 What's going on and welcome to the NBA DFS Q&A show my name is Tom Vecchio every week to every Wednesday at 4 p.m I am here taking your questions about the night's NBA DFS slates You can find this on the Fandle YouTube, Twitter, Twitch, Facebook page You can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. Let's jump in we have a loaded slate There's a ton of value options we can be considering. We have a ton of high scoring games We want to be targeting those. There's obviously a ton of stars on tonight's slate Let's jump right into the questions starting off from Grimm. He's saying Austin Reeves, Lexi Pokubeski, Tony Snell, Deandre Hunter or Corey Kispert A better start at small forward. Out of that group, I'm liking Poku Just the minutes locked in for him going up against the Timberwolves is looking to be solid We know that the Thunder are very very shorthanded because they're dealing with a number of injuries So we want to be locking in a player that's going to be seeing probably 30 plus minutes as we have seen from some of their starters Just a ton of injuries across the board. $5,900 a very modest salary We didn't look to Deandre Hunter probably out of that group. Tony Snell is not really a player I go to too frequently But Deandre Hunter playing against the Bucks in just a very very solid game environment 240 over under with a four and a half point spread is something you always want to be going to He's also asking trend in Watford any value as a starter so the Trailblazers are another team that dealing with just a ton of injuries They have all these value plays and they're starting a lot of I think Watford is a solid play The 17 and a half or 18 point spread against the Jazz like oh it's 19 points now okay Is an ideal but we're going to be seeing Watford we're going to be seeing Williams for Portland some of their depth players I guess they're not depth players anymore they're starters now for them they're going to be seeing a ton of minutes So we want to be locking in minutes for a player that is very very affordable DJ is asking the classic Wednesday question the sixth man of play who do we want to be looking to that's likely coming off the bench That likely shouldn't be too popular I'm big on Dante DiVincenzo tonight I wrote him up as one of the value plays for tonight's slate Solid usage for him solid production over under is looking good against the Nuggets it's a six point spread that you know got a little bigger since the line opened at four I grabbed the Nuggets last night actually when the line first came out at four so I'm on the Nuggets tonight I'm also on the Bulls tonight at six and a half Going up against the Pistons line actually came down so it is what it is I think that this is a pretty straightforward spot for the Bulls As I said on today's daily ISO like they're on a five game losing streak they need to win this game you know they're slipping in the standings a little bit in the So the Bulls need to come out you know regardless if Vucevich does play which year which is one of the injuries we're waiting on it for tonight's slate There's a good amount of injuries we do see Simon's ruled out so again we should be seeing Williams get started point guard for the Portland Trailblazers But these are some impactful injuries for tonight's slate LeBron he obviously missed their most recent game Jimmy Butler popped up as questionable this morning Anthony Edwards, D'Angelo Russell both listed as questionable obviously if we see Christian Woodout we could be seeing Alperine St. Goon step into the starting line before the Rockets There's a lot to monitor on tonight's slate so these are the slates where injury news is extremely important making sure you have your player pool I would say pretty condensed is extremely important so if you're going to players like Williams and Watford like I said I'm pretty big on Dante DiVincenzo I like you know the upside he brings especially in a strong game environment you always can be going there you know we're working with 8000 per player remaining If you want to go to a player like Hoku for where am I looking for OKC if you want to lock in Hoku he's not overly expensive 5900 You have plenty of salary to pay up for some of the stars if we do see Jimmy Butler ruled out for the Miami Heat What would they do with their starting lineup maybe they get Tyler Hero in there that's always an option maybe they give Victor Oladipo to start obviously a player that We're seeing return from injury so his minutes situation is always going to be in question coming back immediately from the injury DJ is asking would Ken Burch or Damian Jones be a decent play at low salary he's talking about the center position because we have Sabonis suspended for the Sacramento Kings so Jones should be in line to get the start for them or Ken Burch for Toronto also in line to see plenty of minutes for them I think they're both in play realistically I would probably take Ken Burch if I had to choose one we do see this as a very big pace up spot for the Toronto Raptors 25th