NBA

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/6

Let’s get ready for some challllkkkkkk! Well, maybe. As of this writing Friday night, the Nets game is on but we know Kevin Durant will not play. Provided this game happens, James Harden and Kyrie Irving are going to be very popular. What’s interesting is for cash games, Joel Embiid is going to be heavily rostered so maybe we just go with one of the Nets, Embiid and fill out the rest. Let’s talk about that and the other eight games on the slate in the NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/6 to find the green screens!

What We Look For In Cash Formats 

1. High Floor – We need players we can trust to get us to a certain value almost no matter what. If they have a poor shooting night, they can still do enough other things to score 4-5x. 
2. Chalkiness – We need players who are going to be highly rostered. If a player is 70% or higher and they go off without you, that’s likely the end of your night. 
3. Positional Strength – Especially on FanDuel, sometimes a position is going to be very thin and needs prioritized. 
4. Ghost’s Model – This model needs to be the Bible as far as projections. My article will mostly be written the night before. I’m telling you this up front – Trust. The. Model. We can’t always update the articles and it won’t lead us astray. If it’s on a player that isn’t mentioned in mine, trust it and don’t hesitate to ask if a player is popping that you’re not sure why. 
5. Late News – Another very important aspect to stress – do not play a slate if you can’t update close to tip. The NBA changes in an instant. One piece of news can change everything.

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/6 Injury Report

Bulls – Lauri Markkanen (D), Otto Porter, Wendel Carter (O)

Magic – Aaron Gordon (O)

Raptors – OG Anunoby (O)

Hawks – De’Andre Hunter (O), Trae Young, Kevin Huerter (Q)

Cavaliers – Larry Nance (Q)

Spurs – Dejounte Murray (Q), LaMarcus Aldridge (O), Lonnie Walker (O)

Rockets – Christian Wood (O), John Wall (Q)

Wolves – KAT (O)

Thunder – This game could potentially fall off the schedule. Theo Maledon is under Covid protocols. For this reason, I’m not going to feature Thunder players in the write ups. HOWEVER, if this game plays, you’ll go right back to 3-4 players in cash games. Hamidou Diallo, Al Horford, Isaiah Roby, Kenrich Williams and Justin Jackson are all prime cash candidates.

Nets – Kevin Durant (O)

Sixers – Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, Seth Curry (Q)

Warriors – James Wiseman, Kevan Looney (O), Eric Paschall (Q)

Grizzlies – Brandon Clarke (Q)

Pistons – Keep an eye on Blake Griffin as a rest candidate

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/6 Positions

Point Guard

Kyrie Irving ($9,400 DK/$9,400 FD) – I of course won’t tell you you can’t play Luka Doncic or Steph Curry in this spot, but Kyrie is cheaper and and will be very popular. He’s cheaper than James Harden so if you play Embiid, Kyrie is likelier the easiest to afford from the Nets. Kyrie also has the higher usage rate than Harden (32.9% to 25.6%) and the higher FPPM (1.58 to 1.43). Harden only has 10 more minutes on the floor so the sample is about equal. This is just too easy when one of the big three is out for the Nets.

Derrick White ($4,700 DK/$5,400 FD) – Even if we leave Dejounte Murray on the floor and just take Walker and LMA off, White looks solid. He’s rocking a 20.4% usage rate and a 0.98 FPPM. Now we now that Murray could be out, which would only skyrocket White even further. If Murray plays, White still looks like a strong salary-saving option. He’s seen the minutes trend up returning from the broken toe to 25 last game. Houston is great defensively lately, but they also play at rocket speed (get it? Rocket speed!) and White needs under 30 DK points to hit 6x.

Cole Anthony ($5,700 DK/$5,000 FD) – The young buck looks like things could be clicking for him, reeling off three straight games of 16 real points or more. Chicago plays at the second-fastest pace in the league and Anthony took advantage of it last night with over 35 fantasy points. The Bulls can’t play defense and Anthony has a 25.3% usage rate and a 0.93 FPPM. Another metric that really supports Anthony is the fact Chicago is dead last in points per possession allowed to pick and roll ball handlers. Anthony is seventh is frequency at 50% on the season.

Honorable Mention – Steph, Luka, Kyle Lowry

Shooting Guard

James Harden ($10,700 DK/$10,800 FD) – It’s going to be easier to pull of the Kyrie/Harden/Biid stack on FD, but it can also be done in my eyes with the Thunder value. Anyways, we talked about Harden in the Kyrie blurb. There’s not a whole lot to add here and they will carry the load in KD’s absence. Kyrie is easier to fit, but Harden certainly isn’t a wrong play.

Norman Powell ($6,800 DK/$6,400 FD) – I’ll go right back to Powell in this spot, seeing as he played 36 minutes last night and should do that once again this evening. The Hawks are not great shakes defensively about mid-pack in defensive rating and both teams are average in pace. As long as OG is out, Powell is an option. I do think the best approach on FD is Harden up top (or possibly Victor Oladipo if John Wall is out) and then Diallo.

If the Thunder can’t play, take a look at double Nets with Bruce Brown. I absolutely love him on DK at $3,500. He starts when one of the big three sits normally and does plenty to hit 25ish DK. I will try to update the article tomorrow as we need, but please also know it could come in Discord due to work commitments.

