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Fall is upon us and all sorts of things like the falling of leaves, Uggs and pumpkin spiced lattes are all things that I really don’t give a shit about- it’s hoops season, baby! Most people will say that watching NBA preseason games is a sign that you should go to a rave and make some friends, but I hate those people and know that these dress rehearsals are valuable sources of information. After all, this is the same method I used in knowing that Thomas Robinson was going to be a mega-force for the Brooklyn Nets last season. That worked out well for all of us, on several occasions.

The key to these games is finding the players in the most opportune positions. Below, I’ve posted the winning lineup from Saturday’s NBA Slam contest on FanDuel. As you’ll see, the most household name on the list is Harrison Barnes with appearances from a plethora of guys that are in uncertain roles within their teams’ rosters; that’s what we’re looking for, considering there is no reason whatsoever for coaches to play their superstar talent for more than 20 minutes.

This is the time of the year when it’s decided who will fill the final spots on a roster or get that one backup position that’s up for grabs. My preference is to go with younger guys trying to acclimate to NBA life or that second/third-year guy finally trying to stick on someone’s roster. Players that were recently good in college/Euro leagues are perfect for this type of work. Then again, if they weren’t good at that point, then they probably wouldn’t be in this position. But I digress…

On Saturday night, we were given a small two-game teaser getting everyone’s proverbial pallets wet for the short term. Tonight is a chance to get a look at ten new teams (Mavs and Raptors already have a game under the belts) and things will be flying around pretty fast, I assume. I’ll update this article as best I can as the news comes, but for more efficient analysis, make sure you’re dialed into the NBA channel on the Slack chat. If you’re not a DFS Army member, you’re doing yourself a great disservice. Join here!

Orlando Magic @ Memphis Grizzlies

Oh joy, two teams with new head coaches in a preseason game together…

The life after Victor Oladipo era begins for the Magic, and I’m still not sure what the hell they were thinking with that trade. A case could have been made for more draft picks or frontcourt players, but for another big in Serge Ibaka? Well, OK then. The one thing this does is open up time for Aaron Gordon to play at small forward. But don’t think about using him tonight, he’s already been ruled OUT with an ankle injury, and there’s a good chance Gordon will sit out most or all of this preseason. Elfrid Payton (hip) and Serge Ibaka (knee) have been ruled OUT, while Jodie Meeks (foot) won’t return to the team until sometime in November. Excellent start to the season for the Magic…

As for the guys that are actually suiting up tonight, don’t expect major minutes from Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier or Jeff Green– these guys have firm spots on the roster and you’d have to think new head coach Frank Vogel doesn’t want to add more guys to the injured list. Bismack Biyombo, Mario Hezonja, DJ Augustine and CJ Watson are all locks to make the roster and players that I’d feel comfortable rostering tonight.

Biyombo signed a four-year $72 million deal in the offseason, thus creating more of a logjam in the Magic frontcourt. With Gordon and Ibaka not suiting up, I can see Biyombo getting a decent amount of run, but not anything spectacular. We all know Biyombo doesn’t do much at the offensive end, but his ability to grab all the rebounds and block shots in a hurry makes him interesting. Hezonja is looking to improve on the strength of a solid second half last season; the numbers weren’t overly impressive, but they did grow incrementally each month. He’ll certainly be asked to take on more of a load with Oladipo departing to OKC, and not to mention, the Magic did select him fifth overall in the 2015 draft so they want to see a short-term return on their investment. Augustine and Watson should see a decent number of minutes in the backcourt and be involved in a lot of what the Magic are doing in the first half. I’d bet that Watson sees more time in the second half, thus making him a better GPP option.

Watching the Grizzlies last year was something else. It seemed like every other day one of their guys would go down with an injury, allowing us to play all the minimum-priced folks that we could handle. In fact, they used an NBA-record 28 players last season and still made the playoffs. The Grizz added shooting-specialist Chandler Parsons via free agency and gave Mike Conley a contract that made them look like a child holding on to their parents’ ankles begging them not to leave for work.

It’s a solid bet that the Grizz will sit most of their aging veteran roster and roll out a plethora of unknown players tonight that are vying for one of two roster spots up for grabs. Wayne Selden, Jr. is one of those unknowns that I speak of (unknown, if you don’t watch college basketball) and I expect him to get a decent amount of run. The former Kansas Jayhawk can score a decent amount, but his strength is in shooting from behind the arc. Tony Wroten and JaMychal Green are two guys that have over 100 games of NBA experience, but it’s not certain what type of roles they’ll have this season when all the vets are healthy. Wroten has had his moments with the Sixers while Green filled in admirably for the Grizz after all the injuries went down last season. James Ennis, DJ Stephens and Troy Williams are other guys trying to make a name for themselves.

Magic Update: Both DraftKings and FanDuel have Biyombo listed as OUT, but I haven’t seen anything confirming this. It does say that he’s suspended but I’m not even sure about that. If Biyombo is in fact playing, that could be an even sneakier play since most people will think he’s out. Stay tuned.