in the league and Pace San Antonio sitting up and if a lot of potential in this game we have seen a lot of San Antonio's games be super high scoring close No defense which is always good to see a 228 over under it's a one point game so I would choose Jones I would choose Ken Burch over Damian Jones at the center position If you're looking for value at center I will say I also like Mo Bam but tonight at center pretty solid value placing at forty nine forty seven hundred dollars he's also a player I'm considering No I will say if you're running one lineup that's maybe not the spot you want to be going I think spending up at center is probably you know one of the ideal calls tonight getting to yoke at your towns at both in great matchups we want to be attacking there I also like Rob Williams a lot tonight going up against the Charlotte Hornets we saw what Andre Drummond did last night he ended with was it forty six or forty seven Fandal points going up against the Hornets obviously a very very weak defense against centers They're allowing the fourth most Fandal points per game we also see the Charlotte Hornets number one in the league in pace so a great spot for the Celtics nine obviously just another spot we want to be going to Tatum and Brown for the Celtics great options for them green on YouTube is asking is porzingis a viable on FD cash at six thousand dollars so I spoke about porzingis a good amount on the podcast for today just because his salary is six thousand dollars I think we'd all agree that's very very affordable The issue for porzingis is the minutes right how many minutes will he be playing will it be 21 again will be 25 will be 30 you know if we got some updated report in terms of his minutes how many will he be good to go that is ultimately going to gauge the interest I think you should have them because 20 minutes is OK if they're going to bump them up to 25 28 or no minutes restriction that's when ultimately I have a ton of interest in him because he's he should be the main usage leader so you know as of now at 407pm I I would say porzingis right now isn't viable in cash because 20 minutes isn't enough and that's really what it comes down to like 20 minutes if he's going to be you know cap there isn't enough for him so if that's going to change to again 25 or 28 I have a different opinion on that if it's going to be 30 plus I'm going to love porzingis at six thousand dollars so the player that can easily break value as kind of what realistically should be the primary option for the wizards so I am on board with that I think whose month 9300 is a little bit too expensive considering grant see some of the usage go away from him to porzingis so that's my kind of feeling on porzingis as now he's viable if we get an update on the minutes for him. LeBron also listed as questionable he missed their most recent game. We're also waiting on the injury news for Jimmy Butler. Devin Booker is expected to return tonight he was in the league's health and safety protocol so looking to him obviously with Chris Paul is a solid option. Will Booker be able to go for a full set of minutes is probably the only thing holding him back I would say yes until we get some further update good game environment overall good not great. That's my kind of opinion on the Phoenix Suns in Miami he we do know that he one of the better defensive teams in the league it's a 220 over under which the grand scheme of things is good but it is a little bit further behind some of these games that are up in the mid 230s and again some of these games 240 is obviously very solid so I think Devin Booker is good tonight that game overall again good but not great. DJ on Facebook is asking is Rui Heichimura value going to going back up is he is he used really that high for Rui Heichimura. I think he's okay overall if you're worried about like the minutes for him coming off the bench. That's obviously always a factor with porzingis returning you know seeing these these 15 minutes when he was up in the mid 20s is concerning with porzingis coming back so that's my only concern on him. If we see that porzingis is going to be limited again maybe you can take a dart throw on Rui Heichimura. He would be a six man play to go to which which is what DJ asked so it'd be maybe Heichimura, Dante DiVincenzo, maybe Keon Johnson coming off the bench I mean 14 field go attempts is good to see for a bench player 3 or 14 is obviously not good. No one's ever going to argue that that's good but the double digit field go attempts for Keon Johnson coming off the bench for the short handed trailblazers is good to see. Maybe Spencer Dinwiddie as a six man option for the Mavericks that's always in play Malik Beasley potentially you know obviously always going to hero is always a solid option. Yeah I would say the six man tonight is pretty straightforward where we've been over the past few weeks for some of these players. A lot of it depends on the injury information where you know Carmelo is always a threat to hit some threes especially in a favorable matchup