Honorable Mention – Fred VanVleet, DeMar DeRozan (if Dejounte is out), Diallo, Bruch Brown, Tyrese Maxey (pending Sixers news)

Small Forward

Tobias Harris ($7,600 DK/$7,900 FD) – As much of a smash spot Embiid is in, the spot gets a lot better for Harris with KD is out as well. Durant is the best defender the Nets really have and Harris now gets a much easier night. Even with the full squad in, Harris has a 1.09 FPPM and 24% usage rate on the season. He’s shooting 44% from deep this year and arguably playing some of his best basketball. With the Nest playing so fast and no defense, Harris is a threat for 25+ real points and 5-7 boards.

Juan Toscano-Anderson ($4,200 DK/$5,400 FD) – Do we need much more of a reason to play him past the 40 minutes he logged last time out? Probably not, but let’s talk about it anyways. JTA only took eight shots and racked up 35 DK points, an impressive feat. I’m going to go ahead and say that Kelly Oubre doesn’t score 40 again, so there will likely be more shots to go around in this one. To be fair, JTA has a true shooting rate of 85% the past two games but he’s playing sooooooo many minutes, there’s still every reason to play him at this price.

Jae’Sean Tate ($5,000 DK/$5,400 FD) – I would likely only turn to Tate if the Thunder are off the slate, to be clear. With Wood out for the Rockets, he should continue seeing safe minutes in the low 30’s. Houston is raving about his defense, especially if you listen to reports around the league. There’s now extra rebounds to go around with Wood out and so far, Tate has a 0.95 FPPM on the season. There could be better options tonight but we could also potentially be down to 6-7 games tonight.

Honorable Mention – Brandon Ingram, Joe Harris, Kent Bazemore (if Paschall is out again)

Power Forward

Kristaps Porzingis ($8,200 DK/$7,800 FD) – I honestly don’t know if I can get here tonight, but if I can KP will smash again. The 40ish fantasy points might not look super impressive until you realize two things. First, Porzingis played 25 minutes. That’s it. Secondly, he had just five rebounds. Bro, hit the glass! It’s the Warriors, who are bottom 10 in rebounding in the first place. They’re playing Draymond Green at center. Even with the non-existent defense, KP can drop 50 fantasy points in this matchup and should have last game.

Draymond Green ($6,000/$6,700 FD) – If Green had played his full run, he would have triple-doubled last game. He only needed four more rebounds with 11 points and 15 assists. In the past two games, it’s been prime Draymond once again. His usage looks ridiculous at 13% but the FPPM is 1.18. He’s posted 32 FD points or more in both and what was most impressive last time – zero blocks or steals. Dray is playing center and the Warriors need him on the floor literally as much as he can handle.

Patrick Williams ($4,400 DK/$4,300 FD) – Williams had seen his minutes trending up the past couple of games, but I didn’t want to trust it for cash. That changes tonight since the Bulls look like they’ll be without Lauri Markkanen and Williams played 33 minutes last night. The Bulls are short-handed and will be leaning on the rookie again in this spot. Across a 72 minutes amps, Williams has a 1.00 FPPM and a 21.7% usage rate. That’s more than enough at this pricing. He’s up there with Thunder value as priority if the Bulls are missing as many as they could be.

Honorable Mention – Giannis, Zion

Center

Joel Embiid ($10,500 DK/$10,500 FD) – This is the type of spot dreams are made of. The Nets may as well throw me under the hoop for how well they defend the paint and Pascal Siakam just hung 30+ points on them. No disrespect to Spicy P, but Embiid is far superior in every way down low. Biid leads the league in post ups, points off that play type at 9.3 per game (Joker is second at 6.3) and is 10th in rebounding chances per game. The ONLY reason he’s not in my cash lineup is if he’s not active or this game doesn’t play. That’s it, that’s the list.

Nikola Vucevic ($8,900 DK/$8,800 FD) – We need a backup at that price point just in case, and wouldn’t you know it? Vuc gets he Bulls again. All he did to them last night was scorch them for a 43/19/4 line and rack up 70+ fantasy points. There’s nothing to stop him from doing it again, as the Bulls are literally in the same spot. He’s the offense for the Magic and while I wouldn’t expect 70, Vuc is still underpriced for this incredible matchup.

DeMarcus Cousins ($6,300 DK/$5,900 FD) – Alright, so I sort of lied. You could MAYBE talk me into playing Boogie on FD over Embiid for nearly $5,000 less. I would want to see what ownership projects at tomorrow before declaring on FD. Center is LOADED tonight as well. Still, I really want to lock in Biid/Boogie on DK since both are in such good spots. With Wood off the floor this season, Cousins has a 1.38 FPPM on a 25% usage rate. That comes with a true shooting under 49%. Additionally, Jakob Poeltl is going to have a tough time with Cousins down low. He’s simply too cheap on both sites. In GPP, I’d have shares of both on FD.

Honorable Mention – Clint Capela, Al Horford, Steven Adams, Naz Reid

Note – Please refer to the Thunder injury report to see my thoughts on them for cash since none were written up!

Thank you for reading my NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/6 and make sure you follow me on Twitter at @bucn4life! Be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/4

It’s just a five game slate tonight and these style of slates tend to be ones we enjoy more. There’s five of the 10 teams on a back to back, so I tend to think value will not be a big issue. We have a marquee matchup in the late night hammer between Denver and the LA Lakers which is going to attract attention. However, there’s still a ton of great options tonight for the NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/4 to find those green screens!

