NBA GPP Green Light 2-5-18

Happy "National Call In To Work Day" everyone! The Super Bowl is behind us and with the All-Star break right around the corner, things are heating up in the NBA. We have seven games around the league tonight, with plenty of news and injuries to pay attention to. Every game on the slate is projected with a total of 210 or more, outside of the Orlando and Miami game that doesn't have a total this morning, and the Charlotte Hornets at Denver Nuggets game has a total of 220.5. All in all, this should be a fun night! 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: $11,200 / FD Salary: $11,700

It is weird for me to include a high-dollar play in my article, as I generally prefer to use a balanced approach, but I feel like this is a spot where we cannot ignore Davis. Obviously, everyone knows he has assumed a much larger role with Cousins out, and his 34.7 percent usage rate and 1.63 fantasy points per minute without Cousins reflects that. I am sure that most people also know that Davis has historically been much better at home, where he is averaging 52 fantasy points per game and shooting 56.3 percent from the floor this season, as opposed to the road where he only averages 49.8 fantasy points per game and is shooting 52.8 percent. I am also fairly certain that most people see Utah on the slate and immediately overlook players facing them, but they are most likely ignoring an alarming trend. That trend happens to work in Davis' favor tonight, and is one that has paid off a lot of late. The Jazz, over their last ten games, have been an absolute atrocious defense against opposing big men. How bad, you ask? They rank 30th(!!!) in defensive efficiency to the position over those ten days, allowing 24.9 points, 16.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 4.6 combined blocks and steals, and have allowed them to connect on 44.4 percent of three-point attempts and a staggering 55.2 percent of overall field goal attempts. They have surrendered the fifth-most fantasy points (57.21) per game to centers over their last 12 games. All of that bodes extremely well for Davis, who has posted back-to-back games with at least 30 field goal attempts and has pulled down double-digit rebounds in three of his last four games. Assuming he doesn't break a nail and miss this game, he should destroy Gobert and the Jazz tonight.

DK Salary: $8,900 / FD Salary: $8,600

Now that his price has taken a little bit of a hit, it is time to hop back on the Bradley Beal train. Now, he may end up being a chalk option, which is fine, but he could go overlooked as people may be scared of the individual matchup against Victor Oladipo. Let me first quell those fears, hopefully, before I get to why Beal is an excellent option tonight. Those that have actually watched a decent amount of Pacers games have probably noticed a trend with their defensive scheme that tends to take place on a lot of possessions. At times, Oladipo is actually not the primary on-ball defender against opposing shooting guards, and he actually plays off another opposing wing player as a help defender. This opens things up for him to be a hawk on defense for steals but it also helps out Beal tonight. Now, of course, Oladipo will spend some time guarding Beal one-on-one, that is inevitable, but given the fact that Indiana ranks 28th in defensive efficiency to shooting guards over the last ten games, and around league-average in fantasy points allowed, I think Beal can still succeed.

Now, on to Beal. With Wall sidelined by a knee procedure, the onus has fallen to Beal to carry the Wizard's offense, and he has done just that. Beal has scored at least 20 points in two of the four games since Wall went down and has racked up at least six assists in three of those games. He has also been a beast on the glass, with six or more rebounds in three of the last four games, and has notched multiple steals in those three outings. He has eclipsed 44 fantasy points in those three games and has 15 or more field-goal attempts over that span. He is posting a 33.1 percent usage rate without Wall and is averaging 1.12 fantasy points per minute. As long as he continues his current hot streak, and he most definitely should tonight, he can easily pay off his slightly reduced salary.

DK Salary: $8,800 / FD Salary: $9,000

If I am being completely honest, there was a little part of me that hoped Kemba would completely flop on Sunday against the Suns, and, well, flop he did. He managed a measly 30 fantasy points in one of the best matchups imaginable for point guards and I am completely fine with that. He still hoisted 19 shots, but was only able to connect on six of them, and was 2-of-10 from beyond-the-arc. Over his three games prior to that poor performance, Walker had connected on 52.6 percent of his shots, so I am hoping this was just a flash in the pan for him. Walker has posted double-digit three-point attempts in three-straight games, has been over 50 fantasy points in two of his last three, and has been playing extremely well of late. He is facing a Nuggets team that is one of the worst teams in the NBA defending opposing point guards, giving up the sixth-most fantasy points per game (47.2) to the position and they rank 27th in defensive efficiency over the last ten days against point guards. Opposing point guards have connected on 46.3 percent of their overall field goal attempts during that time and 34.7 percent of their three-point attempts. As long as Kemba continues to shoulder the offense and take as many shots as he is, he will continue to have immense fantasy value and could easily notch another 50-point outing tonight.

DK Salary: $5,200 / FD Salary: $5,100

Olynyk has enjoyed quite the season in Miami and he has broken out of late, with several big performances for the Heat. He is coming off a big game against the Pistons, where he played 40 minutes and notched 19 points with eight boards, and has scored 19 points in back-to-back games. He has now scored in double figures in 11-straight games, has double-digit field goal attempts in seven of his last ten games, and has posted at least 25 fantasy points in seven of his last ten games, as well. Perhaps the most notable statistic for Olynyk of late, however, is that he is posting a team-high 27.3 percent usage rate over the last ten games. He has managed to put up decent games with Hassan Whiteside playing, but tonight, he could benefit from Whiteside possibly sitting. His 23 percent usage rate without Whiteside is a decrease over what he has averaged of late but he is posting 1.0 fantasy points per minute in his time without Whiteside this season and will be in line for many more minutes against a terrible Orlando Magic defense. The Magic have surrendered 110.3 points per game to opponents, while allowing them to shoot 37.2 percent from beyond-the-arc and 47.4 percent from the floor, and have surrendered 51.1 fantasy points per game to power forwards on the season. Olynyk is still very, very cheap across the industry, given his role of late, and should definitely be considered regardless of Whiteside's status tonight.

DK Salary: $5,600 / FD Salary: $5,600

After writing this part, news came out that Collison is questionable with a knee injury. If he plays, he can still be used. If he sits, a similarly priced pivot would be Lance Stephenson at the SF position, but Milos Teodosic and Tomas Satoransky are excellent options, as well.

Over the past few games, Darren Collison has started to shine and I am not certain that people have caught on quite yet. As a matter of fact, over Collison's last ten games, he has eclipsed 30 fantasy points on five occasions and he has scored at least 25 fantasy points on eight of those last ten games. His shot has started to fall on a consistent basis, connecting on at least 50 percent of his attempts in six of those games, and he has double-digit field goal attempts in six of the last ten games, as well. He is still a low usage guard, but his usage rate has climbed slightly from 17.5 percent to almost 19 percent over his last ten games. He has been active on the defensive end, with multiple steals in three-straight games, and has notched at least four assists in eight-straight games. He has been playing more minutes, as well, which is encouraging and has seen at least 30 minutes in seven of his last ten outings. Washington's defense has started to slip of late, especially against point guards, as they rank 21st in the NBA in defensive efficiency to the position over the last ten games. During that span, opposing point guards have racked up 25.5 points, 6.9 rebounds, 9 assists, a combined 3.2 blocks and steals, while allowing them to connect on 42.1 percent of their field goal attempts. They rank 10th in fantasy points allowed to point guards on the season, giving up 44.3, but over their last 12 games they have given up 48.84 fantasy points to the position, which is the seventh-most during that time. He is just too cheap to overlook in this spot, and he will likely be one of the lower-owned options from the Indiana side of this game.