NBA GPP Green Light 1-30-18

Unlike most Tuesday slates, we have a full slate of games on tap! We have nine games to talk about today, and of course, plenty of injuries and story lines to break down. The Blake Griffin trade was a major shocker last night, and we will have to await news on the statuses of Griffin, Bradley, and Harris tonight, and we will need to keep an ear to the ground for any other potential trades that may come about. There are a ton of injuries that could impact the slate tonight, so monitoring the news for that information will be key, as usual. We have several games with projected totals near, or over, 220 points, and only one game with a projected total below 205 points. There should be plenty of fantasy goodness tonight! 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: $7,400 / FD Salary: $7,700

Tonight's matchup between the Raptors and Timberwolves looks to be an outstanding contest between two playoff contenders, and there is a decent amount of fantasy goodness from both sides of this game! We missed out on Jimmy Butler facing DeMar DeRozan the last two times these teams faced off but it looks like we will be blessed with that tonight. Lowry dominated in that aforementioned outing, posting 40 points with five rebounds and five assists in 34 minutes, and will look to build off that and a strong outing against the Lakers over the weekend. Because Butler is slated to suit up tonight, barring any setbacks from last night's game, Lowry could find himself the beneficiary of Butler's defense on DeRozan. For that reason, I think Lowry has a great chance to succeed as he should match up with Jeff Teague for the majority of the night, a matchup he can easily exploit. I mentioned the solid outing for Lowry against the Lakers, where put up 35.25 fantasy points in 27 minutes and attempted 12 shots in that game. He now has at least 12 field goal attempts in all but two of his last ten games, and while he has struggled with his shot at times this season, that shouldn't be the case tonight. He faces a Timberwolves team that has struggled against point guards all season, allowing 45.8 fantasy points per game to the position, and especially over the last ten games. During that span, they rank 30th in defensive efficiency to the position and have allowed 30 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 9.6 assists to them. Opposing point guards have shot 54.5 percent from the floor, and 48.1 percent from three, in those games. Because the offense should funnel towards Lowry tonight, and considering his price, he is an excellent option.

DK Salary: $8,300 / FD Salary: $8,500

The loss of DeMarcus Cousins could prove to be devastating for the Pelicans, as they were on track for a playoff run, but it opens things up from a DFS perspective. Obviously, Anthony Davis is going to be a popular target tonight against the Kings, and rightfully so, but we shouldn't forget that it opens up plenty of opportunities for guys across the board. Specifically, it opens up 18 field goal attempts, 12.9 rebounds, and 5.4 assists per game. Clearly, not all of those shots, rebounds, and assists will go to Davis, and it is Jrue Holiday who finds himself in a spot to soak up a decent amount of them. It opens up a heap of usage, as well, and Holiday has posted a 30.8 percent usage rate with Cousins off the floor and he is averaging a whopping 1.39 fantasy points per minute. He was solid in his first game post-Boogie over the weekend, with 20 points, nine rebounds, and seven assists against the Clippers and it is expected that he will continue to play big minutes for the Pelicans. He may not end up getting a heap of extra shots without Cousins, but the increased usage and opportunities for assists and rebounds is a good thing for Holiday. He gets an excellent matchup against the Kings who have surrendered 44.3 fantasy points per game to shooting guards this season, but of late, they have really struggled against the position. They rank 23rd in defensive efficiency to the position, allowing 26.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.4 assists to the position. Opposing shooting guards have connected on 43.5 percent of field goal attempts during that time. They struggle to defend in transition, against the pick-and-roll, and against spot-up shooters, play types that account for over 10 points per game for Holiday. There will be plenty to like from the Pelicans side of this game tonight, especially Anthony Davis, but Holiday is my personal favorite.

