In case you haven’t seen the cash LUs being shown in the cheatsheets, last night’s LU posted a nice and safe score of 317.4 if left unchanged on FanDuel. Heck, even Kevin (aka FFootballGeek) played it and raved about it in the forums. Some of you guys beat it, some of you might not have, but it was an example of using the cheatsheets and player picks to construct a solid, competitive LU. 317 is never anything to shake a stick at.

After glancing at the Morning Briefing, I hope you have some targets picked out that appear to be in successful fantasy producing spots. Let’s roll out the position picks for each position, along with some bonus picks at the end. These are picks Keith likes for a variety of reasons. They are not necessarily the “top option on the board,” “chalk options,” “highest scoring,” “GPP only,” or whatever other moniker you want to assign. These are Keith’s favorite options when combining all of these factors….

The graphics you are looking at is a rolling 30-day snapshot indicating average performance above/below expected points along with a percentage of times said player has exceeded projections. The blue line indicates fluctuations in salary over the same 30-day time frame. The bar graph shows how far above/below a particular date resulted vs expected production.

PG – Kyle Lowry ($8800)

15 gm slash – 37.5 FD pt/gm – 21.1/4.5/6.3 – In the two games Lowry has played CLE this season, he has averaged 49.2 FD pts/gm. His price has trickled down a couple hundred buck over the past 10 games, as you can see in the graph above, and is at a point he won’t completely hinder your roster construction. He has a decent floor, as you can see from the 15 gm slash line posted, and should put up points vs Kyrie Irving. I love this play especially for GPPs because it not only gets you off the top two PGs on the slate, but also gets you off Mike Conley who is likely a chalky play, too.

SG – JJ Redick ($4900)

15 gm slash – 21.1 FD pts/gm – 16.5/2/1 – JJ is shooting 41.8% from beyond the arc, which among qualified players is higher than both Klay Thompson AND Steph Curry. Even though he won’t fill a stat sheet, so to speak, we are again targeting the Sacramento Kings SGs and will just sit back and watch the points pile in.

SF – Rudy Gay ($7100)

15 gm slash – 32 FD pts/gm – 18/6.5/1.7 and he might give you a steal or two and a block with the standard stats – In the highest total of the night and with the fastest paced team in the NBA, Rudy Gay is not likely to wow you with his production. But, he’s about as consistent as junk mail in your box tonight at the small forward position. With everyone chasing points with Matt Barnes, Gay will come at a lower ownership percentage, with give you a higher floor, and a higher ceiling.

PF – Paul Millsap ($7800)

15 gm slash – 33.8 FD pts/gm – 15.8/8.6/2.6 – Millsap’s price is in decline and is as low as we’ve seen in quite some time. The minutes, though, are still there and with coming off a tough matchup with Draymond Green, he draws the complete opposite end of the spectrum tonight vs the Chicago Bulls horrid front court. The only question for Mr. Consistency is if both he and centerman Al Horford can get theirs because they are in equally great spots. But, at the decreased price tag, our money goes on Millsap.

C – Nikola Vucevic ($8500)

15 gm slash – 39.1 FD pts/gm – 19.2/10.6/3.6 – For a player averaging over a fantasy point per minute, and averaging a double-double on the season, Vucevic might be one of the higher owned centers on the night. He may just be the highest scoring center on the night, trumping any ownership concerns. He has one of the highest floors, he is reasonably priced, and coming off last night’s underwhelming performance vs Golden State, recency bias just might be in effect on the back end of a back-to-back.

Stud of the Night – LeBron James (CLE – SF)

Any time we can get an elite player under $10000 in a good matchup, we are going to attack. I know some of you will wonder why LeBron is the stud when Kyrie is active. The reason is because Kyrie gets Kyle Lowry defense and LBJ gets a combo of James Johnson, Luis Scola, and Patrick Patterson. In a game where Toronto wants to make up some ground in the East, LeBron will be forced to step up and deliver a big game. He will do everything he can tonight to make sure the Cavs don’t lose ground in the East. This may be the cheapest we see King James the rest of the way. And, if people go where I think they’ll go and pay up for Wall and Paul, you just might get LeBron at a surprisingly low ownership percentage in GPPs.

Value of the Night – JR Smith (CLE – SG)

JR Smith has attempted more 3-pointers than anyone not named Steph Curry. He is hitting over 40% of them and has one of the better matchup ratings outside of the Clippers and the Bulls.

GPP of the Night – Kristaps Porzingas (NY – PF)

Porzingas finally looks to be out of the “rookie wall slump” and has put together a great month. His matchup vs Vucevic and Aaron Gordon is a plush matchup, and at his price has legitimate 45 pt upside. It goes without saying there is risk in rostering him, but in GPPs the reward far outweighs the risk in this particular spot.

“Brass Balls” Fade of the Night – DeMarcus Cousins (SAC – C)

In 3 games vs the Clippers this season, DeMarcus is averaging only 38 FD pts/gm. With his high-water mark being only 46 FD pts. With his price being $10700, I can’t justify paying up for him when I can get LeBron for an $800 discount with just as much upside and a better matchup tonight.

As always, Keith will be available in the Slack VIP Channel to update you on injury news, and how to pivot if need be….make sure to join in the conversation. He’s always open to answering questions, but if you are going to ask if you should play “Player X” over “Player Y” make sure you check the rankings on the cheat sheets before asking unless news has come out that could possibly change the situation. Thank you!

Cheat Sheets are condensed….remember, there will be players that are not on this sheet that go off. The goal here is to not overload you with a lot of combinations. Sure, I can put in 15 PG’s and 10 PF’s. And then say, “the winning lineup was on the Sheet” but that doesn’t help us. I’m giving you options at varying price points, so you can build varying types of lineup. I feel the last two months of the season, we will have better success by choosing from a smaller pool. We are also including sample cash LUs to put our picks into action, as well. LET’S MAKE THAT MONEY!!!

You can get a Google Sheets link to the Cheat Sheet’s here, or download the Excel or PDF versions below.

NBA Cheat Sheet

NBA Cheat Sheet FD PDF

NBA Cheat Sheet DK PDF

FanDuel Optimal Cash Lineup

DraftKings Optimal Cash Lineup