NBA GPP Green Light 1-29-18

Greetings everyone! Welcome back from an eventful weekend. Hopefully none of you suffered a ruptured patellar tendon or achilles like Roberson or Cousins, and hopefully you all enjoyed your weekend. We have a six-game slate on tap tonight, with plenty to talk about! Injuries, as always, are a plenty so there is a ton of news to keep an eye on. There are two games with projected totals in the mid-210s, with Minnesota and Indiana having the two highest team totals, a slow game between Dallas and Miami that may not break 200, and a couple of games without totals as of right now. The February 8th trade deadline is approaching fast and there are many players on tonight's slate that are rumored to be on the trading block. The best advice I can give for those playing the next couple of weeks is to turn on tweet notifications for @Wojespn, @ShamsCharania, @WindhorstESPN, and @TheSteinLine to make sure you get all the latest trade rumors pushed directly to you the moment they happen.

DK Salary: $9,100 / FD Salary: $10,100

It probably won't surprise anyone at this point that Dwight Howard is in my GPP article tonight. As just about everyone knows at this point, I absolutely love Dwight anytime I can play him in good matchups. He has enjoyed a revival season all year long, but as of late, he has played on an entirely different level. Maybe it is the "All-Star Snub" narrative, or he just feels good of late, but the big man has been dominating opponents. Howard has eclipsed 50 fantasy points in three-straight outings, including against Miami, and has notched at least four blocks in three of his last four games. Dwight has double-digit rebounds in 11 consecutive outings and has double-digit points in eight of those 11 outings. He has been over 20 real points in three of his last ten outings, as well.

Dwight is facing a Pacers team that we know you can attack with big men, as I am fairly certain that I write one up every night they play, but they are giving up the third-most fantasy points per game to centers. On the season they have surrendered a whopping 53.2 fantasy points per game to the position! They are only giving up 42.9 rebounds per game but they have surrendered 12.8 second-chance points per game and 46.2 points in the paint. Howard is fifth in the NBA with 4.3 second-chance points per game and is averaging 10.8 points in the paint. In addition to that, the Pacers are a 14th percentile defense against post-ups, allowing 5.6 points per game on the play, and Dwight is posting up on almost 40 percent of his possessions. Now, I am sure that you will hear plenty of "Dwight is just too expensive tonight, he can't pay off his salary", but I just don't care about his price. He has the ability and potential to absolutely crush the Pacers tonight and he will not be someone that I fade.

DK Salary: $7,700 / FD Salary: $7,900

If you are playing on FanDuel and don't want to pay the price on Howard, or if you are on DraftKings and want to build around two centers tonight, then Hassan Whiteside is the guy to look at. Whiteside gets a favorable matchup against the Mavericks and will look to bounce back after a pretty rough stretch of games where he failed to eclipse 40 fantasy points in three of the last four games. He had an atrocious outing against the Hornets, posting just 17.5 fantasy points in 18 minutes, and had two outings where he scored 33 or below against both Sacramento and against the Hornets (again). He has a big game against Houston sandwiched between those bad outings and had back-to-back games over 50 fantasy points before the first Charlotte matchup in that stretch. All in all, Whiteside has pulled down double-digit rebounds in nine of his last ten games and has double-digit points in seven of the last ten. His block numbers have been down this season, averaging 1.8 compared to 2.1 and 3.7 the last two seasons, but some of that could be injury related.

Whiteside is facing a Mavericks team that has been dominated by big men all season, giving up the eighth-most fantasy points (52.34) per game to centers and the fourth-most rebounds (45.6) to opponents. Dallas is allowing opponents to shoot 65.1 percent at the rim, where Whiteside is attempting 53 percent of his shots, making this a spot where he can clean up. They do a great job limiting second-chance points, and points in the paint overall, which is a little concerning, but I think Whiteside can overcome that tonight.

DK Salary: $9,400 / FD Salary: $9,400

The Minnesota Timberwolves definitely missed Jimmy Butler while he was sidelined by an injury, as they allowed a whopping 119.3 points per game in those four games, but he returned last game against Brooklyn and their defense instantly looked better. They held the lowly Nets to only 97 points and Butler posted 35 minutes in his return. He was pretty cold from the floor, however, shooting 4-of-14 from the floor, but got to the line 14 times and managed to contribute in other ways with six boards, five assists, two steals, and a block. His knack for contributing across the board makes him an excellent option on any given night, but he is a great option tonight against the Hawks. Prior to his injury, Butler was shooting the lights out, connecting on at least 50 percent of his attempts in six-straight games, so he should be able to bounce back fairly quickly.

Whether you want to consider Butler a shooting guard or a small forward (hint: it doesn't matter) this is an excellent matchup against a Hawks team that is giving up 106.9 points per 100 possessions over their last ten games. They struggle to defend both wing positions, giving up the most fantasy points per game in the league to small forwards and 11th most to shooting guards, have allowed opponents to shoot 47.1 percent from the floor this season, and struggle to defend both spot-up shooters and the ball handler in the pick-and-roll. Butler will get a big boost if Teague is unable to suit up tonight, but he is a great play regardless.

DK Salary: $4,800 / FD Salary: $4,600

Tonight's matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies presents several opportunities for the young Josh Jackson. First off, he gets a chance to redeem himself for a 0-for-13 performance against the Rockets on Sunday, and secondly, it could be a chance for Jackson to shine with the potential absence of Devin Booker. Jackson has seen more playing time of late with head coach Jay Triano shuffling his lineups around, and he has played 25, 29, and 22 minutes over his last three games. He struggled against the Rockets, as I referenced above, but posted 25.5 and 32.5 fantasy points in his previous two outings. With Booker off the floor this season, Jackson is posting a 25.7 percent usage rate while averaging .77 fantasy points per minute. In the previous ten games that Booker missed, Jackson posted at least 20 fantasy points in four of those and averaged 9.8 field goal attempts per game. The Grizzlies have struggled immensely against shooting guards of late, ranking 18th in defensive efficiency over the last ten games, and have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points (44.79) per game over their last 12 games. Jackson is a solid contributor across all categories, and if he can get his shot to fall, he should crush value tonight.

DK Salary: $3,800 / FD Salary: $3,500

This pick is largely contingent on the status of Tyreke Evan and Ben McLemore but could be in play regardless. James Ennis is already ruled out, along with JaMychal Green and Chandler Parsons, meaning the Grizzlies will have a shortened rotation. Selden will likely fill in the role of a couple of those guys, and he is a really high usage rate player with them off the floor. In 105.4 minutes without Green and Ennis, Selden is posting a 25 percent usage rate and .89 fantasy points per minute. He gets a matchup against a Suns team that is giving up a league-high 46.69 fantasy points per game to shooting guards, and have surrendered 112.2 points per game this season. Given the pace of this game, and the opportunity for minutes, Selden could be an excellent source of value and we could see him put up a big game much like a few nights ago when he torched the Pelicans.