What We Look For In Cash Formats 

1. High Floor – We need players we can trust to get us to a certain value almost no matter what. If they have a poor shooting night, they can still do enough other things to score 4-5x. 
2. Chalkiness – We need players who are going to be highly rostered. If a player is 70% or higher and they go off without you, that’s likely the end of your night. 
3. Positional Strength – Especially on FanDuel, sometimes a position is going to be very thin and needs prioritized. 
4. Ghost’s Model – This model needs to be the Bible as far as projections. My article will mostly be written the night before. I’m telling you this up front – Trust. The. Model. We can’t always update the articles and it won’t lead us astray. If it’s on a player that isn’t mentioned in mine, trust it and don’t hesitate to ask if a player is popping that you’re not sure why. 
5. Late News – Another very important aspect to stress – do not play a slate if you can’t update close to tip. The NBA changes in an instant. One piece of news can change everything.

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/4 Injury Report

Hawks – De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic (O)

Warriors – Kevan Looney, James Wiseman (O)

Blazers – Damian Lillard (Q)

Grizzlies – JoVal, Jaren Jackson, Grayson Allen (O)

Nuggets – Gary Harris, PJ Dozier (O)

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/4 Positions

Point Guard

Luka Doncic ($10,900 DK/$11,300 FD) – Is Luka’s price up there? Of course it is. However, this is a really great spot for him. I would guess that Kristaps Porzingis could sit tonight. It’s a back to back and they need KP desperately to make any noise later in the year. Also, the Warriors have no bigs right now. They’ll be down Looney, Wiseman and they have nobody past Draymond Green to help guard the paint. Not only does Luka drive the most in the league at over 24 per game, but Luka is over a 38% usage rate without KP. Now we add in the Warriors play at the fourth-fastest pace and we have all the makings of a smash spot for Luka. Even if KP plays, I still love him in this game.

Steph Curry ($9,800 DK/$9,900 FD) – Since Dallas is 19th in defensive rating, this seems like a good time to potentially run it back with Curry. Now, we certainly don’t need to go there in cash with how loaded the slate is. It’s also still a very appealing game to target. We’re going to have a punt from this team later, but Curry is the main man. He’s up to a 1.43 FPPM and Dallas is allowing over 40% in three point frequency. Steph was only 5% rostered last slate so I wonder where he’s projected tonight.

John Wall ($6,900 DK/$7,500 FD) – Another educated guess is Victor Oladipo sits tonight, and the Rockets tailor-made the switch of Wall last night. When we look at his minutes, the last competitive game he played 30 minutes. We always pick on Ja Morant defense and this slate should not be any different. When Dipo has been off the floor, Wall has a 1.33 FPPM and a 31.3% usage rate. Both these teams are in the top 15 in pace after the James Harden and Wall is an elite play at the DK salary especially.

Honorable Mention – Ja Morant, Anfernee Simons

Shooting Guard

Donovan Mitchell ($7,800 DK/$7,800 FD) – I feel like he’s going to be very popular on FD with a dearth of options at the high end. It’s a pace up spot for Mitchell and they can’t handle primary ball handlers at all. Spida has a 31.3% usage rate on the season and despite the Hawks being third-best in made three pointers allowed, Mitchell is shooting over 40% from deep. He’s sitting in the top-25 in real points scored per game and is flirting with 34 minutes a night. I love Mitchell tonight, but past FD I don’t know how much I’ll play him with the other studs available.

Gary Trent ($6,200 DK/$6,300 FD) – I really dislike the price, but I can’t argue with the minutes at all. It’s a broken record with Trent – he’s not going to do a lot but score, but he can put up 20+ on any given night. In fairness to him, he’s shooting 45% from deep on 120 attempts so he can get hot any given slate. In three of the last four, he’s hit seven, four and seven triples. He’s also played 38, 37 and 40 minutes in those games. If Dame happens to be out, he might shoot 25+ times. Even if Dame plays, Trent is going to chuck it.

Honorable Mention – Tim Hardaway is going to be a very popular option on FD especially if Porzingis is out. Past that, it is very dicey at this spot. Rodney Hood is in the running for sure with 35 minutes played and Nasir Little has already been ruled out. If KP plays, I think we’re down to Mitchell and either Portland player as the best duo on FD.

Small Forward

LeBron James ($10,000 DK/$10,700 FD) – Marquee game against the same team the Lakers beat in the West Finals like three weeks ago? Sign me up for LeBron. This is the only game that starts at 10 PM, so the NBA world will have all eyes on it. We’ve become numb to how good LeBron is at this juncture, with a 31% usage and a 1.44 FPPM. Who on Denver really guards him? Will Barton? Michael Porter (lol)? With Gary Harris out, the team defense takes a bit of a hit and Denver is already 18th in defensive rating. I think LeBron gives us the best affordability/ceiling combo since Nikola Jokic is $1,000 more on DK.

Will Barton ($5,200 DK/$5,200 FD) – With Harris out, Barton was scheduled start the las game before a postponement. The Nuggets come into this one rested a bit, and Barton should slide into the lineup like we thought. Honestly, I’m not sure how much Porter plays in this one unless Barton gets into foul trouble. Coach Mike Malone didn’t have the luxury of Will Barton in the bubble and Porter’s deficiencies on the defensive end are well-known at this point. Barton only has a 0.80 FPPM on the season with Harris off the floor, but if he plays 30 minutes or more he makes plenty of sense.

