Minutes to Win It - Monitoring NBA Rotations 3-18-15

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.

Enes Kanter – (C) Oklahoma City Thunder - TARGET

The Russell Westbrook show has a new member: Enes Kanter. Over his last 5 games, Kanter is averaging 39.2 FP in 32.4 MPG, which equates to a tremendous 1.2 FP/MIN. In contrast, over his previous 5 games, he averaged just .88 FP/MIN in 28 minutes of court time per game. Now that Serge Ibaka is out 4-6 weeks, Kanter seems to be the biggest beneficiary. Target him now while his price is still low ($6600 on DraftKings).

Justin Holiday – (SG/SF) Golden State Warriors – TARGET

At a bargain bin price of just $3200 on DraftKings, Holiday is poised to be one of the best value plays on the board tonight. Steve Kerr has indicated that Holiday may draw the start at SG in Klay Thompson's absence, which gives him an immediate bump. Holiday averaged just over 1 FP/MIN in his last two games playing 20+ minutes, and may be asked to fill a big hole in the Warriors offense until Thompson returns in a week or so.

Kent Bazemore – (SG) Atlanta Hawks – TARGET

This one will likely be short-lived, but Bazemore will see extended run while Kyly Korver (broken nose) is sidelined for the next few games. He has played 67 minutes over his last two games, averaging .89 FP/MIN. While this number is less than ideal, he provides you with value at a generally weak SG position. Even better is that he is listed at just $4000 on DraftKings tonight.

Thaddeus Young – (PF) Brooklyn Nets – TARGET

The middle tier of PF is generally a barren wasteland, but Young has emerged as a legitimate option in the middle of the pack. Over his last 5 games, he has averaged 32.2 MPG, compared to just 23.6 over the previous 5. His FP/MIN production is very similar, at .93/.91 over that span, but the key here is the increase in minutes. He has proven that he can produce when given the opportunity, and it looks like that time has come.