Saturday Fantasy Basketball Roster Advice (3/20/10)
Mar 20, 2010 NBA Picks
Only a little over two weeks until baseball season gets started and it can’t get here soon enough. As usual, fantasy basketball turns into a crapshoot in the last couple weeks of the regular season with many players getting rested and most of the games meaning absolutely nothing other than who gets the better lottery pick. It’s definitely time to wind down basketball betting at FantasySportsLive.com, Fanduel.com and DraftZone.com and concentrate on baseball. I’ll post a few more days of basketball picks and then I’m going to turn my attention toward getting ready for baseball. Here are today’s handicapping and betting picks:
POINT GUARD:
- Jrue Holiday remains near minimum salary and continues to produce. He gets a Chicago team who may or may not have Derrick Rose going tonight. I’d recommend Holiday no matter if Rose plays or not.
- Mike Conley is mid-priced and has a great matchup against Golden State. He should be worth the salary.
- Darren Collison is going tonight against Utah, but you definitely want to be careful with this one. I don’t think Chris Paul is returning today, but you never know.
- CJ Watson is a decent play if Stephen Curry can’t go Saturday.
- Devin Harris should go today, but I’d avoid him. Also, avoid Keyon Dooling if you have been using him in place of Harris.
- Jason Kidd has a tough matchup against Rajon Rondo and the Celtics.
- I’m avoiding Chauncey Billups. He’s a great player, but he’s been inconsistent over the last couple of weeks. His salary is to high to gamble on.
- Deron Williams is the most expensive PG today, but he’s a little banged up and I’m not sure he’s going to earn that lofty salary.
- Avoid Chris Paul (injury), Derrick Rose (wrist), Devin Harris (illness), Jason Terry (injury/tough matchup).
SHOOTING GUARD:
- Terrence Williams is a low priced option and his has a good matchup against the Raptors.
- Wes Matthews has been one of my favorite low priced roster fillers, but he’s dealing with a sprained MCL which seems to be limiting his production.
- Marcus Thornton against Utah should still be a strong play.
- O.J. Mayo has a great matchup against the Warriors and this is one of the better times to play him.
- Stephen Jackson is expensive and he has to deal with Dwyane Wade tonight. It might be a safe play to avoid him.
- Dwyane Wade and Monta Ellis are at the top of the SG board. Wade gets a tough Charlotte matchup while Ellis gets the easier matchup with Memphis.
SMALL FORWARD:
- Small Forward is going to require some salary tonight. There aren’t any reliable, low priced options. Hedo Turkoglu is about as low as I would go and even he’s inconsistent and expensive.
- John Salmons has a decent matchup with Denver.
- Upper mid-priced plays have Paul Pierce with a tough matchup against Dallas and Caron Butler with a tough matchup against the Celtics. I see the Dallas/Boston game being a fairly low scoring defensive affair, which can be death to fantasy stats.
- Rudy Gay is my favorite SF play. He’s got a great matchup agains the Warriors and should put up a big number.
- Gerald Wallace looked pretty good last night, but I’m not sure how the ankle is going to hold up in back to back games. He’s an expensive, risky play.
- Carmelo Anthony is at the top of the SF board and has as decent matchup with Milwaukee. Spend the money if you have it.
POWER FORWARD:
- Chris Hunter is minimum salary and should get minutes for Golden State. He’s risky.
- James Johnson is minimum salary and he makes a great play with Luol Deng certainly out tonight. Johnson could keep the job for the entire 2-3 weeks which Deng is expected to be out.
- Josh Boone has been productive, but Yi Jianlian is expected back Saturday so avoid Boone.
- Taj Gibson had a big night Friday, but he’s inconsistent.
- Paul Millsap could get big minutes if Mehmet Okur misses time due to a stomach virus. Make sure you check Okur’s gametime status before using Millsap.
- Elton Brand has been playing better of late and gets a good matchup with a weak Chicago interior. Joakim Noah might play in this one but I don’t think he will be very effective.
- At the top of the PF board, Zach Randolph is a must play against the Warriors, especially if Marc Gasol continues to miss time with his neck injury.
- Chris Bosh should also have a good night against a very discouraged Brook Lopez and the Nets. Lopez threw a temper tantrum at practice and could mail it in for this one.
- Avoid Joakim Noah (plantar fasciitis), Kenyon Martin (injury), Michael Beasley (inconsistent), Yi Jianlian (uncertain minutes).
CENTER:
- Hasheem Thabeet is minimum salary and could get a start if Marc Gasol can’t go due to his neck injury.
- Johan Petro is still getting a little run with Kenyon Martin out.
- Brad Miller has been a solid low priced play, but there is a chance Joakim Noah could cut into his minutes tonight.
- I don’t play Samuel Dalembert often, but he’s got a nice matchup with Chicago.
- Andrea Bargnani has been shooting well and has a favorable matchup wtih the Nets. I’m not sure Brook Lopez is going to give full effort tonight after showing some real disgust with the team.
- The Toronto game should be a prime matchup for Brook Lopez against the weak rebounding Bargnani. I’ve just got a bad vibe about Lopez in this one. He could mail it in or he could come out and just dominate out of anger. Devin Harris returns to take some of the scoring away from Lopez, while the pathetic Yi Jianlian returns to steal some of his rebounds. Might be safe to just avoid him in this one.
- Andrew Bogut has a nice matchup with the Kenyon Martin-less Nuggets. He should have room to work inside.
Tags: Basketball Handicapping, fantasy basketball, Fantasy Basketball Betting Picks, NBA Basketball Picks
