This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
We're just two nights away from the All-Star break, and the NBA presents us with the last major showcase slate before the pause in play by rolling out a whopping 13 games Wednesday. The massive player pool can certainly be an intimidating factor when trying to build DFS lineups, so we'll try to sort through the many options and provide some viable considerations at fairly opposite ends of the salary cap at each position.
As customary, we'll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.
Guards
Devin Booker, PHO vs. DET ($45): Booker is naturally always a consideration whenever he's in action, but Wednesday's circumstances brighten his outlook even further. The talented guard will take the floor without Bradley Beal (hamstring), a scenario in which he sports a 31.2 percent usage rate. Additionally, the Pistons present as a very favorable matchup for primary ball handlers, considering they've allowed the sixth-highest offensive efficiency rating to PGs (29.8), along with an NBA-high 53 Yahoo points per game to the position on the season. Booker is running hot as well, having scored 49.8 and 48.1 Yahoo points in his last two games.
D'Angelo Russell, LAL at UTA ($28): Russell will also be missing a key teammate Wednesday, as LeBron James will sit out versus the Jazz for rest purposes. That makes
We're just two nights away from the All-Star break, and the NBA presents us with the last major showcase slate before the pause in play by rolling out a whopping 13 games Wednesday. The massive player pool can certainly be an intimidating factor when trying to build DFS lineups, so we'll try to sort through the many options and provide some viable considerations at fairly opposite ends of the salary cap at each position.
As customary, we'll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.
Guards
Devin Booker, PHO vs. DET ($45): Booker is naturally always a consideration whenever he's in action, but Wednesday's circumstances brighten his outlook even further. The talented guard will take the floor without Bradley Beal (hamstring), a scenario in which he sports a 31.2 percent usage rate. Additionally, the Pistons present as a very favorable matchup for primary ball handlers, considering they've allowed the sixth-highest offensive efficiency rating to PGs (29.8), along with an NBA-high 53 Yahoo points per game to the position on the season. Booker is running hot as well, having scored 49.8 and 48.1 Yahoo points in his last two games.
D'Angelo Russell, LAL at UTA ($28): Russell will also be missing a key teammate Wednesday, as LeBron James will sit out versus the Jazz for rest purposes. That makes what was already an appealing matchup even better, as Russell sports a 28.2 percent usage rate and averages over 44 Yahoo points per 36 minutes with his teammate off the floor. Russell also checks in having scored 41.8 to 51.6 Yahoo points in three of his past five games, and the Jazz are allowing an NBA-high 56.6 Yahoo points per game to point guards over the last 15 contests.
ALSO CONSIDER: Brandon Ingram, NOP vs. WAS ($32)
Guard to Avoid
Tyrese Maxey, PHI vs. MIA ($44): Maxey certainly has the upside to justify this salary, especially with Joel Embiid (knee) out. However, the talented guard has started to share a bit more of the workload in recent games, with the recently arrived Buddy Hield and Kelly Oubre Jr. both picking up plenty of slack. Maxey has scored 21.9 to 36.3 Yahoo points in three of his past four games, solid numbers that nevertheless fall short of justifying his current salary. Factoring in the Heat are ranked No. 9 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to point guards, Maxey's salary can likely be best invested elsewhere.
Forwards
Scottie Barnes, TOR vs. IND ($43): The Raptors-Pacers tilt unsurprisingly carries one of the highest projected totals of the night, and Barnes should be right in the middle of all the action, as usual. The versatile big man has tallies of 48 and 56 Yahoo points in two of his last three games alone, a reminder of his considerable ceiling. The Pacers could be without both Tyrese Haliburton (hamstring) and Myles Turner (illness) on Wednesday as well, and Indiana already comes in allowing the fourth-highest offensive efficiency rating to power forwards (30.9), along with over 47 Yahoo points per contest to the position in the last 30 games. Barnes also already has a tally of 49.4 Yahoo points against the Pacers this season, adding to his appeal.
Kelly Oubre Jr., PHI vs. MIA ($19): As already noted in Maxey's Avoid entry, Oubre has been one of several Sixers to step up in Embiid's absence. The veteran wing has been especially effective in recent games, scoring 34.4 to 49.9 Yahoo points in his last three contests while shooting a blistering 52.2% in that span. Tobias Harris (hip) is also ruled out for Wednesday's contest, making Oubre an even better consideration against a Heat team that's still down Jimmy Butler (personal) and is already allowing 47.0 percent shooting to small forwards on the season.
ALSO CONSIDER: Victor Wembanyama, SAN at DAL ($47); Aaron Nesmith, IND at TOR ($18)
Forward to Avoid
Jonathan Kuminga, GSW vs. LAC ($30): Kuminga has certainly wowed with some of his recent performances, but he enters a difficult matchup Wednesday in a bit of a downturn. The talented wing is averaging just 24.9 Yahoo points per contest in his last three games, and he now tangles with a Clippers team that's unsurprisingly very tough on power forwards (No. 4 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to position). As with Maxey, this is just more of a case of trying maximizing fantasy-point-per-dollar value on such a large slate, and Kuminga could realistically have a difficult time fully justifying his salary Wednesday.
Centers
Anthony Davis, LAL at UTA ($52): Davis is naturally going to be another primary beneficiary of LeBron's absence Wednesday, and he comes in averaging 54.8 Yahoo points per 36 minutes with his teammate off the floor. The Jazz have already given up tallies of 55.2 and 58.5 Yahoo points to Davis this season, and they also are allowing the second-most Yahoo points per game to centers in the last 15 contests (64.1).
Daniel Gafford, DAL vs. SAN ($21): Gafford has been quite the addition to the Mavericks' already capable starting five since arriving from the nation's capital, as he's scored 32.8 to 58.4 Yahoo points in his first three games. That makes him quite the potentially rewarding value play against a Spurs team that's allowing a Western Conference-high 36.8 offensive efficiency rating to centers, as well as 59.3 Yahoo points per game to the position in the last 15 contests.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jonas Valanciunas, NOP vs. WAS ($27)
Center to Avoid
Wendell Carter Jr., ORL vs. NYK ($22): Carter can always put together a solid performance, but the combination of his inconsistency and the matchup Wednesday make him relatively unappealing with so many other options available. The big man has scored under 20 Yahoo points in three of his past five games, and he's averaging a relatively modest 23.3 Yahoo points per game for the season. Moreover, the Knicks continue to be one of the less targetable teams with centers for DFS purposes, allowing the lowest offensive efficiency rating (27.9) and fewest Yahoo points per game to the position for the season (49.0). NY is also conceding an NBA-low 48.5 rebounds per contest overall, and to top it off, the Knicks-Magic game has the lowest projected total of the night at just 211.5 points.
