gobert at 1.15x.
1.7x-2x:
Jarrett Allen 1.4x BKN at NO
Despite the Nets going out and signing DeAndre Jordan in the off-season to a sizable contract, Jarrett Allen has still had a career season. Allen is averaging 12.3 points, 10.4 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game. In the 26 games he has played in, he has recorded 13 double-doubles including 1 game against Cleveland where he scored 22 points with 21 rebounds.
Against the Pelicans, he should be a lock for another double and possibly get close to stats he had in his game against Cleveland. The Pelicans are ranked 28th in the league in defensive efficiency and are ranked 24th in the league in rebounding rate. Allen should be able to feast on the boards against the likes of Jaxson Hayes and Derrick Favors making him a nice play at 1.4x.
1.7x-2x:
Aron Baynes 1.7x PHO at LAC
Baynes started off the season as a gem on SuperDraft. He came out of nowhere averaging 25.6 minutes,15.5 points, 6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game while shooting a crazy 42% from three-point range and making two per game. Unfortunately, he got injured against the Boston Celtics on 11/18 and lost his starting job to Frank Kaminsky. Now he is averaging 16.5 minutes, 11 points, 4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game.
This feels like making a point of why you should fade him right? That is not the case. With this match-up against the Clippers, there is a chance we can see the Baynes from the beginning of the season. Baynes is a better fit to face the likes of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George attacking the basket on defense than Kaminsky. That could give him more minutes which will give him more opportunities to put up numbers at the other end of the floor. If he gets those additional minutes, he has great value at 1.7x.
This article expresses the personal views of the writer and does not reflect the view(s) of SuperDraft in any way.
