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You know what’s going to happen with Russell Westbrook ($10,500) right? He was nearly 40% owned on Tuesday night and lays an egg (39.5 DraftKings points) against the Pistons. How many jaded owners will avoid “Bestbrook” tonight? Hopefully a lot! This is your one chance to get Westbrook with a presumably lower ownership. He’s the top fantasy performer this season on a PPG basis, leads the league in triple-doubles and has shredded LAC in three meetings. Westbrook has turned in fantasy games of 74.25, 51.5 and 56.25.
Another buy-low candidate in Jimmy Butler ($7,000). Butler has had a rough few weeks, turning in performances that have been below his expectations. Despite averaging 38.5 DK PPG this season, Butler hasn’t hit that number in his last ten games. He hasn’t been terrible in that stretch, averaging 31.9 DK PPG, but simply not the type of production we were accustom to. The good news is that his salary has plummeted. Remember, Butler was over $8,000 just eight games ago. He is still logging heavy minutes for the Bulls and earns a date with the Rockets who are dismal defensively. Butler took full advantage of the Rockets earlier this month, dropped 48.25 DraftKings points on them.
Luke Babbitt ($4,100) has hit 6x value in four of five (guess which game I played him?!). This five-game stretch, he has earned by far the most minutes he’s seen all season, playing 28.2 minutes per night. He won’t do anything sexy, but he’s a capable double-digit scorer, while kicking in a few assists and rebounds. This should be a high-scoring Western Conference game against Denver where Babbitt should have plenty of opportunity to keep it rolling. He only needs 20 DK points to hit 5x value, a feat that he has accomplished in six of nine.
If Taj Gibson does not suit up, you have to consider Nikola Mirotic ($4,900). Gibson left Tuesday’s game with sore ribs after only ten minutes on the court. Mirotic stepped in, played 37 minutes and dropped a massive 28-10 line for 48.5 DK points. That’s the second 47+ DraftKings point game in the last five for Mirotic, who is flashing some big-time upside. Mirotic’s minutes have been volatile, but he’s been awesome with opportunity. He’s played 30+ minutes on ten occasions this season. In those games he is averaging 39.97 DK PPG and hasn’t scored less than 29 in any of them. With Mirotic sporting the hot-hand, you’d expect him to get first crack at big minutes if Gibson can’t suit up.
The Clippers are going to give a rest day to their stars and have opted to sit Chris Paul, JJ Redick and DeAndre Jordan tonight. I believe the biggest beneficiary will be Cole Aldrich ($3,000) . The min-priced center has found a tough time seeing the court behind DJ, but he won’t have that problem tonight. Aldrich has been incredibly consistent when he plays, averaging 1.14 DK points per minute over his last six, twelve and twenty games. That’s right, he’s scoring at the same points per minute rate across all of those splits. For perspective, that 1.14 PPM rate is the same as Rajon Rondo and Kyle Lowry this season. He should be granted an influx of minutes tonight, making him one of the top value plays on board.
That’s all folks! Be sure to follow me on Twitter for more player analysis as news and injuries break closer to tip-off! Commentary based on DraftKings strategy and scoring.