Juan Toscano-Anderson ($3,500 DK/$4,900 FD) – He’s going to be the punt of the day on DK at the PF position, I suspect. After Looney left the floor with his injury, JTA (I’m not spelling it every time, he’s JTA now like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is SGA. I have spoken) played a lot. He was the direct sub while Looney was playing, and then played 18 of a possible 26 minutes after Looney left. The Warriors have no choice but to play small here. I doubt he goes 6-9 from the floor tonight, but the minutes at this salary can’t be overlooked.

Honorable Mention – Carmelo Anthony (especially if Dame missed), Dorian Finney-Smith if you’re really stuck

Power Forward

Christian Wood ($8,800 DK/$8,900 FD) – There’s a couple things here. First, Anthony Davis is perfectly fine on either site but I’m not likely to play he and LeBron together and I’m mostly only playing him on DK since he’s still sub-$10,000. Secondly, if Porzingis does play he’s my favorite PF on the entire slate. The Unicorn will eat against the Warriors “interior”.

As for Wood, he was disappointing last night to be sure. He also played just 22 minutes so I would guess Houston knew they were on a back to back, knew the game was out of reach and went easy on him. With JoVal still out, Memphis can be had down low and Wood plays an all-around game. Memphis is 23rd in points allowed in the paint and Wood is fifth in paint points scored on the season Minutes shouldn’t be an issue tonight and I’m in if he’s the lone gun up top in salary on FD.

Draymond Green ($5,200 DK/$5,800 FD) – Coach Steve Kerr said after the game that Dray would have to play longer stretches and he wasn’t kidding. The 36 minutes for Green was a season high on Tuesday and that’s likely not changing for the next couple of weeks. Is Green what he once was? Not particularly, but Dray has a 0.86 FPPM with Wiseman and Looney off the court. That’s with an astonishingly bad 29.8% rue shooting rate. I didn’t even know such a thing was possible. However, Dallas is 28th in rebounding and Dray is still one of the only players in the NBA that can post 32 FD points on TWO REAL POINTS. If he’s playing 32+, he’s a value at this salary.

Honorable Mention – Brandon Clarke, Robert Covington, Xavier Tillman, Eric Paschall (gross, and you can’t use him as a C on FD)

Center

Nikola Jokic ($11,000 DK/$11,000 FD) – There’s not a lot say with Joker. If you look at the regular season history against Anthony Davis, it’s not that great. Only a couple times has Jokic cracked 50 DK. However, he’s in top form right now and has a 1.76 FPPM with Harris off the court. In the bubble, he averaged about 22/7/5 and that version was positively exhausted. I don’t worry about Jokic here against Davis, it’s more that I can’t afford him. If I were to spend at center, it could easily be the next player.

Joel Embiid ($10,200 DK/$10,200 FD) – It’s been about 14 months, but the last time Embiid saw Enes Kanter defense he racked up a massive 38/13 for 66 DK points. Now, this is outside what we normally do but if Dame is out (I tend to think he plays), I want nothing to do with Philly. There’s no way I think the game can stick close. If Lillard plays, Biid should be able to utterly nuke Kanter on post ups. Biid leads the league in post up frequency and as the man Ghost likes to say, “Good Night Jim Kite”. We saw nearly 60 DK from Biid last night and I would expect about the same result tonight if the game stays within range.

Gorgui Dieng ($4,400 DK/$5,300 FD) – If you’re searching for a cheaper center, Dieng really fits the bill. Since JoVal is still out of action, Dieng has been seeing significant run with 25, 24 and 26 minutes over the past three games. Houston has really been pushing the pace and are just average in rebounds per game so far. Dieng has a 1.16 FPPM with the scenario at play tonight, which is second behind Ja. He’s one of the few lower-tier options at the position as we sit Thursday night.

Honorable Mention – Willie Cauley-Stein (if no KP), Rudy Gobert, Clint Capela

*Update* – This slate was turned on its head with the news that Damian Lillard is out. The Blazers only have nine players active and Kejlin Blevins has been there for seven games and averages 4.5 minutes per game. For our purposes, this is basically an eight man roster.

That means for cash games, I think you lock in three to four Blazers. No matter what the score is, these guys are going to see the court. Anfernee Simons and Rodney Hood are the two projected to be the highest-rostered on Portland. Then you can add in Gary Trent Jr. and even Carmelo Anthony if you wish. That still leaves you with over $7,000 per spot on DK. On DK, John Wall and Luka Doncic project as the next highest priorities.

On FD, you can run the same four if you like or boot Simons for Wall and Luka at PG. Kristaps Porzingis becomes a VERY high priority for me on FD since he’s active tonight and in an amazing spot.

Thank you for reading my NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/4 and make sure you follow me on Twitter at @bucn4life! Be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/3

We have a big ten game slate tonight and there are a ton of spots to get behind. We can expect plenty of chaos on slates this size, but hopefully nothing too crazy. There’s teams on back to backs but there’s not a ton of injury news as of yet. We can bet that will change but let’s lay the groundwork for the slate in the NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/3 to find the green screens!

