Advertisement

Chris Bosh among smart plays for Thursday's Daily Fantasy Basketball slate

Chris Bosh among smart plays for Thursday's Daily Fantasy Basketball slate

By Joel Bartilotta
RotoWire Basketball Writer

It's a Thursday, which means a small Yahoo! Daily Fantasy Basketball slate. Fortunately, there are five games on the schedule rather than the usual two. It should be a fun DFS day with a bunch of close games, as no team is favored by more than five points. Three players (Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and Damian Lillard) are more than $33. We'll avoid them because they play the Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies, two of the league's premier defenses, which will let us separate from the field for better odds in GPPs.

[Play Yahoo Daily Fantasy and get a 100% deposit bonus with your first deposit]

GUARD

Nicolas Batum, CHA at DAL ($26) - In his last three games, Batum averaged 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, one block and one steal. That is some great stat-sheet stuffing and the perfect recipe for a good DFS play. He has a favorable matchup against the Mavericks in what should be an up-tempo game. Dallas is undersized and has no one to guard Batum. He should have no problem filling the stat sheet yet again.

Will Barton, DEN vs. UTAH ($10) - The Nuggets love using Barton off the bench as a sparkplug, and he produces well in the minutes he is given. In all four games, Barton has played at least 20 minutes, while averaging 12.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 1.5 steals. Those aren't gaudy numbers, but they make for an excellent value for a minimum-priced player. Barton has a tough matchup, but he should faced Utah's second unit, which is far less defensively-minded than the starters. Barton won't win you a tournament, but he's a fantastic play in cash games to save you some serious cash and spend up at other positions.

Guard to Avoid:

Kevin Martin, MIN vs. MIA ($25) - Martin averages more than 20 points per game, but that feels fluky coming against the Lakers, Nuggets and Trail Blazers, three of the league's worst defenses. On Thursday, he'll have Dwyane Wade covering him. Martin's counting stats are lacking, too, as he has a combined six rebounds, two assists, one steal and no blocks in three games. Keep in mind, those aren't averages, those are totals. The price is simply too high for a player with limited upside while Andrew Wiggins, Nicolas Batum, Emmanuel Mudiay and Mike Conley are within a dollar of Martin.

FORWARD

Chris Bosh, MIA at MIN ($29) - Bosh might not be an exciting DFS play, but he offers a nice value Thursday. He is in the same price range as Dirk Nowitzki, Nikola Mirotic and Danilo Gallinari, whom he should outperform. He has a good matchup, as well, as he faces one of the worst defenses in the NBA in the Timberwolves. Minnesota will use a combination of Kevin Garnett and Nemanja Bjelica to cover Bosh, which won't get it done against the perennial All-Star. Coming off a season-high 39 minutes against Atlanta, Bosh appears to be back to a full-time after being eased into the season. The production has been surprisingly good as well, as he's averaging 33 fantasy points a game on Yahoo! this season.

Gordon Hayward, UTAH at DEN ($27) - Hayward has gotten off to a rough start this season, but he could be in line for a huge game against the Nuggets, as he should provide contributions across the board in a perfect matchup against a bad defense. His minutes were down the last two games, but that's simply because the Jazz blew out their opponents. He should play more than 30 minutes Thursday in a close, up-tempo game, as the Jazz have been off since Sunday.

Forward to Avoid:

Luol Deng MIA, at MIN ($22) - Deng is used as a shutdown defender at this stage of his career, as Goran Dragic, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh control the offense. He also has limited rebounding upside with Hassan Whiteside snatching nearly every rebound. Deng will be asked to cover Andrew Wiggins Thursday, which likely will take all of his energy while putting him in bad positions to rebound and steal. The numbers this year are underwhelming for Deng, as well, as he averages just 10.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 combined block/steal per game. He's simply not part of this offense at this point and has little daily upside.

CENTER

Rudy Gobert, UTAH at DEN ($31) - In three games this season, Gobert has 40 rebounds and 11 blocks. Expect the domination to continue against a small frontcourt in Denver. The Nuggets thrive on points in the paint, scoring 54 against the Lakers on Tuesday. But they'll have a rude awakening when they see Gobert waiting for them. It's unclear who Gobert will match up against, but he should have no problem recording five-plus blocks and 10-plus rebounds yet again.

Center to Avoid:

Joakim Noah, CHI vs. OKC ($20) - Some will see the name and price and will want to use him, but Noah's role and minutes simply aren't there. In five games this year, Noah has surpassed 20 minutes once, and that was the only game he took more than three shots. Not that Noah is much of a scorer, but averaging two points a game is simply unusable, especially when you've turned the ball over at least twice every game.

Get a FREE RotoWire 10-day trial (no credit card required) at RotoWire.com