This article is part of our DraftKings EuroLeague DFS Picks series.
Slate Overview
The best two words in EuroLeague hoops are "Game Five," and we are lucky enough to get two more of them following Tuesday's epic matchup in the OAKA. Home teams are a perfect 19-0 in this scenario since the best-of-five format was instituted in 2009, so Fenerbahce and Olympiacos will both look to make history Wednesday. There are really only two injury situations to monitor -- Johnathan Motley and John Brown -- and luckily for fantasy players both are involved in the first game up. Good luck!
Guards to Go After
Players listed in order of confidence
Preferred Plays
Mike James, AS Monaco ($10,500)
In a win-or-go-home game I'll take the league's all-time leading scorer and let the cards fall where they may. James will be rostered around 75-to-80 percent, so I understand the game theory play to fade him. However, that may be my only reason not to include him in every lineup.
Scottie Wilbekin, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($9,400)
Nick Calathes, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($9,900)
We have to think head coach Sarunas Jasikevicius pushes the envelope a bit with his backcourt rotation, which could result in at least one of these two getting around 30 minutes. Wilbekin can hang 30 points on the scoreboard while Calathes will stuff the stat sheet.
Thomas Walkup, Olympiacos Piraeus ($9,200)
We just play a cat-and-mouse game with Walkup. When his salary goes up we have to question it and when it comes down a bit we can go after him. Last game we can't fault him with it being a big-time blowout, and I'll have no issue going right back to him Wednesday. I think if Walkup stays out of foul trouble he has a great chance to be part of the optimal lineup.
Valuable Values
Elie Okobo, AS Monaco ($8,100)
This is a shark price on Okobo, who's the cheapest he has been since putting up 33.5 DraftKings points back on March 7. I think this is an excellent buy-low spot on him -- especially if you fade James. Still, I don't mind pairing them with it being only a two-game slate.
Tyler Dorsey, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($7,500)
Marko Guduric, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($7,600)
These are two high-upside, low-floor guards for Fenerbahce. Their rotation is very frustrating, as we saw the rug pulled on Dorsey in the last contest. I truly do not know what to expect here, but I imagine Dorsey will start again and see his usual workload if he's knocking down shots early. I think he's at risk of another game below 20 minutes if he's cold, though.
Shaquielle McKissic, Olympiacos Piraeus ($7,200)
He has always been a very tough matchup for Barcelona and will if they maintain their same assignments. I think he will keep cooking from the small-ball small forward spot. I'm really hoping Barcelona counters with their small-ball lineup and have Tomas Satoransky guard him, but I won't be holding my breath.
Ricky Rubio, FC Barcelona ($7,000)
Rubio flew too close to sun and has now seen his price plummet right back where it was last month. A player of his caliber in an elimination game at home? I'm interested.
Frontcourt in Focus
Players listed in order of confidence
Preferred Plays
Nigel Hayes-Davis, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($10,200)
I've been saying it all Playoffs I know, and I'm aware they've been extremely mediocre, but no one has the floor of James and Hayes-Davis, so I'll continue to play one or the other despite the less-than-stellar play from both.
Jabari Parker, FC Barcelona ($9,700)
Some may get scared off by the last game, but as mentioned it was not a tight contest, so I'm essentially throwing Game 4 out the window for both teams. If Parker is not as popular as before because of his price point, I think he makes for a great GPP play in a home game with maximum minutes.
Alpha Diallo, AS Monaco ($8,800)
I'm very skeptical chasing these points unless we get news that Brown is out. Brown's absence forces Diallo and Jaron Blossomgame to play a lot of small-ball four, and their peripheral rates shoot up in that scenario.
Valuable Values
Nikola Milutinov, Olympiacos Piraeus ($5,600)
He's easily the biggest conundrum on this slate. Talent-wise he's a top-5 center in this league. We've known this for a couple years now, but due to health and depth he was mostly out of the rotation -- until Game 4. If you told me he would get 15-to-18 minutes Wednesday I'd probably have him in most of my builds.
Georgios Papagiannis, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($6,600)
Johnathan Motley, Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul ($6,800)
This all hinges on Motley's availability. If he plays I think the entire situation is very murky and that both will only be worth GPP darts. If Motley remains out I'll go right back to Papagiannis, who looks to be rounding into his prior form.
Jaron Blossomgame, AS Monaco ($6,700)
If Brown is sidelined Blossomgame could potentially start. Regardless if he does or not, I think we see 25-to-30 minutes, which is very nice for this price.
Filip Petrusev, Olympiacos Piraeus ($7,400)
Kostas Papanikolaou, Olympiacos Piraeus ($7,300)
Olympiacos all of a sudden has an embarrassment of riches in the frontcourt, both at the power forward and center spots. Papanikolaou is the team captain, but his minutes could be limited if the shots are not falling. Papanikolaou would be the safer option with Petrusev being the leverage play.
Donta Hall, AS Monaco ($5,200)
Hall went off in Game 4 and would have put up 24.5 DraftKings points had there been a contest. I've called to the skies all year for him to get extended run to no avail. The theme of this slate is following your gut when deciding which high-upside, low-floor value big man will come through for us. As a reminder, these guys are listed by confidence.
Nikola Kalinic, FC Barcelona ($6,500)
Alex Abrines, FC Barcelona ($6,100)
If you fall into this range and want a Barcelona piece, I have no issue with either. It really comes down to who shoots better and my money is Abrines doing so off the bench. Kalinic is the starter, so in theory he's the safer option minutes-wise.