What We Look For In Cash Formats 

1. High Floor – We need players we can trust to get us to a certain value almost no matter what. If they have a poor shooting night, they can still do enough other things to score 4-5x. 
2. Chalkiness – We need players who are going to be highly rostered. If a player is 70% or higher and they go off without you, that’s likely the end of your night. 
3. Positional Strength – Especially on FanDuel, sometimes a position is going to be very thin and needs prioritized. 
4. Ghost’s Model – This model needs to be the Bible as far as projections. My article will mostly be written the night before. I’m telling you this up front – Trust. The. Model. We can’t always update the articles and it won’t lead us astray. If it’s on a player that isn’t mentioned in mine, trust it and don’t hesitate to ask if a player is popping that you’re not sure why. 
5. Late News – Another very important aspect to stress – do not play a slate if you can’t update close to tip. The NBA changes in an instant. One piece of news can change everything.

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/3 Injury Report

Hornets – Terry Rozier (Q), P.j. Washington (O)

Hawks – De’Andre Hunter (O)

Clippers – Patrick Beverly (O) – Kawhi Leonard has normally say in back to back spots, even though he played once earlier this year. Keep an eye on that spot. Coming off a national TV game, it makes sense if one of Kawhi or Paul George sits out here.

Cavaliers – Andre Drummond (Q), Larry Nance (O)

Rockets – John Wall (O)

Thunder – George Hill, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (O)

Wolves – KAT (O), D’Angelo Russell, Naz Reid, Juancho Hernangomez (Q)

Spurs – LaMarcus Aldridge (O)

Pelicans – Steven Adams (Q)

Celtics – Marcus Smart (O)

Wizards – Russell Westbrook typically sits on back to backs, so that would be my expectation tonight.

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/3 Positions

Point Guard

Chris Paul ($8,300 DK/$8,000 FD) – I thought about kicking this off with Luka Doncic vs Trae Young, but I may reserve that for GPP. Those players are intertwined thanks to a draft day trade that brought each player to their respective team. I’m not sure we need to spend that high, so I may just turn to CP3. He’s on an absolute tear right now and last game even came with Devin Booker back. Paul gets a spot against a Pelicans team that is top five in pace for about the last month and has no good defenders at the guard position. Eric Bledsoe and Lonzo Ball won’t put a stop to the veteran. He leads the team with a 1.14 FPPM and a massive 40.8% assist rate on just a 23.5% usage rate.

Dejounte Murray ($6,400 DK/$6,900 FD) – This game as a whole could be a quiet shootout, as the teams play at the fifth and 10th fastest pace in the league. The Spurs are without LMA and that adds 2% to Murray’s usage rate. The Wolves have no on ball defender that worries us. They are also 16th in turnovers per game and Murray is 13th in steals per game. There are plenty of chances for transition buckets and this is where Murray’s all around game could really shine.

Reggie Jackson ($5,400 DK/$5,500 FD) – This is on the assumption that Kawhi sits out, as the Clips would be without him and Beverly. In that scenario, Jackson has a 20.2% usage rate and would be one of the main ball handlers in the offense other than Paul George. Jackson also has a 0.99 FPPM which is he gets 30 minute, is right about where we need him to be. The pace on these teams is slow and the defense is going to be at the forefront, but the salary is too low for Jackson if Kawhi is out.

Ish Smith ($4,800 DK/$4,600 FD) – With Westy likely out, Raul Neto has been the go to player. However, he’s out too which means Ish is going to jump to the forefront. When we take those players off the floor, Smith actually has the largest sample size in minutes on the team at 146 minutes. He has a 1.00 FPPM despite only a 16.5% usage and a 42% true shooting rate. Those numbers are terrible and he’s still at a point per minute. Part of it is the sizable assist rate at 32.5%. If Ish plays 28-30 minutes like we should expect, he’s a great value on this slate.

Honorable Mention – Luka, Trae Young, LaMelo Ball (if Rozier is out but don’t love it)

Shooting Guard

Bradley Beal ($9,700 DK/$10,800 FD) – Beal is tough to overlook if Westbrook is out. You can argue that he’s a bit too pricey on FD, and I guess I would understand. Still, he’s a MONSTER without Westy by the stats this year. We have 133 minutes without Westbrook and Neto on the floor this year. Beal is at a 43.5% usage rate and a 1.84 FPPM. Those aren’t typos. Those numbers are comparable to Giannis from last year, when he was the league MVP. To get that type of involvement for his price tonight is practically stealing. When we think Giannis or Luka are good plays, we don’t hesitate to pay five digits. We definitely shouldn’t tonight either and on DK the price is super low.

Victor Oladipo ($7,800 DK/$8,200 FD) – We have some serious choices up top at SG tonight. Dipo is going to benefit in a big way with John Wall already ruled out. He picks up 3.3% in usage rate to climb over 34% in about 139 minutes so far to go with a 1.38 FPPM. Now, one of the deciding factors could be the opposition. The Thunder will be down SGA and it’s hard to see them keeping this game super competitive. I know we don’t usually take that route, but when we have this trio in front of us, it could be the deal breaker. I expect Dipo and Wood to carry the offense, but I think he would be third behind Beal and the next player.

Paul George ($8,700 DK/$8,400 FD) – Assuming Kawhi sits, PG13 is about to be utter chalk tonight I would think. His price went down a bit on DK, and it stayed the same on FD. If someone wants to fade because of a shaky outing fantasy-wise Tuesday night, that’s on them. With Kawhi and Beverly off the floor this year, George has a massive 33% usage rate and a 1.22 FPPM. The Cavs are in the top seven in points allowed and they have a good team defense. They also don’t have a lot of primary defenders that could handle PG. He’s simply too cheap if he’s the offense tonight.

