This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
The NBA returns from its one-day Election Night break with a flourish, as 14 games are on the ledger Wednesday night. Even with some big names already confirmed sidelined, we still have access to a massive player pool that should afford us no shortage of flexibility when building lineups for cash games or tournaments.
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
Damian Lillard, MIL vs. DET ($44): As was sometimes the case in Portland, Lillard has had a couple of off nights early in his Bucks tenure, but the matchup lines up for one of his better performances Wednesday. The Pistons have allowed the fourth-most Yahoo points to point guards (51.9) and are tied for the eighth-highest offensive efficiency surrendered to the position as well (28.4). Lillard has been over 40 Yahoo points in each of his last two games and already has a spike performance of 54.6 this season, and the Pistons are also allowing elevated 37.8% 3-point shooting on the road.
Jalen Brunson, NYK vs. SAN ($32): Brunson's salary is worthy of a double-take given his upside, as he's already produced tallies of 41.1 and 56 Yahoo points this season. He's been in a bit of a shooting funk of late that's led to a handful of sub-30-Yahoo-point tallies, which are
The NBA returns from its one-day Election Night break with a flourish, as 14 games are on the ledger Wednesday night. Even with some big names already confirmed sidelined, we still have access to a massive player pool that should afford us no shortage of flexibility when building lineups for cash games or tournaments.
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
Damian Lillard, MIL vs. DET ($44): As was sometimes the case in Portland, Lillard has had a couple of off nights early in his Bucks tenure, but the matchup lines up for one of his better performances Wednesday. The Pistons have allowed the fourth-most Yahoo points to point guards (51.9) and are tied for the eighth-highest offensive efficiency surrendered to the position as well (28.4). Lillard has been over 40 Yahoo points in each of his last two games and already has a spike performance of 54.6 this season, and the Pistons are also allowing elevated 37.8% 3-point shooting on the road.
Jalen Brunson, NYK vs. SAN ($32): Brunson's salary is worthy of a double-take given his upside, as he's already produced tallies of 41.1 and 56 Yahoo points this season. He's been in a bit of a shooting funk of late that's led to a handful of sub-30-Yahoo-point tallies, which are largely responsible for his very reasonable salary. However, a matchup against a Spurs team surrendering the fourth-highest offensive efficiency rating to point guards (32.1) along with 51.0% shooting and 50.3 Yahoo points per game to the position could certainly be the cure for what ails him, and San Antonio's Western Conference-high 108.3 possessions per game certainly doesn't hurt his outlook either.
ALSO CONSIDER: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC vs. CLE ($49); Jaylen Brown, BOS at PHI ($30)
Guard to Avoid
Josh Giddey, OKC vs. CLE ($25): Giddey is well behind last season's numbers thus far in the new campaign, with the big reason for his offensive downturn a drop in shooting percentage to a career-worst 40.2%. He's been under 20 Yahoo points on three occasions already, including his most recent game against the Hawks on Monday (18.4). With SGA back from his brief absence due to a knee injury and the Cavs allowing a league-low 36 Yahoo points per game to twos and having held Giddey to a season-low 15.2 Yahoo points in the first meeting this season, he's a stay-away candidate at his salary, considering the amount of choices at your disposal.
Forwards
Jaren Jackson, Jr., MEM vs. MIA ($38): As expected, Jackson has shouldered a significant workload in the ongoing suspension-related absence of Ja Morant, averaging 40.8 Yahoo points per contest on the strength of 21.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 blocks per contest. The big man is averaging a career-high 15 shot attempts per game as well, and Wednesday, he's at home against a Heat squad that's allowed 49.7 Yahoo points per game to power forwards and that's tied for ninth-most blocks per game (5.7) surrendered. Miami also ranks in the bottom 10 in points in the paint allowed per road game (55.3), furthering Jackson's case down low.
John Collins, UTA at IND ($20): Collins continues to look refreshed with his career reset in Utah, as he's averaging 28.8 Yahoo points per contest while clocking improved averages of 14.8 points and 8.5 rebounds. Collins has also seen his 3-point shooting leap from last season's career-low 29.2% to 36.7%, and he now draws a favorable matchup against a Pacers squad that's giving up the second-most Yahoo points per game to power forwards (52.1) and an NBA-high 60.6 points in the paint per contest as well.
ALSO CONSIDER: Lauri Markkanen, UTA at IND ($36); Scottie Barnes, TOR at DAL ($36)
Forward to Avoid
Pascal Siakam, TOR at DAL ($30): Siakam has seen a notable downturn early this season, despite the fact Fred VanVleet's exit to the Rockets opened up a good amount of usage. The big man is averaging a modest 29.4 Yahoo points per game and has been at 20.6 and 22.7 in the last two games while checking in under 30 in four contests overall. The Mavericks also allow the third-lowest offensive efficiency rating to power forwards (19.7), further dampening Siakam's appeal at what is still an elevated salary.
Centers
Domantas Sabonis, SAC vs. POR ($41): Sabonis posted just 21.1 Yahoo points across 30 minutes in his most recent game against the Rockets, although foul trouble was partly responsible. The big man will continue to take the floor without De'Aaron Fox (ankle) on Wednesday, and he's drawing a more palatable matchup against a Trail Blazers team that's giving up the third-highest offensive efficiency rating to centers (39.4), along with the second-most Yahoo points per game (60.2) to the position. Portland is also conceding an NBA-high 7.7 blocks per game (8.0 per road game) and third-most points in the paint per contest (55.7), so Sabonis should have plenty of paths to a strong night.
Dereck Lively II, DAL vs. TOR ($16): Lively's salary remains very reasonable relative to upside, considering the rookie has already contributed three tallies of greater than 34 Yahoo points in his brief career. Even in a foul-trouble-shortened appearance Monday against the Magic, Lively quickly accrued 20 Yahoo points across 16 minutes. Wednesday, the talented seven-footer faces a Raptors team that's allowing an NBA-high 61.5 Yahoo points per game to centers and that ranks in the bottom 10 in rebounds (54.7) and blocks (5.7) per game surrendered while also conceding the third-most points in the paint per contest (58.0).
ALSO CONSIDER: Nikola Jokic, DEN vs. GSW ($57)
Center to Avoid
Jonas Valanciunas, NOP at MIN ($25): Valanciunas has certainly had a couple of impressive efforts early this season – he's already posted performances of 38.8 and 53.1 Yahoo points – but he's also been at 23.2 or less on three occasions. It's been difficult to get a handle on exactly when the big man might break out, and Wednesday just doesn't shape up as such an occasion. The Timberwolves and Rudy Gobert in particular have opened the season in elite defensive form down low, allowing an NBA-low 20.8 offensive efficiency rating and 40.2 Yahoo points per game to centers. Minnesota is also surrendering the third-fewest points in the paint per contest (43.0), making Valanciunas an option to pass over despite the ongoing absence of CJ McCollum (lung) for New Orleans.
