RotoWire looks at which Yahoo fantasy league players are the best deals on Wednesday.
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| Yahoo's NBA DFS picks for January 25 and how to play them |
We'll be watching 10 games on Wednesday night, and many of them will have high projected totals and matchups with big names. Both of these things could be good for DFS, since they mean that key players should get a lot of playing time and that there could be a lot of great individual performances.
As usual, we'll point out several good matchups at each position that you can use in your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of players you might want to avoid because of their circumstances or salaries.
Guards
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC against ATL ($46): In his only other game against the Hawks, SGA scored 49.7 Yahoo points in 35 minutes. He comes into Wednesday's rematch with back-to-back totals of more than 50 Yahoo points. Also, Atlanta is in the bottom half of the league in terms of how many assists they give up on the road (25.8 per game overall in the last three), and Gilgeous-Alexander has shot 53.4% in the last 14 games, including 41.2% from long range.
T.J. McConnell, IND vs. ORL ($25): McConnell has done a great job filling in for Tyrese Haliburton. While his teammate was out, he averaged 15.9 points, 8.7 assists, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 64.0% overall. In his last two games, the veteran started on the bench, which gave him 48.5 and 43.1 Yahoo points. McConnell can be used again on Wednesday at a very reasonable price against the Magic, who have given up 48.7 Yahoo points per game to point guards over the last 15 games and have given out the fourth-most assists per home game (26.0).
Gary Trent Jr., TOR at SAC ($24) is another one to think about.
Guard to Avoid
CJ McCollum, NOP against MIN ($33): McCollum sometimes has a big game after struggling for a few games out of the blue, but we're going to go out on a limb and say he may have a hard time earning his salary Wednesday. The veteran has only scored 14.7 and 24.8 Yahoo points in his last two games, and the Wolves have given up the third-fewest Yahoo points to PGs in the last 15 games (43.6). McCollum is still capable of putting up a good return, but there are a number of guards with salaries just above or below his who can keep up with him in terms of production.
Forwards
Scottie Barnes, TOR vs. SAC ($31): Barnes has a high salary for a player who averages 35 Yahoo points per game and has scored more than 45 points in six of his last seven games. The talented big man is in his second year and is shooting a great 53.0%, including 38.5% from behind the arc. Tonight, he plays against the Kings, who give up over 42 Yahoo points per game to power forwards and are ranked No. 18 in offensive efficiency rating allowed to power forwards (26.8). Sacramento also lets teams shoot 3s at home at the seventh-highest rate (37.1%), which helps Barnes's case.
Jeremy Sochan, SAN at LAL (for $15): Sochan is another forward who has a very good salary for what he could become. The rookie has scored between 25.6 and 33.2 Yahoo points in four straight games. In that time, he has shot 56.1% from the field and a ridiculous 75.0% from 3-point range. The big man will now play against the Lakers, who could be tired. He has already scored 24.7 and 39.8 Yahoo points against them in two of their three previous games. L.A. also lets power forwards score 45.4 Yahoo points per game on average this season, which adds to Sochan's case at his low price.
LeBron James, LA Lakers vs. San Antonio Spurs ($50)
Avoid to Forward
Dillon Brooks, MEM vs. GSW ($16): In four of his last six games, Brooks has scored less than 20 Yahoo points. During that time, he has shot 33.3% overall and 22.7% from 3-point range. Even though his salary isn't too high, forwards like Sochan, Donte DiVincenzo, Keegan Murray, and Eric Gordon, to name a few, could do a better job than Brooks.
Centers
Domantas Sabonis, SAC vs. TOR ($42): Sabonis is currently averaging a very good 45.4 Yahoo points per game and has career-highs in both rebounds (12.5) and assists (7.4). In his last two games, he scored 37.8 and 34.5 Yahoo points, which are still very good. However, in the four games before that, he scored 48.6 to 71 Yahoo points, which shows how high his ceiling is. The big man should play a big role again on Wednesday against the Raptors, who have given up 47.3 Yahoo points per game to centers over the last 15 games and are in the bottom half of the league in rebounds (52.7), assists (25.7), and 3-point shooting (37.1%) allowed per road game.
Daniel Gafford, WAS at HOU ($13): Gafford has shown that he can do a lot more than he is paid for. In his last two games, he got 31.6 and 23.9 Yahoo points. The big man also had a stretch in late December and early January where he scored more than 30 Yahoo points in four of six games. He will now play the Rockets, who have given up 58.5 Yahoo points per game to centers over the last 15 games. Also, Kristaps Porzingis (ankle injury) is still out for Washington, which should continue to give Gafford more chances.
ALSO CONSIDER: Alperen Sengun, HOU vs. WAS ($35)
Center to Avoid
Rudy Gobert, MIN vs. NOP ($25): Gobert gets this title because he has been having trouble with his groin, which has caused him to leave games early in recent days. Even though his positional matchup against the Pelicans looks good and he just scored 45.7 Yahoo points against the Rockets in his last game, he probably isn't worth the risk on a 10-game slate because there are so many other centers to choose from.