Hamidou Diallo ($4,500 DK/$4,300 FD) – We were careful with Diallo last game and he only played 15 minutes. He also put up 26 DK points and the Thunder really don’t have much choice but to give him some significant minutes tonight. With SGA and Hill off the floor, Diallo is rocking a 27.5% usage and a 1.24 FPPM. Really, this guy just needs some minutes and he has to get them tonight. Even if this game doesn’t stay close, the Rockets are playing at such a fast pace he can pile stats up in a hurry.

Honorable Mention – DeMar DeRozan (if Kawhi would play, he would take the spot of PG13 for me), maybe Malik Monk but let’s see who’s active for Charlotte. Do not expect what you got last game.

Small Forward

Jimmy Butler ($8,400 DK/$8,500 FD) – Hello Jimmy Buckets, welcome to my lineups. Just as an example, you can plug in Beal, Butler, Diallo and another Thunder player coming up and have $5,750 left on DK. My point is it’s going to be easier to afford Butler, who has come back from Covid like nothing ever happened. He’s logged 34 and 37 minutes and even with an OT packed in, Butler has exceeded 50 DK in both games. Now he gets a Washington team on a back to back and we’ve attacked relentlessly all season long. This is the Butler spot and he’s not even all that expensive.

Keldon Johnson ($6,100 DK/$5,700 FD) – I’m a little more interested over on FD, but with LMA out there’s opportunity for the Spurs players. Johnson is one of them and he never seems to be highly rostered. That doesn’t mean he can’t be tonight and has a 1.15 FPPM with LMA out. That’s just a notch higher than Dejounte Murray, and Johnson is significantly cheaper on the site I need two SF options. With a matchup against the Wolves, this is a good spot for Johnson to drop 20+ real points or more considering the Wolves have the 23rd ranked defensive rating.

Rui Hachimura ($5,400 DK/$4,700 FD) – I’m not likely going here because I don’t need to. However, Rui got back in the saddle last night and played 34 minutes with 24 real points. Sure, he’s not going to go 10-12 from the field again but at $4,700, you don’t need him too. Washington is likely to be short one of their better players tonight and Hachi has a 1.06 FPPM with Westy off the floor. The real issue with him is there’s a cheaper player who everyone is playing, so don’t fall in love here.

Lu Dort ($4,400 DK/$4,400 FD) – I will be totally honest – I don’t love this play for GPP. Dort is going to be heavy chalk, and that should scare you. Just look at the last five games. Not one has been over 19 DK, and the floor is more towards 10. His shot is a total guess every single night, but we have to eat the chalk in cash. If the shot is right, he could post 30-35 DK and that would be tough to recover from. We have a super small 22 minute sample in the scenario tonight, but Dort has a 32% usage rate. His true shooting in that sample is 59.5% and he’s still only at a 1.12 FPPM. Like I mentioned, eat the chalk in cash but it’s a 10 game slate. I’ll take my chances fading a 35-40% Dort in GPP. Dort and Butler look like the chalky SF duo to my eyes, at least the night before.

Honorable Mention – Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, RJ Barrett, Eric Gordon

Power Forward

Jayson Tatum ($8,900 DK/$9,500 FD) – I’m heading right back to the well with Tatum. At an educated guess, Kemba Walker could sit on a back to back. That’s what happened just about a week ago, so keep an eye on that. If that happens, Tatum and Brown are going to have to carry the entirety of the offense. Tatum is over a 1.50 FPPM in that scenario, and the Kings are a perfect spot for him to pour in the buckets. They are top five in pace and bottom five in real points. Wheels up, especially if Kemba sits out.

Christian Wood ($8,600 DK/$8,900 FD) – I don’t see myself using him on DK since he’s a center and there’s a high-priced option we’ll get to. FD is different since he’s PF and reasonably priced. He’s cleared 40 FD points in the past two games despite playing just 26 and 27 minutes. Wood has a 1.46 FPPM without Wall, which reds the Rockets and an excellent 27.5% usage rate. It’s going to be tough to get a body on Wood as he can play inside and outside, something Al Horford is going to struggle with. If he gets 30 minutes tonight, we should be looking at 50 FD points.

Miles Bridges ($4,600 DK/$4,200 FD) – He is only SF on FD so I’m not likely to use him with Dort sitting right there. He should step into the starting lineup tonight and likely would have been heavy chalk if we weren’t looking at OKC. With P.J. Washington already ruled out, Bridges could potentially see 30 minutes and has a 0.83 FPPM in over 300 minutes. He’s already been playing 24-28 minutes per night but with added chances and Washington out, he’s a hair too cheap. I would suspect people don’t turn to him tonight with the other options.

Honorable Mention – Damontas SaGOATis, Giannis, Julius Randle, Jarrett Allen (if Drummond is out)

Center

Joel Embiid ($10,000 DK/$10,200 FD) – Of everything in front of us tonight, Embiid might well be my favorite play for the NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/3. We’ve picked on the interior of the Hornets all year and Biid is having an MVP-style campaign. He’s going to terrorize Charolette and will get whatever shot he pleases. They are 19th in rebounding and 29th in paint points allowed. On the year, Embiid is averaging 1.60 FPPM and sits fifth in usage rate across the league. Smash. Spot. I will have him all over and he’s a building block in cash for me. If Westbrook sits, it’s Biid and Beal at the high-end. If Westy plays, Butler would be my next man up.

