This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
We have a compact six-game slate Wednesday, certainly not typical for a mid-week ledger. However, the 12-team player pool is considered ideal by some DFS players, as it cuts down on the number of decisions we're forced to make when building lineups and helps narrow our focus as a result.
As customary, we'll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.
Guards
Fred VanVleet, HOU vs. PHO ($35): VanVleet has flashed the upside of a higher-salaried player on multiple occasions this season, the most recent being his back-to-back 60-plus Yahoo-point tallies versus the Cavaliers and Hawks earlier in December. He's also coming off having posted 42.3 Yahoo points against the Pacers on Tuesday, and he should be in for another hefty minutes load in what projects as a competitive matchup versus a Suns team allowing the fifth-highest offensive efficiency rating to point guards (29.8), along with 38.2 percent three-point shooting and the fifth-most Yahoo points per game (52) to the position.
Spencer Dinwiddie, BKN vs. MIL ($25): Dinwiddie's production has certainly fluctuated at times, but he's proven capable of spike performances throughout his career, including this season. The veteran has posted tallies of 40.1, 41.1, 48.1 and 53 Yahoo points in December alone, and his matchup Wednesday could certainly coax one of those higher-end performances out of him. The Bucks have given up the fourth-highest offensive efficiency rating to point guards (29.9) and 48.6 percent shooting to the position while also surrendering 52.9 Yahoo points per contest to ones in the last 15 games.
ALSO CONSIDER: Luka Doncic, DAL vs. CLE ($59)
Guard to Avoid
Josh Giddey, OKC vs. NYK ($20): Giddey has shown regression in virtually every sense this season, and although his salary has certainly come down in accordance with his struggles, he still remains an uninspiring choice Wednesday. The third-year pro has shown more signs of life in December with four efforts of 33.8 Yahoo points or better, but he's also produced four tallies of 20.9 Yahoo points or less thus far in the month. There's simply too much volatility with Giddey as that sample suggests, and a matchup against a Knicks team surrendering mediocre 45.0 percent shooting to two-guards and the fifth-fewest Yahoo points to the position in the last seven games (36.5) further dampens his outlook.
Forwards
Pascal Siakam, TOR at WAS ($35): The Wizards bring the enticing combination of a fast pace and porous frontcourt, making Siakam stand out at his salary Wednesday. The big man checks in having scored between 40.8 and 49.6 Yahoo points in three of his last four games, and he's been over 40 on three other occasions in December as well. Siakam also racked up a season-high 65.7 Yahoo points against the Wizards in the first meeting between the teams this season on Nov. 13, and Washington checks in allowing the fifth-highest offensive efficiency rating to power forwards (31.0), along with an Eastern Conference-high 56.7 Yahoo points per contest to the position in the last seven games. Moreover, no team gives up more rebounds per contest than the Wizards' 57.7, furthering Siakam's case.
Luguentz Dort, OKC vs. NYK ($12): Dort's salary particularly stands out when factoring in he's scored 33.6 and 34.8 Yahoo points in two of his last three games and has six other tallies of between 32.8 and 40.2 Yahoo points this season. The talented wing has significantly improved his shooting, as he's draining a career-best 45.4 percent of his shots, including a blistering 40.7 percent from three-point range. The Knicks could certainly facilitate another strong return that far outpaces Dort's salary Wednesday, as New York is yielding 44.9 Yahoo points and a league-high 2.8 made threes per game to small forwards on the season, with the former figure bumping up to an NBA-high 53.4 per contest in the last seven games.
ALSO CONSIDER: Giannis Antetokounmpo, MIL at BKN ($53)
Forward to Avoid
Mikal Bridges, BKN vs. MIL ($32): As was the case last week, I'm including Bridges as an atypical Avoid candidate based on his unchanged salary and recent performances. The talented wing is likely a very safe option, but his ability to give you sufficient bang for your buck is another matter. Bridges has scored between 9.5 and 29.2 Yahoo points in six of his last seven games, returns that aren't really commensurate with the investment he requires. Granted, he did put up 51.7 on Saturday against the lowly Pistons in the one other game during that sample, but the Bucks are naturally a tougher matchup and are much more likely to force a sub-30-Yahoo-point return from him.
Centers
Alperen Sengun, HOU vs. PHO ($38): The case for rostering Sengun basically writes itself, as the third-year center is in the midst of a true breakout season that sees him boasting career highs in essentially every major category. Sengun is coming off back-to-back 60-plus Yahoo-point tallies and has three others greater than 40 in his last six games alone, offering a glimpse at the vast ceiling he brings at a reasonable salary. The Suns should get Jusuf Nurkic back from a multi-game absence Wednesday, but Sengun's versatility and body of work are too good to pass up in virtually any matchup at this point.
Isaiah Hartenstein, NYK at OKC ($17): Hartenstein has been benefiting from the ongoing absence of Mitchell Robinson (ankle), and he's now started three consecutive games with Jericho Sims also out with an ankle issue. Hartenstein has scored 24.5 to 43.4 Yahoo points in six straight, and he has two other tallies over 30 Yahoo points in December. That's plenty of upside at his salary, and the matchup against a Thunder team allowing over 54 Yahoo points per game to centers in the last 15, along with the fourth-most rebounds per game (54.8), ups the chances of him notably outpacing his salary again.
ALSO CONSIDER: Jakob Poeltl, TOR at WAS ($22)
Center to Avoid
Wendell Carter Jr., ORL vs. PHI ($24): Carter continues to carry a salary that's commensurate to what he's previously produced when healthy and while working with a normal minutes load. Since returning to action last Wednesday, Carter has scored 14.8 to 18.6 Yahoo points in his first four games, and he's maxed out at 23 minutes in terms of a single-game high allotment of playing time. Until he's back to a normal workload, he's a stay-away candidate at this salary.
