This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
This Monday, we've been handed a seven-game slate with tons of star power. Six players will run you at least $10,000, including Andre Drummond, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Anthony Davis.
The highest over/under on the slate is 237.5, courtesy of Clippers at Pelicans. Cavaliers at Nets has the lowest over/under, coming in at 211.0. The largest spread is -10.5 in favor of the Warriors over the Hawks, who are at home. Four games have a spread of -2.0. The Pelicans are favored over the Clippers, the Wizards are favored over the Knicks, the Thunder are favored over the Pistons and the Rockets are favored over the Timberwolves.
Let's run through some options at each position:
Point Guard
Stephen Curry ($9,700), GS at ATL
Curry made his return from an 11-game absence due to a groin injury during Saturday's loss to the Pistons. He played well, posting 27 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals. But he committed a season-high seven turnovers, limiting his fantasy production to just 36.5 fantasy points. Prior to suffering the injury, Curry was averaging 48.1 fantasy points, making Monday's price of $9,700 seem like good value even before considering the matchup. Atlanta has been the worst team in the league at containing point guards, allowing 52.4 fantasy points per game to the position, including the most rebounds and most assists. Curry has reached at least 50 fantasy points in four of his 13 appearances, and he could be in line to cross that threshold again Monday.
Shooting Guard
D'Angelo Russell ($7,800), BKN vs CLE
Coming off a double-overtime loss to the Grizzlies on Friday where Russell played 45 minutes, he ended up seeing only 25 minutes during Saturday's game. So, it may be best to avoid putting stock in Saturday's 21.9 fantasy points given the circumstances. Aside from the end of the month's back-to-back, Russell's numbers in November stood at 19.0 points, 5.6 assists, 4.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals (35.6 FP). The point guard can be up-and-down, so it's probably best to avoid him in cash games. However, his upside is worth gambling on in tournaments at the right price. He's surpassed 40 fantasy points in five of his 24 appearances and has a season-high of 61.6. Cleveland struggles against guards, allowing top-10 production for both point guards and shooting guards. That puts Russell in solid position to reach value Monday.
Small Forward
Otto Porter ($7,000), WAS at NY
Aside from an outlier performance of just 15.5 fantasy points Wednesday against the Pelicans, Porter hasn't dipped below 32.2 fantasy points since Nov. 18. Even including his poor outing against New Orleans where he saw just 25 minutes, Porter is still averaging just under a fantasy point per minute (0.9) over his past seven appearances. His opponent Monday, the Knicks, may allow him to exceed that production, as the team struggles against forwards. New York has allowed the 11th-most fantasy points to small forwards on the season, plus the second-most to power forwards. Porter has gotten off to a relatively slow start this season, but still has upside of 40 fantasy points, which is a mark he's achieved on three occasions this year.
Power Forward
Paul Millsap ($7,200), DEN at TOR
Millsap has been on a tear lately, averaging 40.3 fantasy points over the past five games despite seeing just 27.8 minutes per night. He's been shooting exceptionally (63.8 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from deep) and staying active on defense, recording a combined 3.8 steals/blocks per contest over the past five. Much of that is unsustainable long-term, but could be worth taking a chance on in DFS. Millsap has had his fair share of duds, but he's also eclipsed 40 fantasy points in five of his 22 appearances and has a season-high of 53.3 FP. The Raptors have been relatively strong against power forwards, allowing the 10th-fewest fantasy points to power forwards this year, but it's not enough to scare me off when Millsap is playing so well.
Center
Tristan Thompson ($6,700), CLE at BKN
Thompson struggled against Steven Adams and the Thunder on Wednesday, producing an abysmal 9.4 fantasy points in 35 minutes. However, aside from that, he's reached at least 32.0 fantasy points across the past seven games. More broadly, Thompson is in the midst of a resurgent season, averaging 13.8 points, 13.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.1 steals over the past 13 games. His $6,700 price tag seems like a steal when considering Thompson has racked up five outings with at least 40 fantasy points and will be going up against Brooklyn, who allow the most fantasy points to center on a per-game basis by a margin of 6.3 FP.