DK Salary: $6,600 / FD Salary: $6,800

Kanter took a hit to the face and had to get stitches in his lip yesterday, and is listed as questionable (lips) for tonight's slate, but he should be good to go against the Nets. This has been a troublesome spot for Kanter in his three games against Brooklyn this season, as he tends to play limited minutes, but I think we break the mold tonight. One of those games was a back-to-back, where Kanter almost always plays fewer minutes, one game was a blowout, and the third game, well I can't explain that one. All of that being said, the absence of Rondae Hollis-Jefferson from Brooklyn's lineup should help secure his minutes as Brooklyn should play a traditional big more often tonight. Kanter has been solid, although not outstanding, of late with at least 30 fantasy points in seven of his last ten games, but has at least 20 points in back-to-back outings. He gets an excellent matchup against a Brooklyn Nets team that is giving up a total of 46 rebounds per game to opponents, to go along with a league-high 53 fantasy points per game, and struggles to defend both the roll man and post-up players. They rank a the third-worst defense against the roll man in the pick-and-roll, giving up 10 points per game on the play, and a 27.6 percentile defense against the post-up. Kanter is running both of those plays on almost 50 percent of his offensive possessions, and of course, is an elite rebounder. I am counting on Kanter for a big outing against the hapless Nets tonight.

DK Salary: $4,700 / FD Salary: $3,800

With Avery Bradley and Tobias Harris shipped off to the Clippers in exchange for Blake Griffin, the path is open for Reggie Bullock to play plenty of minutes and be a focal point in the offense. It most certainly opens up minutes and usage for Luke Kennard and Stanley Johnson, as well, making both players excellent options to consider tonight. Both will be chalky options I'm sure but against the Cavaliers, but I just don't care. Bullock has been outstanding for the Pistons of late and he is coming off back-to-back games with over 30 fantasy points. He is shooting the lights out this season, connecting on 44 percent of his attempts from beyond-the-arc and 51 percent of overall field goal attempts, and is contributing with boards and assists. He torched the Cavaliers over the weekend to the tune of 14 points, four assists, and five rebounds, which was his second double-digit scoring effort in the last three games. We know that the Cavaliers are bad on defense and they have posted the worst defensive rating (114.5) over the last ten games. Of course, that number is just a little inflated by allowing 148 points to OKC, but the fact remains that their defense is atrocious. They to defend both shooting guards and small forwards, positions that Bullock will rotate between now, and they also struggle to defend spot-up shooters. Bullock is spotting up on 34.3 percent of his attempts this season and he ranks in the 87th percentile of the NBA in efficiency. Consider the trio of Bullock, Johnson and Kennard guys you can build around tonight.

DK Salary: $3,000 / FD Salary: $3,800

Okay, so I want to preface this by saying that this pick is a total dart throw, but bear with my why I explain my reasoning. After trading for Okafor in December, the Nets waited quite a long time to unleash him. Head coach Kenny Atkinson wanted to get Okafor acclimated in the offense and talked multiple times about getting him in proper shape to play. Now, we have not received any indication that Okafor is 100 percent ready to play big minutes but it was rather promising to see him play 24 minutes against the Timberwolves over the weekend. He was extremely efficient in that outing, shooting 9-of-14 from the floor and pulling down six boards, and did not look completely terrible on his way to scoring 30.5 fantasy points. So, with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson sidelined tonight against a team that runs two traditional big men most of the time, it makes sense that the Nets let him get some run again, right? See... It isn't AS far fetched as you probably expected! About the matchup, so, generally I don't like taking big men against the Knicks as they have been a solid interior defense and rebounding team this year. Well, things have fallen off slightly for them of late, as they now rank 30th in the NBA in defensive efficiency against the position over the last ten games. They have allowed 26.4 points and 14.4 rebounds per game to opposing centers during that span. More importantly, however, is that they are allowing opposing centers to connect on 57.6 percent of their field goal attempts and have allowed opponents to shoot 46.7 percent overall on midrange attempts where 45 percent of Okafor's attempts have come from this season. I think there is a chance Okafor gets a decent amount of run tonight, and at or near minimum salary tonight, I don't know that I want to pass that up.