This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
While three-game slates like Tuesday's aren't especially easy to exploit for DFS purposes, the NBA's opening night schedule at least isn't lacking in intrigue. With the league's best players (LeBron James, Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis) set to take the court Tuesday, it's almost imperative to structure your roster around at least one or two of those superstars, particularly in cash games where mitigating risk is a chief objective.
That said, it's the less expensive players you choose to round out your Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball lineup who likely will spell the difference between swimming in a pool of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck or further delaying your retirement. We'll peer into our crystal ball for Tuesday's slate and identify some value plays to keep you financially solvent.
GUARD
J.R. Smith, CLE at CHI ($21) - Smith's reputation as an inefficient gunner is deserved, but it's that quality that drives his appeal in daily fantasy, and especially in tournaments, where high-variance players are typically the cornerstone of winning rosters. Smith is set to start at shooting guard to open the season and should regularly exceed 30 minutes per night while Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving remain sidelined with injuries. In 46 regular-season games with the Cavaliers last season, Smith averaged 12.7 points, 2.4 three-pointers and 1.4 steals. It's in those latter two categories where he can really pile up the fantasy points; Yahoo's game offers half a point for each three-pointer and two points for every steal. Aside from Stephen Curry, perhaps no player on Tuesday's slate combines threes and steals better than Smith, whose price is half of Curry's.
Kent Bazemore, DET at ATL ($13) - With Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer naming the SG-eligible Bazemore the starting small forward over Thabo Sefolosha on Monday, Bazemore looks primed to hold down a more meaningful role in his second season in Atlanta. While he figures to see least playing time among Hawks starters, Bazemore probably only needs a slight uptick from the 18 minutes per game he averaged last season to return a profit at his marginal price. Prorating last season's production to 25 minutes per game, Bazemore would have averaged 7.3 points, 0.8 three-pointers, 4.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, 0.5 blocks and 1.4 turnovers. Per Yahoo's scoring settings, those averages would yield more than 16 fantasy points. That's not exactly top-flight production, but it represents a nice floor given the salary relief Bazemore offers.
Guard to Avoid:
Reggie Jackson, DET at ATL ($33) - Sure, Jackson's minutes figure to be high, but it's dubious that he'll contribute enough to justify his high sticker price against a quality defense like Atlanta's. Although Jackson could exceed the 17.6 points and 9.2 assists he averaged last season with the Pistons, his relative dearth of production in three-pointers, steals and blocked shots won't allow him many other avenues to accrue fantasy points if his shot isn't falling. Moreover, his high turnover rate will result in him losing fantasy points, too, making him a dicey investment.
Others to Avoid: Derrick Rose ($31), Jrue Holiday ($25), Eric Gordon ($23)
FORWARD
Ryan Anderson, NO at GS ($18) - It looks like the Pelicans will start Anthony Davis and Kendrick Perkins in the frontcourt to begin the season, but Perkins appears to be a starter in name only. Perkins' body type isn't suited for playing much more than 10 to 20 minutes per game, and with the Pelicans ravaged by injuries across the roster, Anderson figures to gobble up ample playing time as a stretch-four in coach Alvin Gentry's up-tempo attack. While the defensively versatile Warriors can match up better with Anderson than most teams, most of the attention will undoubtedly be focused on Davis, which should leave Anderson with plenty of opportunities to put up clean looks from three-point range. If he knocks down two or three treys in addition to his typically strong point and rebound totals, Anderson should easily return a profit.
Doug McDermott, CLE at CHI ($10) - Like Anderson, McDermott is another three-point shooting big man who gets downgraded on Yahoo due to his likely bench role to open the season. While Anderson's minutes figure to be more stable than McDermott's in the early in the year, McDermott has at least cemented himself as a rotation player under new coach Fred Hoiberg, whose chief objective is to turn around the Bulls' stagnant offense. Even if the former Creighton standout only sees about 20 minutes behind starting small forward Tony Snell Tuesday, expect him to show no hesitation in putting up shots, with most of those attempts likely coming from long range. In 28.4 minutes per game in the preseason, McDermott averaged a promising 11.6 points, 4.8 boards and 2.4 three-point makes.
Forward to Avoid:
Andre Iguodala, NO at GS ($23) - Iguodala was invaluable as a glue guy off the bench for the Warriors last season, which culminated with him being named NBA Finals MVP. It appears he's still benefiting from the halo effect of those honors, as Iguodala's rather wretched regular-season numbers don't align with his high price Tuesday. Prior to his star turn in the Finals, Iguodala saw a career-low 26.9 minutes per game during the regular season, averaging 7.8 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.2 steals, 1.0 three-pointers and 1.1 turnovers. Now 31, it's hard to project anything but regression for Iguodala, especially while the Warriors' starting unit remains intact and unlikely to cough up playing time. Iggy is still a top-notch defender, but his declining minutes and lack of involvement offensively makes it difficult to recommend using him in daily.
Others to Avoid: Marcus Morris ($22), Tristan Thompson ($20)
CENTER
Festus Ezeli, NO at GS ($10) - Given the shallow talent pool at the center spot Tuesday, it's probably best to just punt the position entirely if you're not paying up for either Andre Drummond ($35) or Al Horford ($27), who easily rank as the best options. Among the low-cost alternatives, Ezeli stands out as the most viable plug-in, given that starter Andrew Bogut could see his minutes limited after a broken nose knocked him out of the tail end of the Warriors' preseason schedule. Ezeli doesn't offer much offensively, but he's one of the league's more prolific shot blockers on a per-minute basis. In 11 minutes per game last season, Ezeli nearly picked up one stuff per game. If he can stumble into 15 or 20 minutes of action, a line of six points, four boards and two blocks is a perfectly reasonable projection. It's nothing special, but since you'd be punting the center spot anyway, it's acceptable if it allows you to secure higher-priced players elsewhere.
Center to Avoid:
Joakim Noah, CLE at CHI ($23): Noah is set to come off the bench this season as the Bulls look to wring additional scoring out of their starting unit. As one might expect, Noah appears primed to see a significant drop in the 30 minutes per game he averaged under former coach Tom Thibodeau, whose short rotations often helped prop up the big man's value. There still could be extended stretches of time where new coach Fred Hoiberg relies on Noah to anchor the back end of the defense late in games, but with a deep frontcourt that includes four others (Pau Gasol, Nikola Mirotic, Taj Gibson, Bobby Portis) deserving of action, it's likely safe to conclude that Noah won't be granted the same benefit of the doubt he received from Thibodeau. There's not many attractive options at center for Tuesday's slate, but it's probably better to punt the position with a low-cost player than pay up for a declining asset like Noah.
Others to Avoid: Anderson Varejao ($18), Taj Gibson ($16)
