DFS NBA Top Plays: August 9

Injuries
*Steven Adams (knee) — Out
*Dennis Schroder (personal) — Out
*Garrison Mathews (NWT) — Out
*Shabazz Napier (ankle) — Probable
*Tyus Jones (knee) — Out
*Serge Ibaka (eye) — Probable
*Bryn Forbes (quad) — Out
*Tyler Zeller (knee) — Out
*Michael Carter-Williams (foot) — Questionable
*Aaron Gordon (hamstring) — Questionable
*Glenn Robinson III (hip) — Doubtful
*Eric Gordon (ankle) — Out
*Russell Westbrook (quad) — Out
*Kent Bazemore (calf) — Questionable
*Richaun Holmes (hip) — Out
*Jarrett Allen (ankle) — Doubtful
*Caris LeVert (rest) — Doubtful
*Joe Harris (groin) — Doubtful
*Jamal Crawford (hamstring) — Out

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.

 

Incentives/Back-to-Backs

Playoff Hunting: Sacramento Kings, Portland Trail Blazers, San Antonio Spurs, New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies
Seeding motivation: Philadelphia 76ers, Houston Rockets/Oklahoma City Thunder?
No Motivation: Los Angeles Clippers, Brooklyn Nets, Orlando Magic, Boston Celtics, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards

Front End: Oklahoma City Thunder, Toronto Raptors
Back End: Los Angeles Clippers, Portland Trail Blazers

 

Point Guard

De’Aaron Fox ($7,800 DK/8,000 FD) – Fox and the Kings are still on the outside looking in of the playoffs after a brutal loss to the Nets. We expect playoff-level rotations to continue in a great environment against the Rockets who rank 21st in overall defensive efficiency. Fox’s price tag isn’t accounting for the big bump in expected playing time we’ve seen in the bubble (25 blowout, 39 OT, 37, 32 blowout). While Lillard projects as a slightly better value, Fox makes roster construction a bit easier on a slate with other expensive stars.