against the Rockets. It just depends on you know how many minutes is he going to see is their rotation we change if LeBron doesn't play again like those sorts of things. Bob Donovich is always a factor coming in off the bench for a six man option always can hit a ton of threes and the Bucks guess what they're terrible they're dead last in league for the most three pointers allowed from their opponent. So Bob Donovich is in a good spot tonight to come off the bench and hit a bunch of threes. Let's see what his three prop is listed at tonight. See for Bob Donovich isn't listed okay. Okay Bob Donovich is not listed that would be a player maybe as the live lines come available for players points that could be a player you could be going to obviously his three points upside is always always strong. Brian Hamilton is on Facebook is asking a fibril matchups fibril matchups just overall we look to the Celtics the Hornets play super fast they don't play a whole lot of defense that's a spot you can be going. This is just a great game environment overall it's a one possession game 240 over under the Lakers obviously have a great matchup against the Rockets but also don't forget about the Rockets. It's not what the Lakers are playing a whole lot of defense this season right. So this is also a great back and forth game environment can be going to I'm big on the pelicans tonight I think we'll see a lot of their work not a lot of their players but some of your players be very popular. See Jim McCombs should be leading the way the Timberwolves have a super easy match up going up against the Thunder. I think that this game environment is probably one of my favorites on the entire slate. It's a one possession game it's a 228 over under we can be going to I would say several of the options for both the San Antonio Spurs and the Raptors. So these are some of the core games you want to be looking at and of course the Denver Nuggets like easy match against the Kings super high over under all of these sorts of things. I think Yolkage is a fantastic option on tonight's slate he could easily go for another triple double against the Kings. The Jazz 18 19 point favorites is not really a spot that I want to be looking too much that blowout factor is huge as we saw the other night for the Timberwolves going up against the Trailblazers. They won that game by whatever was 30 35 points you know the limited minutes for players at the end of games is certainly a factor throughout the season. I think we're getting to the point where you know especially later in the season when we're when we're not dealing with a whole lot of games remaining that you know seeing teams back off some of their star players in terms of minutes if they're really really you know up in the game just to give them a little bit of extra rest is not going to be surprised. Joseph on Facebook is asking Don bit Mitchell or CJ McCollum at shooting guard it's McCollum 10 times out of 10. Yeah as Jeremy saying CJ McCollum 10 times out of 10 shooting guard tonight. We have let's see Mitchell is 8400 and McCollum is a five it's McCollum McCollum McCollum. This is an eight point spread. I think the pelicans have to come out strong after kind of a bad loss last night they have to come out strong into the map the magic there's a winnable match up the pelicans are you know trying to secure their spots in the play in the playoffs whatever you want to call it this 19 point spread for the jazz is not really a spot that I want to be going seeing Mitchell. Seeing Mitchell as I've said before about these these huge spread games seeing the jazz witness game wire to wire and Mitchell literally not play a minute in the in the fourth quarter is not going to be surprised we saw it on Monday night for Jimmy Butler and I was on the under Jimmy Butler points rebounds assist and he literally didn't play a single minute in the fourth quarter because they were up by so much over the Rockets. So this is the situation where why do the jazz need to put Donovan Mitchell out there if they're up by 1520 heading into the fourth while McCollum is $100 more playing a game of the closer spread. And ultimately he's the driver of the offense for the pelicans not saying that Donovan Mitchell isn't one of the drivers of the offense for Utah but also with Brandon Ingram ruled out for the pelicans we want to be going to McCollum time and time again tonight. So that is very, very easy. Joseph is also asking Zach Levine or Jalen Brown sign that's a coin flip that's like almost you know just personal preference at shooting guard looking for Levine 77 or Jalen Brown also 7700 you're obviously working within the same price range for both of these players. I think they both have great matchups. It's not like we're worried about the defense for the for the pistons at all or worried about the defense for the Hornets. We look to Chicago overall this season. Obviously this is a bit skewed because they're. That's injury reports. Let's see who's out for them. Lonzo Ball is out. Caruso is out. Let's just run