Thursday night NBA action only has a handful of games, but some of the biggest and most impressive teams are competing. We’ll walk you through some of the big names, and help you figure out where they should stand in your daily fantasy basketball roster.
Start Playing Fantasy Basketball at DraftKings
Sacramento Kings @ Miami Heat
Without LeBron James, the Heat are a brand new team. Yet, they are doing quite well without him still. They have a 6-4 record this season, and new players have stepped up to fill in the gap that he left a couple years ago. Chris Bosh leads the team in scoring with 18.1 points per game and Dwyane Wade is right behind him at 17.1. As far as guards go, Wade is not near the top of the league in the standings here, but with his 4.6 assists per game, he has some nice fantasy value. In Thursday’s lineup of games, even though he’s not a top 10 point guard in the NBA, he’s still a decent choice. There are bigger names playing ahead of him, but they are going to be expensive. If you are looking for a decent guard at a decent price, Wade is probably a good fit for your roster. Also look to Hassan Whiteside because of his impressive defensive performances. He’s averaging 15.3 points per game, but has 11.9 rebounds and 4.6 blocks per game right now, making him a strong choice at center. The Kings have a strong forward in DeMarcus Cousins at 28.0 points per game, 11.0 rebounds, and 2.1 assists per game, but because of his high points per game total, he will be expensive. It could be tough for him to justify the price that he’s at, too, against a strong team like Miami. Rudy Gay is another consideration. At forward, he’s not going to see as much playing time as Cousins, but is having a great year, especially because Cousins has missed some playing time.
Milwaukee Bucks @ Cleveland Cavaliers
The big names in this game are, of course, LeBron James and Kevin Love. James is averaging 27.3 points per game, which puts him at number three in the NBA when it comes to forwards. He also has 6.1 assists per game and 1.8 steals, so even though he’s a slightly lower scorer than Sacramento’s Cousins, James should yield more daily fantasy points, especially because the Bucks are a weaker team than the Heat. There are not really any good players to select from the Bucks, although if you need a cheap player or two, you may want to consider Khris Middleton at point guard or Giannis Antetokounmpo at forward. Both will be cheap for this game, although it’s not clear if they will hold any value despite the small price tags thanks to Cleveland’s dominance.
Golden State Warriors @ Los Angeles Clippers
This is the big game of the night. Golden State has the best player in the NBA right now with Stephen Curry. He’s averaging 33.7 points per game, has 4.8 rebounds per game, and 5.9 assists. All of these add up to big fantasy points. He will be costly, but worth the price if you can find value elsewhere. Also consider LA’s Blake Griffin at forward. He’s the number four scoring forward in the NBA with 26.6 points per game, has 4.3 assists, and 9.0 rebounds. He’s not LeBron James, but he will be a lot cheaper, and may flesh out your roster if you can’t afford James. You may also want to look at Golden State’s Festus Ezeli if you need a forward. He’s averaging 8.7 points per game, which certainly isn’t great, but he has a strong team helping him boost his stats every night.
Bucks photo by.
