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Daily Fantasy Minute
Players To Watch: October 27
Anthony Davis ($11,200)
In daily fantasy, you ideally want a player to score five-times their salary. So for Anthony Davis, he needs to earn at least 56 daily fantasy points to be worthy of his $11,200 price tag. This is more than possible for Davis, who averaged 47.3 daily fantasy points last season (here’s how FanDuel scoring works). This number should be on the rise in 2015-16 as the Pelicans increase their pace under new coach Alvin Gentry. And Davis will see even more touches early on this season as Tyreke Evans (knee), Norris Cole (ankle), Omer Asik (calf), Alexis Ajinca (hamstring) and Jrue Holiday (leg) remain out — or limited — by injuries.
Kevin Love ($7,200)
The biggest on-court story out of Cavaliers training camp this October was the insistence that Kevin Love would be much more involved in their offense this season. The dynamic forward was slow out of the gates with Cleveland in 2014-15, posting his worst statistics since his rookie season. Now back in Cleveland after signing a five-year deal this summer, Love should easily surpass his average of 32.2 daily fantasy points. Especially for as long as Kyrie Irving remains out with a fractured kneecap. Love needs to collect 36 daily fantasy points to reach his $7,200 value tonight against opposing power forward Nikola Mirotic and the Bulls.
Eric Gordon ($5,200)
Injuries have made it easy to forget how dominant Eric Gordon can be when healthy and he should thrive early this season as one of the few able-bodied guards on the Pelicans (see above). Gordon averaged 12.4 points, 2.2 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.0 steals in 24.6 minutes per game in the preseason. Those minutes should skyrocket tonight in the opener and his value of 26 points seems well within reach. Gordon has said he expects Gentry’s new offense to make the Pelicans one of the highest-scoring teams in the league. His opponent tonight, the Warriors, may have something to say about that.
Kent Bazemore ($3,700)
The high-energy fourth-year forward makes his debut in the Hawks’ starting lineup against the Pistons tonight. Bazemore, who takes over DeMarre Carroll’s old job, has the ability to fill up every box in a stat sheet, making him a great value pick at his $3,700 price tag. When Bazemore was with the Lakers for 23 games in 2013-14, he averaged 13.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 turnovers in 28.0 minutes per night (for an average of 24.04 daily fantasy points). His points and minutes likely won’t get that high with the Hawks (Thabo Sefolosha and Tiago Splitter will eat into his minutes off the bench). But an increase in defensive stats and assists should make it likely Bazemore reaches his daily fantasy point value of 18.5.
Kendrick Perkins ($3,500)
Kendrick Perkins and fantasy basketball are words that seldom mix. But as you will come to learn this season (or already know), the biggest factor for daily fantasy is minutes. If a player plays significant time, they will likely tally enough stats to post a respectable line. That’s the case for Perkins tonight as he will likely start alongside Anthony Davis and should hit at least 20 minutes as long as he doesn’t get into foul trouble. Keep an eye on Alexis Ajinca’s availability, though. There are reports he could be ready for some minutes tonight and his presence would make it tough for Perkins to see much action.
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