this quickly. Let's see if Vooch got officially ruled out. See there's an update on this because it's splitting hairs here essentially for some of the usage. So Levine, you know, 29% usage rate over one fan to point per minute. He's obviously one of the main guys for them and overall on the season for Jalen Brown it's minor differences in terms of usage and production. If I choose one, I'm going to go with Jalen Brown. I have more faith in the Hornets to come out scoring hit a bunch of threes and keep that game close compared to the pistons. So if I have to choose between one of them, it would be Jalen Brown. These are all good questions, you know, keeping these players within the same price range. You don't, you don't want to be asking about like, which player do you prefer, you know, Jokic or, I don't know, Jokic or like Mo Bamba. Like I said, I like Mo Bamba as a value plate tonight. It's like we're completely different parts of the salary tier. So we want to be sticking the same salary tier for like which one players or which one type question. So I'm big on Jokic tonight. These are some of my core value plays tonight. Again, on larger slates like this, you can't play everybody can have exposure to everyone. So try and narrow down the player pool of values that I want to be getting into a lot of my Lyme's values. They're going to be seeing a ton of minutes that are going to be seeing, you know, extra usage for due to injury situations, whatever it might be. And then also prioritizing the top tier player. So Jokic is a bit of a priority for me tonight. I have some interest in Devin Booker again. That game environment is good, not great. I'm just hoping that he's not super popular. Obviously Towns is in great spot, but it's really going to be Jokic, McCullum and probably DeRozan as some of my core options overall tonight. So if we lock in McCullum at shooting guard, then put DeRozan at small forward. That's 6300 remaining per player where two spots open and you have some great stars and scrubs for a nice little build there. Grim on YouTube is asking for an underdog spread bet. Do you like the Rockets, Wizards or Nets tonight? Well, the Nets don't play tonight. So I would just double check what you're selecting and you're not selecting tomorrow's games because the Nets play in Philly tomorrow for the spread tonight. I mean, if LeBron doesn't play, the Rockets, Rockets R was at 3, 5.6 point now. So if LeBron doesn't play, the Rockets would be the spot that I would be going. I would probably rank, I mean, I would take Rockets, Wizards and again, the Nets aren't on tonight's slate. So Rockets, Wizards probably in that order. Grim is also asking any 3x2s you like tonight. So let's bring up the 3x2s NBA. 3x2s for both of those, for any of those people that are new is 3x2. Will there be two plus three corners made in the first three minutes? So we know that the Milwaukee, the Milwaukee box, the Charlotte Hornets, the Portland Trail, Wizards, okay. Atlanta also in the bottom 10 for the most three-pointers. So immediately two teams, Milwaukee and Atlanta facing off against each other, both in the bottom 10 lead for the most three-pointers allowed. So we could look to the Hawks and the Bucks. Minus 132, it's a little bit of juice. So if you want to parlay that potentially with another team for, I mean, Charlotte gives up so many. Kate and Brown come out firing. That would be a surprise. Portland, we know that Utah can get the three-pointers rolling early and often as they have for a couple of seasons. And OKC in Minnesota going head-to-head both also in the bottom 10 of the league for three-pointers. So I would certainly put Hawks and Bucks number one. Celtics Hornets is plus money, which is always nice to see. And then Thunder T Wolves, a little bit of juice at minus 120. So I would go Hawks, Bucks, Celtics Hornets, and then Thunder T Wolves for the three-by-twos tonight. I'm going back, Joseph saying on Facebook saying I'm going back to Alperine Sangoon with Christian Wood out again. Yeah. So if we get the update that Christian Wood is officially ruled out, it's Sangoon season on tonight's slate. So yeah, Christian Wood still listed as questionable. Great value at the center position. So you don't have Jokic. I mean, if you just take all this value, there's a ton of value to be had, especially if Wood is out. You can be going to Sangoon and ultimately, I would probably try to play Sangoon at power forward. As I said, time and time again, when these players have multi-position eligibility, especially at power forward and center, I want to be making sure I'm selecting these players at power forward only so you're not blocking your lineups. Like if you're using an optimizer, you don't want to block your lineups from potentially having towns or Jokic in there because they only have center eligibility. I mean, 7000 per player remaining and you have McCollum de Rosen and Jokic all in there. You have a lot of value with Williams, Watford, and Sangoon. Plenty of minutes for them. I'm personally big on Steven