Welcome back to the Fantasy Alarm NBA DFS Value Vault! Glad to have the NBA back and with that we also have the return of the Value Vault article! We have a massive 13-game slate on tap for tonight in the Association and there are PLENTY of value spots to utilize tonight with the pricing be all over the place on both sites! Let’s jump in!
DraftKings
1.) Malcolm Brogdon PG (IND) $6,200
This looks to be one of the better match ups on the board in terms of value PGs for me. Brogdon gets a date with the Knicks tonight at home where he will see lots of Elfrid Payton , and if there is one thing we know about Elf is that his defense is not that great. Not only that, but Brogdon was second on this Pacers team all of last season in terms of usage at 24.9%, only behind Victor Oladipo at 25.9%. To touch a bit more on Payton’s defense, he carried a 112.8 DEFRTG last year, which put him for sixth worst defender for his team as a whole. Last season Brogdon averaged 31.3 MPG, 15.9 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 7.1 APG, with a +5.0 +/- at home, not to mention he averaged near a triple-double against NY in two games played with an avg of 33.6 MPG, 9.5 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 9.0 APG, and 0.5 SPG. Like the value here on Brogdon in a plus matchup.
2.) Jerami Grant SF (DET) $4,700
Love the price on DraftKings compared to FanDuel for Grant tonight. Here is the thing, Grant was playing uber minutes last season for the Nuggets and had so much star-power around him in guys like Jamal Murray , Nikola Jokic , and Michael Porter Jr., that all ate up the usage on the team. He doesn’t exactly have that issue anymore as he comes into a Pistons team that is somewhat rebuilding and their highest usage players are….Derrick Rose and Blake Griffin ? I fully expect Grant to have a huge role on this team, love the fact that you get the three-point bonus on DraftKings as Grant shoots many, but you also get a good source of boards, steals, and blocks with Grant also. He is $5.8K on FanDuel, so the savings are a plenty over DK. One last tidbit, the Pistons are playing the T-Wolves tonight, the same T-Wolves that ran with the third fastest PACE in the NBA at 103.94, only behind the Bucks and Rockets. This game has a total of 225 tonight and I like a few players in it!
3.) Jeff Teague PG (BOS) $4,000
Teague is more than likely going to be somewhat chalky on DraftKings due to his silly price of $4K flat. Teague is going to get the start for the injured Kemba Walker and there is a good chance he plays upwards of 30 minutes tonight. Who are the Celtics playing tonight, you ask? That would be the fastest team in the league last season in terms of PACE in the Milwaukee Bucks, who are no longer starting the defensive-minded Eric Bledsoe at the PG spot. Not saying that Donte DiVincenzo is a slouch defender because he is not, but at this price if you are playing cash you will have to plug Teague. Hayward is gone, so Teague will be sharing usage with two main players – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown . Love the play on Teague tonight at this price on DK, especially if playing cash.
FanDuel
1.) LaMelo Ball PG (CHA) $6,100
Many may be saying “Really? He hasn’t even played an actual regular season NBA game yet?” You are correct in saying this, but if you happened to watch any of his preseason minutes, he looked pretty. Damn. Good. We are talking about a guy that can literally fill the sheet here with points, boards, dimes, and steals. I don’t think many go here to be honest on such a large slate mainly due to the uncertainty of his role on this Hornets team, but I like the play quite a bit. Let’s extend. He gets Cavs defense that ranked second worst against the PG spot in terms of FD points allowed last season, and the spread on this game is -2. With CHA being a bit thin at the guard spot, I have to think Ball gets ample run tonight to see what he has and it’s just a great spot against a bad defense! Wish his price was a bit cheaper, but I think he has upside!
2.) Josh Richardson SG (DAL) $5,300
JRich is $5.3K on both sites tonight, and I honestly don’t see an issue playing him on either site, but for his defensive-skills I decided to play him on FD. Yes, he does shoot more threes than not, but those are still scored on FD, as well and if he can get a couple of steals, and maybe a block, this can pad his stats heavier on FD. He gets a date with the Suns, who ran with the ninth fastest PACE last season and this game has a total of 237, the highest point total on the board for the slate. The Mavericks will be looking for another scorer on this team with Kristaps Porzingis looking to miss a few games to start the season, and even though THJ has been that guy in the prior season, I think this is a huge reason why they went out and got Richardson in the offseason. I fully plan to see a more aggressive Richardson playing alongside Luka Doncic tonight.
3.) Michael Porter Jr. SF (DEN) $5,400
Get your cheap MPJ while you still can, because after tonight he may not be under $7K price tag again for the rest of the season. The Nuggets moved on from Jerami Grant in the offseason and now MPJ is looking at a starting role at the SF spot on this Nuggets team. We know MPJ is a high-usage player, as he averaged the third highest usage rate on the team at 21.1% only behind Jokic and Jamal Murray . The Nuggets paved a way for this kid to get more time and now it is time to see what he truly has and I for one, am excited to see it. He shoots the three well, grabs boards, blocks shots and may even collect a steal or two. Plus, he gets a nice match up tonight against the Kings, who as a team were the tenth worst ranked defenses in the league last season.