This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
Tuesday's five-game slate has four players priced at or above $10,000. There is Kawhi Leonard ($10,000) at Memphis, Marc Gasol ($10,000) against Toronto, Andre Drummond ($10,600) against New York and LeBron James ($11,200) at Denver. Victor Oladipo (knee) at $9,400 is the highest-priced player with an injury designation, and he has been ruled out for the Pacers' game in Phoenix.
The highest over/under is Hawks at Heat (222.0), with the lowest over/under being 208.0, courtesy of Raptors at Grizzlies. The largest spread is -7.5 in favor of the Pistons, who are at home against the Knicks. The smallest spread is -3.0, with the Pacers expected to secure a road victory against the Suns.
Let's dive into an option at each position:
Point Guard
Jamal Murray ($7,300), DEN vs. LAL
Murray has found his stride over the past four games, starting with an outburst of 38.1 fantasy points against the Bucks on Nov. 19. He then went on to post 34.6 FP against the Timberwolves, 36.0 FP against the Magic and 40.6 FP against the Thunder. Milwaukee is the 11th-best defense in the league, while Oklahoma City is the fifth-best defense, making this stretch of games even more impressive where he's averaged 18.3 points, 6.8 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.0 block. Murray will be going up against the Lakers on Tuesday, who he had success against on the fifth game of the year, posting 22 points, 10 rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block (38.5 FP) across 34 minutes. Over the past 10 games, the Lakers have allowed the seventh-most assists from point guards.
Shooting Guard
Devin Booker ($8,500), PHO vs. IND
Booker hasn't dipped below 34 fantasy points over the past six games and has averaged 25.8 points, 8.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 37.0 minutes. He's also had two performances of 50-plus fantasy points against the 76ers and Bucks, respectively, where he totaled 66 points, 15 assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. His $8,500 price doesn't leave much wiggle-room for tournaments, as an outburst of 50 fantasy points is almost the expectation. Still, unless you're planning on paying up for one of the $10,000-plus players, there aren't too many options aside from Booker that have a higher ceiling below a five-digit price. The Pacers have managed well without Victor Oladipo (knee) the past four games, going 2-2, but it remains true that he's their best backcourt defender and he won't be active Tuesday.
Small Forward
T.J. Warren ($6,800), PHO vs. IND
I have to stress that this is a tournament-only play. Warren played just 14 minutes in the Suns' most recent game and it was not due to foul trouble. Coach Igor Kokoskov decided to give minutes out elsewhere, namely to Mikal Bridges, who posted 12.9 fantasy points. Phoenix, being 4-15, are in somewhat of a freefall. But it's hard to imagine Warren sitting on the bench for a second straight game when he had scored at least 21 points in seven straight games from Nov. 8 to Nov. 21. During that stretch, he also averaged 37.9 FP, which is more than enough to be worth a $6,800 price Tuesday.
Power Forward
Jaren Jackson ($7,100), MEM vs. TOR
Like Warren, it's hard for me to recommend Jackson for anything other than tournaments. I'm expecting his ownership percentage to be modest, as he'll be going up against the Raptors, who have the sixth-best defense in the league. Plus, foul trouble has resulted in fluctuating production. Over the past 11 games, he's committing 3.6 fouls per contest and has reached five fouls four times. Still, it's difficult to ignore Jackson's upside, as he's posted at least 40 fantasy points four times over those past 11 games, including 51.2 FP against Sacramento. And while Toronto has an excellent defense overall, the Raptors have been league average over the past 10 games in fantasy points allowed to power forwards.
Center
Nikola Jokic ($9,000), DEN vs. LAL
Jokic's recent play, which is below expectation, has driven his price down too far relative to his potential. He's averaging 37.5 fantasy points across the past four games compared to his season mark of 42.5 FP. Even with that being the case, I think Jokic would still get plenty of play here if he was $10,000, especially in cash games. Not only have we seen Jokic cross 50 fantasy points four times this season, he has performances of 69.7 FP and 79.7 FP under his belt. A tougher matchup might be able to scare me off, but the Lakers are allowing the fifth-most fantasy points to centers over the past 10 games, including the most steals and the fourth-most rebounds. Andre Drummond ($10,600) against the Knicks may be a better cash option, but it's difficult to argue he has higher upside than Jokic for tournaments.