Chenzo. I like this matchup. He's been consistent as of late for the Kings coming off the bench. So absolutely Sangoon for the Rockets if we do see Christian Wood ruled out. That would be one thing to monitor. As we get closer to Lock, I will also say, let's see, at 4,600 at power forward, just look at this tier overall real quick. So that game is an 8 p.m. start. If he, if let's say you don't want to play Sangoon because Christian Wood is ruled in, where would you pivot or where could you pivot? You could go to Trey Lyles, 200 cheaper. That wouldn't change your lineup build overall. You could go to Herb Jones at 4,600. He's the same salary. So that's what I would say. You know, keep in mind if we, if Wood does start, like have that pivot ready that you just make an easy swap to your lineup. I'm going with Sangoon and power forward and Rob Williams at center and paying up for Luca. Totally, totally great build. Like I said, I'm big on Rob Williams going up against the Charlotte Horns tonight. Great spot for them. Again, we saw Andre Drummond last night have, I think it was 47 Fandal points against them. 225 over, under huge pace of spots. Charlotte number one in the league in pace. Boston is sitting at 19th. So a big pace of spot for Boston. We also see Rob Williams, despite not having a high usage rate, he's getting it done on a point per minute basis. Look at this. He is in terms of usage. He's the lowest usage player among the Celtics starting, starting five. And he's the third highest in Fandu points per minute at 1.12. He also has a very nice ceiling, you know, rack in a three, four, five blocks per game. You know, those are so, so valuable. So Rob Williams absolutely in the mid tier at center. If you don't want to be paying up for Yolkich or towns, 7804 Rob Williams is totally an option you can be going to. That's what's, that's what's great about tonight's bill. Like you want to prioritize Luca over Yolkich. That's great. We have other options you can be, you know, pivoting to and still keeping some of your value plays consistent. So you want to pay up for a tent cumpo and, and Luca instead of Yolkich and the Rosen or Yolkich and, I don't know, McCombs, not super expensive. So if you want to, if you want to go to SGA. So SGA and Yolkich, but you want to go to Luca and a tent cumpo, that's great because there's, there's easy pivots on both sides. DJ is asking, how's Tristan Thompson value tonight if Vooch, if Vooch doesn't play or does play? I would assume, I assume you mean if Vooch doesn't play because I'm not going to Thompson if Vooch is in. And that's kind of one of the key things I'm, I'm waiting for tonight's slate because ultimately it's a, you know, you know, favorable matchup going up against the Pistons. If we do see Vooch ruled in, if, you know, Thompson is not a player. I'm really going to be going to ever kind of with or without Vooch in there at 3,500 at power forward. Tristan Thompson at 3,500. He's not really a player. I'd be considering power forward center. You know, it's, it's tough to make a call on this. I'm just not a fan, ultimately not a fan of Tristan Thompson. He's just not going to be a high usage player. Drew Eubanks is $4,000. Watford's only 4,100. Dad Young, Zach Collins, Greg Brown, like I would be going to some of these players ahead of Tristan Thompson. Yeah, I assume it was auto correct or something like that. Tristan Thompson is just not a player like Tristan Thompson, Tony Snell. Eric Gordon, like these are players I just generally don't go to. Not high usage players. You know, yeah, can they reach value at the bare minimum? Sure, but like we want these players to not just, you know, reach value. We want them to exceed value and just given the, the offense that Thompson operates in. You know, this is going to be a derosen in Levine game if Vooch is ruled out. So I would not be going to Tristan Thompson. I'm not going to Gordon. I'm not going to Tony Snell. These are players that are just low usage players, not taking a ton of field goal attempts. Just in their given offenses. They just don't have a true path to upside. Joseph was asking KCP or Kelden Johnson, Tiger Hero or Scotty Barnes. I mean, those are all really solid options. Kelden Johnson, you know, this game with a 228 over under and a one point spread is certainly great. Not that KCP isn't a good option going up against the Clippers. We know he can get hot from three, but I would prefer Kelden Johnson. In that circumstance, and Tyler Hero or Scotty Barnes, that's a good one. Tyler Hero, we always know coming off the bench for them. And then Scotty Barnes is, Toronto is right here. He's also 7,200. You know, I might lean Scotty Barnes again, just getting the extra exposure to this game environment with a one point spread against the Spurs who just don't play defense. The Spurs are in the bottom 10 lead in terms of average fainting points per game to all positions combined. So the Spurs are not playing defense. I would take Scotty Barnes. I mean, I guess I would go to both those players from that