Jakob Poeltl ($4,600 DK) – With Embiid being such a high priority for me, I’m going light on the options at center tonight. I’ll list some more in Honorable Mention but Biid is the man on FD for me in a big way and I’m likely pairing these two on DK quite a bit. Poeltl is always our go-to when LMA is out, as he enters the starting lineup. Even in a backup role, Poeltl has seven paint touches per game. That’s the entirety of what he does. Minnesota is 20th in paint points allowed and 23rd in rebounding. Poeltl has a 0.91 FPPM and a prime matchup on tap.

Honorable Mention – Clint Capela, Al Horford, Myles Turner, Cody Zeller, Deandre Ayton

Thank you for reading my NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/3 and make sure you follow me on Twitter at @bucn4life! Be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/2

It was quite a frustrating night as we had some good lineups cooking before the Nuggets game was postponed with no pivots left. Sadly, there’s just not much we can do in that spot. Everything can be done right and it’s still just bad luck. Hopefully we can avoid that tonight. Two of the most appealing games are earlier tonight. For now, we’re leaving out the Pistons and Jazz game. Since Detroit is the team that had Covid issues, I’d be surprised if that game played. Let’s figure out what other paths are in front of us in the NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/2 and see who we need to find the green!

What We Look For In Cash Formats 

1. High Floor – We need players we can trust to get us to a certain value almost no matter what. If they have a poor shooting night, they can still do enough other things to score 4-5x. 
2. Chalkiness – We need players who are going to be highly rostered. If a player is 70% or higher and they go off without you, that’s likely the end of your night. 
3. Positional Strength – Especially on FanDuel, sometimes a position is going to be very thin and needs prioritized. 
4. Ghost’s Model – This model needs to be the Bible as far as projections. My article will mostly be written the night before. I’m telling you this up front – Trust. The. Model. We can’t always update the articles and it won’t lead us astray. If it’s on a player that isn’t mentioned in mine, trust it and don’t hesitate to ask if a player is popping that you’re not sure why. 
5. Late News – Another very important aspect to stress – do not play a slate if you can’t update close to tip. The NBA changes in an instant. One piece of news can change everything.

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/2 Injury Report

Raptors – OG Anunoby (O), Norman Powell (Q)

Magic – Aaron Gordon (O), Michael Carter-Williams (O)

Clippers – Nic Batum (Q), Patrick Beverly (O)

Grizzlies – Jonas Valanciunas (O)

Blazers – CJ McCollum, Jusuf Nurkic, Derrick Jones Jr (O)

Celtics – Marcus Smart (O)

Warriors – James Wiseman (O)

NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/2 Positions

Point Guard

Russell Westbrook ($9,100 DK/$10,000 FD) – There’s a big narrative at play as Damian Lillard and Westy don’t particularly care for each other on the court. These things matter a little more in hoops than any other sport. Past that, DK didn’t move Westy’s salary nearly enough after a massive 70+ game last time out. With having his full minutes back, he’s sitting at a 31.3% usage rate and a 1.41 FPPM. That’s massive at this price point, especially against the Blazers who have the third-worst defensive rating in basketball. The FPPM for Russ comes with a 48.5% true shooting rate as well. He’s locked in for me on DK, and still very appealing on FD.

Malcolm Brogdon ($7,900 DK/$8,400 FD) – The Pacers square off against the Grizzlies who are on a back to back. This is gong to help Brogdon, as is the Grizzlies being in the top 12 in pace. Ja Morant is not a great on ball defender (to be kind) and Brogdon is a main component of the Pacers offense and plays a boatload of minutes. Brogdon trails only James Harden in minutes per game so far. He’s also 13th in drives per game, which Morant is going to directly be on the opposite end a few times. Memphis will have their hands full with this talented guard, who sports a 28.3% usage rate and a 1.15 FPPM.

Reggie Jackson ($5,100 DK/$5,500 FD) – Playing 25-28 minutes against the Nets is always going to catch my eye. Jackson has taken the place of Patrick Beverly, and has been more productive with a 16% usage and a 1.00 FPPM. Now he gets Brooklyn, who runs at the fourth-fastest pace in basketball. That’s a massive step up for the 29th ranked Clippers. Jackson also has a 22.5% assist rate in this scenario, behind only Kawhi Leonard. It’s a great spot for some cheap exposure if we want to play studs from other games.

Honorable Mention – Damian Lillard, Steph Curry, Cole Anthony

Shooting Guard

Paul George ($8,900 DK/$8,400 FD) – I’ll stay right in the Nets game and take an early stab the PG is going to be very popular tonight on FD. His price is super fair, and he’s getting that wonderful Nets matchup. He and Kawhi Leonard are basically neck and neck with a 28% usage rate and about a 1.24 (Kawhi is at 1.32) FPPM. George is $1,200 cheaper and the potential of Kevin Durant and Kawhi squaring off for most of the night could tip the scales to George. With the pace upgrade and the fact the Nets are routinely giving up 120+ anymore, we need to have some exposure on a five game slate. Brooklyn is dead last in points surrendered per game since the James Harden deal.

