DFS NBA Top Plays: August 3

*Bam Adebayo (quad) — Probable
*Goran Dragic (back) — Probable
*Oshae Brissett (knee) — Out
*Patrick McCaw (knee) — Out
*Will Barton (knee) — Out
*Gary Harris (knee) — Out
*Jamal Murray (hamstring) — Questionable
*Goga Bitadze (knee) — Questionable, McMillan said he’s out
*Malcolm Brogdon (neck) — Questionable
*Victor Oladipo (rest) — Doubtful
*Glenn Robinson (hip) — Doubtful
*Mike Scott (knee) — Out
*Anthony Davis (eye) — Probable
*LeBron James (groin) — Probable
*Kyle Kuzma (ankle) — Probable
*Royce O’Neale (foot) — Probable

You don’t have to play cash games to understand why it’s important to grasp them. Players we consider for cash are the ones we believe are the most underpriced, have the best floor/ceiling combo and feature a relatively tight range of outcomes. In other words, these are the best plays on the board once price, slate context and positional depth is accounted for. Those sound like pretty good options for GPPs as well.

The optimal GPP lineup will mix some of these cash-type plays with higher-variance options. In cash games (where roughly 50% of the field gets paid out), we don’t worry about ownership or game stacks or correlation. In large-field tournaments, our ACO (average cumulative ownership) should stay reasonably low.

With all that said, these are our Top Plays considering the following factors: Median projection, matchup, upside and value. Ownership is not considered here. Generally speaking, these players are what we consider to be “head-to-head and 50/50 considerations.” They are listed in price descending order (NOT ranked by “best play”). At the bottom, you’ll find suggested rankings by site once salary is accounted for.

Point Guard

Ja Morant ($7,300 DK/$7,500 FD) – The loss of Tyus Jones coupled with the push for a playoff spot has forced the Grizzlies to unleash Morant with an elevated minutes ceiling. Morant has played 36 and 37 regulation minutes in the first two bubble games which is up from a season average of 30.3 minutes per game. As a result, he’s underpriced. Now he gets a matchup against a Pelicans defense that ranks 26th in defensive efficiency against opposing point guards and has struggled mightily protecting the rim since the restart. This game comes with big playoff implications so we expect the extended minutes for starters even on the back-to-back.