same game. Again, not to say I don't like Hero, but you know, if we're comparing things on a one-to-one basis, it's got a higher over under and it's got a closer spread. Very marginally, you know, with eight points higher, four point closer spread very marginally. But I would just prefer those players in those given matchups. Grimm on YouTube is asking Al Horford or Jeremy Grant. So Horford for the Celtics or Jeremy Grant for the Pistons, 6400 for him, 6300 for Horford. I might side with Boston again. I might side with Boston probably was just, you know, attacking Charlotte via big man. It has always been profitable over the past few seasons. They're the sixth worst team against Power Forward and they're the fourth worst team against Centers. This just screams fantasy points combined with the pace of Spofford Boston. I mean, we saw like the upside for players going up against Hornets the Hornets last night, right? Obviously Irving is a bit of an outlier going for 50 plus real points. But that upside for a team that plays this fast and gives up so many points on a nightly basis, not to mention the fact that they're just giving up a ton of threes is immense. Not saying Al Horford is going to step out and take a ton of threes, but it's just the overall matchup versus the Hornets is so good. Balance on YouTube is asking, how do you feel about Jalen Brown in GVPs? Great matchup. You know, same things I just said about Boston going up against Charlotte. Pace-up spot. Charlotte doesn't play defense. They allow a ton of threes. Let's see what Brown's three-point prop is looking like tonight. See the Celtics, Jalen Brown, recent games. Obviously taking a consistent amount of threes, five, six, seven, maybe eight threes per game. Let's see what his prop is looking at because I do have a little bit of interest. So two and a half is minus 138, probably not a spot that I would go. Plus 192 for four plus me threes for Jalen Brown in this matchup, two, three, two, one, one, three, five, two. So it would have to be, you know, a ceiling game for Jalen Brown. The attempts are certainly there for him and the matchup is certainly there for him to get it done. But I love Jalen Browns and I him, Tatum, Rob Williams, all the options on the Celtics that I'd be going to. Low usage possibility with best value for players. So just overall value, we have, let's go back to all positions. In terms of value, there are a number of good players rated pretty high. Obviously Damian Jones jumped up to the top with Sabonis ruled out tonight, solid game environment there. A lot of the Portland players are going to be up here just because their minutes are going to be locked in. I'm not going to Eric Gordon, just personal preference. I'm big on Devin Chenzo tonight. I'm not really going to Westbrook, just giving his recent form. You know, Porzingis obviously rates high just because his salary is so low and we know his production per minute can be so high. It just comes down to how many minutes is he going to be playing. I'm also big on Mo Bam. So low usage possibility, I think you mean like low percentage plays with the best value. That would be a different story because these are not based on projected, you know, percentage in terms of popularity in tournaments. But I'd be going to a lot of these value plays. Damian Jones, from not paying up for Townsend Yokic, going to Devin Chenzo, going to Mo Bam, but also if I'm not paying up at center. Brandon Williams for Portland, always forget his name. He should be in the starting line with Anthony Simons ruled out. Key on YouTube is asking, do you like R.J. Barrett for against Dallas for Torvins? He's probably not going to be popular. I'm just not a fan of the matchable world. Dallas has been pretty solid on defense as of late. We also see both teams in the bottom five of the league in offensive pace. So we are not looking at a super high scoring game tonight. 2-16, is this the lowest on the slate? This is 2-17. Yeah, so that's the lowest over under on the slate. So R.J. Barrett, probably not an option for me tonight. I mean, he's 7,700. Jalen Brown, Zach Levine, Chris Milton, all in significantly better game environments. I mean, 240 points for Chris Milton in the box. I will take that 10 times out of 10 over R.J. Barrett along with Jalen Brown against the Hornets. Also over R.J. Barrett. All right, let's end 4-30. So let's run through this quickly. Grimm is saying quarter Joseph is a no play correct. Not really for me. If I'm going to that offense, it's going to be Kate Cunningham, Jeremy Grant. Kate J. Marin or Trenton Watford as cheap on power forward. I'm going with Trenton Watford. Just a ton of minutes available for the Portland players. Brian Hamilton, Corey Joseph. I would go, like I said, I'm not going to Corey Joseph in that Pistons offense. So that answers that one. All right. So that does it for today's Q&A. We'll be back next week on today's, for today's Feindl, NBA, DFS Q&A show. You can follow me on Twitter at DFS underscore Tom. Until next time, good luck in your contests.