Minutes to Win It - Monitoring NBA Rotations 3-11-15

In this segment, I'll be breaking down players who are seeing a significant increase or decrease in minutes due to new (or overlooked) circumstances. I'll also be looking at how injuries and/or trades have affected these players. Each player's situation is unique, and I'll help you find the matchups and scenarios to exploit or avoid due to each player's change in court time. Each player will have be tagged with “TARGET", “MONITOR", or “AVOID". For today's article, I'll be focusing on DraftKings scoring.

Dennis Schroeder – (PG) Atlanta Hawks - TARGET

Targeting bench players is generally a losing proposition in DFS, but as always, there are exceptions to the rule. Schroeder is the exception. The Hawks have played Schroeder alongside Jeff Teague in the backcourt quite a bit recently, and he is playing meaningful minutes down the stretch. If you take out his 19-minute stint in a blowout win over the Kings, he is averaging just over 29 minutes per game over his last 4 contests, scoring 32.5 FP per contest in that span. He isn't your typical bench player. Don't be afraid to roster him at his cheap price around the industry.

Ray McCallum – (PG) Sacramento Kings – TARGET

The announced timeshare between McCallum and veteran Andre Miller has slowly dissolved, with McCallum now soaking up more minutes. McCallum is averaging 31.6 MPG over the last 5, compared to 26.4 in the Kings' previous 5. Miller's minutes have remained low, as he has averaged 22.6/22.8 over that same span. McCallum's production is trending up as well, with 20+ FP in 7 of his last 10 contests, including 2 games of 30+. His price is at a bargain-bin level of just $4,200 on DraftKings, making him a solid cash game target.

Brook Lopez – (C) Brooklyn Nets – TARGET

The elder Lopez (by one minute) has been re-inserted into the Nets' starting lineup, and he has played very well in his new role, averaging 1.15 FP/minute in three starts. He saw 37, 36, and 25 minutes in those games, with the latter being an outlier last night, due to the blowout loss to New Orleans. Lopez looks to be locked in to the starting role, and is producing at a level that is much higher than his current DraftKings price tag of $6,100.

Kenneth Faried – (PF) Denver Nuggets – TARGET

Now that his biggest nemesis (Brian Shaw) is out of town, “The Manimal" has been unleashed, averaging 32.2 minutes and 37 FP per contest over his last 5 games. His FP/Minute average has jumped from .84 (in 22.4 MPG) over Shaw's final 5 games to 1.14 under the tutelage of Melvin Hunt. His confidence is sky-high and his price is creeping up, but still hasn't quite caught up to his recent production. He makes for a great cash game play with elite upside right now at $6,900 on DraftKings.