Saturday, February 27th, is an exciting day in the NBA, there are eight games scheduled for that night, with 16 teams playing, meaning that daily fantasy basketball rosters will have a large number of players to choose from. By breaking down the players by position, our goal here is to help you get a jumpstart on drafting your team.
Guard
Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors is an unstoppable player guard this season. He’s the top guard in the NBA without question, and as such, he’s going to be the most expensive player on your roster if you decide to draft him. He’s worth every penny you spend on him, but only if you can find great players for really cheap in other places. The Warriors are playing the Oklahoma City Thunder this weekend, though, and they have some of the few players in the NBA that can compete with Curry. His stats are likely to be a bit lower than normal as a result.
That means that spending a lot on him will not have the same return that it normally does. If you are concerned about this loss of value, James Harden, of the Houston Rockets, can be a strong replacement. His price won’t be much lower than Curry’s, but Harden is averaging 28.0 points per game, just behind Curry, and has comparable stats in other categories, even passing Curry’s numbers when it comes to rebounds, blocks, and assists. In some leagues, depending on where you play, he might even be more expensive than Curry. Thanks to the weaker competition he will be facing, he is probably the better overall pick if he’s cheaper. However, you might not be able to do a complete swap for him in many places because he is a GF, and not a true guard.
Point Guard
Damian Lillard, of the Portland Trail Blazers, has 25.0 points per game, which is the best of any PG in the game right now. And although he’s just so-so in rebounds and blocks, he has great assist numbers. Plus, Portland is playing a weaker team in Chicago. That makes him an easy top choice in this slot, but he’s going to be impossible to draft if you’ve drafted Curry or Harden in the guard slot.
Russell Westbrook, the number two PG for the weekend, should probably be passed on this weekend, just because Oklahoma City is playing Golden State. Westbrook will be very expensive, and his stats will be lower than normal. With better choices elsewhere, he’s likely to be priced out of a helpful zone. Instead, look to Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics. The Celtics are playing well, and although the Heat are also a good team, Thomas could play at or above his averages of 21.6 points and 6.8 assists per game.
Forward
Kevin Durant is the top choice here. But again, the OKC is playing Golden State, so Durant will not be likely to put up the high numbers we’re used to seeing. He’s a bit older than Curry and not quite as fast, and that means Curry has the fantasy edge here. The problem with passing on Durant is that there are no other forwards that are of comparable skill that are playing on Saturday. You need to draft Durant for this game, and you will overspend for him, and you will likely not get what you should out of him.
Look to second tier players like Brooklyn’s Thaddeus Young and Boston’s Jae Crowder if you are looking for cheap points in this position.
Center
Before you draft a center, remember that Marc Gasol of Memphis is going to miss the rest of the season thanks to a surgery. You can get a good price on Brook Lopez of Brooklyn for this weekend, and Karl-Anthony Towns is likely to be cheap and effective at this position. Finding a cheap talent at this position will not hurt too much, either, opening up salary cash for other positions.
Jae Crowder picture credit.