We’re going to need some help at this position tonight. Bradley Beal and James Harden are very pricey, as is Fred VanVleet. Donovan Mitchell and Jordan Clarkson may not play. Norman Powell is doubtful Right now, the best second option is Gary Trent again. He gets Washington and that pace of that game should be incredible. If Powell is out, maybe we can turn to Yuta Watanabe again. As of now, PG and Trent sure seem like they’ll be the stone chalk on FD.

Small Forward

Jaylen Brown ($7,800 DK/$8,700 FD) – With Marcus Smart out, I’m not sure we see a backup step into a big role. The Celtics have Kemba Walker, Brown and Jayson Tatum all healthy. To wit, both Brown and Tatum are over a 32% usage rate with Smart off the court and that’s almost 2% more for Brown. It’s a big pace up spot for Brown since Golden State is fourth in pace and the Celtics sit 17th. The Warriors are also 23rd in points allowed and Brown should get the easier defensive matchup than Tatum.

Don’t get me wrong, I won’t tell you don’t play Tatum. He’s at a 1.51 FPPM and he’s only $8,600 on DK. That should flat out never happen. He’s back to full minutes and scored 30 real points against the Lakers. This duo is extremely appealing, but slotting them around the other stars is difficult on this slate. I tend to think others will take priority but still…players with a 32% usage have to be on the radar.

Evan Fournier ($6,300 DK/$6,400 FD) – I don’t love the price on either site and Fournier is SG only on DK. I might be forced into playing him on FD. The Magic will be down Aaron Gordon and without him and Markelle Fultz on the floor, Fournier has a 26.7% usage and (shockingly) a team-leading 33.3% assist rate. Toronto is also fourth in frequency of three pointers allowed, and Fournier is shooting 35.5% from beyond he arc. I don’t think he shoots 2-12 like he did last game again.

Rui Hachimura ($5,300 DK/$4,700 FD) – I’m really only looking at Hach on FD, where I’m going to need to roster two and find some savings. He’s also just PF on DK, so there’s other priorities. After a significant layoff, Rui was on the floor for 28 minutes last game. Yes, I know he didn’t do much and he’s had great matchups he past couple. This is another one as the Blazers don’t defend anyone. On the season, Rui has a 0.84 FPPM and if he gets back to that, we’ll be perfectly fine at $4,700.

Honorable Mention – Kawhi, Pascal Siakam, Kyle Anderson

Power Forward

We talked about Tatum in the Brown analysis and he is the CLEAR spend up on FD, even ahead of Damontas Sabonis for me. After those two, the position drops all the way down to Serge Ibaka at $6,400. Instead of beating the horse again with Tatum, let’s talk about the complimentary pieces/punting at the position if that’s how you choose to do it.

Mo Wagner ($3,800 DK/$4,800 FD) – He’s only a C on DK, but we can play two and he’s sticking out as a solid salary saver on both sites. Look, Robin Lopez just isn’t that great. Wagner might not be either, but he’s far younger and at least has some sort of potential. The pace in this game suits his game a little more than Lopez as well. Wagner can shoot a little bit, sitting over 50% in his limited career. He played 21 minutes last game, four more than Lopez which is a great sign moving forward. The Blazers lack of defense is well-documented.

Daniel Theis ($5,000 DK/$4,500 FD) – If you decide to play other stars and leave Brown and Tatum (or one of them) on the side, consider Theis as a cheap way to get exposure here. Golden State has struggled with big men all year and are without Wiseman on top of things. They are bottom five in rebounding on the year, leaving the avenue open for Theis to hit the glass hard. The Warriors are also 23rd in paint points allowed, and Theis has double-double upside.

Honorable Mention – Sabonis, Serge Ibaka, Xavier Tillman

Center

Nikola Vucevic ($8,200 DK/$8,800 FD) – I’m not sure I can remember the last time I’ve seen Vuc be this low in salary on DK. In my eyes, it’s a tough cal between he and Tatum. As in, very difficult call. Vucevic sees a huge increase in usage rate without Aaron Gordon, all the way up to 32.6%. He just hit Toronto for 45 DK points and only shot 5-18 with 15 real points. That’s almost eight below his average which clears 50 easily. I think in cash games that Vuc will be much higher-owned than Tatum, so he’s likely my choice but I want share of both tonight.

Enes Kanter ($6,900 DK/$7,000 FD) – If you don’t want to spend all the way up, Kanter has to be the next man in line. He only played 25 minutes last night and now gets the Wizards matchup that he should dominate in the paint. They sit 28th in points allowed in the paint and are 24th in rebounding. Kanter has 6.9 paint touches per game and that was with being a backup for a big chunk of the season. It’s not super heard to envision a 15/15 game here for the big man, even if he can’t defend a lick.

I can’t sign off on him in cash, but Ivaca Zubac is very interesting in GPP tonight. We always attack Brooklyn with centers and he’ll get second-team run which could make life even easier.

*Update* After checking in on ownerships and other factors, we need to add Gary Clark, Nassir Little and Kevan Looney to the cash pool (especially on DK). All three players are under $3,500 and all three will likely starts in decent to great spots. We could potentially play all three in cash on DK and spend under $10,000 and jam in a whole bunch of studs around them.

Thank you for reading my NBA Cash Game Breakdown 2/2 and make sure you follow me on Twitter at @bucn4life! Be sure to sign up for an ALL ACCESS GOLD ACCOUNT account here at Win Daily Sports. Gain access to our Projection Models and jump into our Discord where we will have our experts talking plays across every sport and slate!