2nd Magic Update: Biyombo is in the starting lineup…damn you, DK and FD…trying to trick us all.

Milwaukee Bucks @ Chicago Bulls

Monday provides us our first opportunity to get got by Jason Kidd this season. If you’re new to the NBA DFS landscape, you’ll soon find out that J-Kidd is the biggest jerk of a head coach there is in the league. Hence, why talented players like Greg Monroe or Michael Carter-Williams will be on the bench when games begin and not in the starting lineup.

Unfortunately, we may have to wait a couple days for the preseason debut of Thon Maker, who is dealing with some wrist issues. He could be held out for precautionary measures tonight, but makes no mistake about it, this guy is sure to be one of the most exciting players in the NBA at some point. In his place, John Henson and Miles Plumlee could see ample run.

J-Kidd said that replacing Khris Middleton’s production will be done in a committee approach, so tonight is the first audition in seeing who will do so. My bet is that it’ll be Mirza Teletovic that gains the most from the loss of Middleton- his game matches up similarly, as the Bucks will be looking to him as their go-to guy from beyond the arc and he also played for J-Kidd once before in Brooklyn. Teletovic closed out last season on fiiiiiaaaaahhhhh averaging 31.8 FDP over his last nine games. The Michael Beasley show is coming to Milwaukee this season after he was traded there nearly two weeks ago for Tyler Ennis after Middleton’s injury. With the inconsistent nature that J-Kidd runs his team’s rotation and Beasley being Beasley, we’re sure to see fireworks in the frigid Milwaukee sky at some point. Both guys are interesting GPP options tonight, as well as Rashad Vaughn.

For the Bulls, I’m interested in pretty much all of their young core in this contest. The rookie out of Michigan State, Denzel Valentine, had an excellent stint in the summer league, even hitting the game-winning shot that gave the Baby Bulls the title. Head coach Fred Hoiberg recently said that the team will try to “put the ball in Denzel [Valentine’s] hands as our lead guard” during the preseason. This isn’t the NFL, or the regular season, where coaches are trying to pull the wool over our eyes; feel confident that Hoiberg will live up to his end of the bargain. However, remember that other guards like Jerian Grant, Spencer Dinwiddie and Isaiah Canaan will be getting some run as well. Doug McDermott started to carve out more of a role for himself towards the end of last season, but the drawback on him is that he’s basically scoring-dependent, meaning he won’t get you many rebounds, assists or things of that nature. Bobby Portis had his moments last season, so it’s natural for him to take the next step this time around; the Bulls should want to take a closer look at him in a more pivotal role going forward. Nikola Mirotic isn’t in the starting lineup, but that’s kind of a good thing for the preseason. Give him the bump over Taj Gibson, who is in the starting lineup but probably won’t outshine Mirotic.

Charlotte Hornets @ Dallas Mavericks

The Mavs are one of two teams on the slate to have played a game so far in the preseason, so expect a higher ownership on them due to minuscule familiarity. A couple of their notable players (Harrison Barnes, JJ Barea, Dwight Powell) were on the court for just under 20 minutes and we should probably expect the same tonight. Basically, all of their core players (Dirk Nowitzki, Deron Williams, Devon Harris, Wesley Matthews, Andrew Bogut and Salah Mejri) did not even bother suiting up. With the exception of Matthews, all of these guys are confirmed OUT once again- Barnes, Barea and Powell are still in.

Saturday was the beginning of my “ALL MINUTES MATTER” movement that I’ll be peacefully protesting this season and Justin Anderson was at the forefront for the Mavs; he led the team with 27 minutes and 26.5 FDP to go along with it. Anderson was incredibly efficient going 4-for-7 from the field (3-for-5 on 3 PT FGs) and added five boards, three assists and a steal. We also saw Seth (not Steph) Curry do a lot of the heavy lifting, popping in 26.3 FDP in 18 minutes, and I expect him to be back at it again. SC2 had 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block spread across the stat sheet. The last takeaway from Saturday’s Mavs game was Jonathan Gibson, who finished with 18.5 FDP. He took 10 shots (only three went in, one 3 PT FG) in 20 minutes, but things could’ve been a lot different if his shot was falling.

For the Hornets, Kemba Walker and Brian Roberts have already been ruled OUT for tonight’s game, which opens up some nice plays on the horizon for their backcourt- the guys to look at in this situation are going to be the two expect to fight for Jeremy Lin’s vacated role, Ramon Sessions and Jeremy Lamb. Sessions is starting tonight in his first action with the team as a free-agent from Washington; you have to think he’ll see extended minutes as head coach Steve Clifford will want to see how he responds to the new system. Lamb is a guy we actually used favorable spots last season, and he is the kind of guy that can score in bunches. However, according to Gery Woelfel of the Racine Journal Times, “There have been whispers the Bucks and Hornets have had conversations about a deal in which the Bucks would get Lamb and big man Spencer Hawes for Greg Monroe.” This is interesting because the deal appeals much more to the Hornets, so you have to wonder if they want to risk injuring Lamb. Cody Zeller is OUT tonight and good ol’ Roy Hibbert aka Snuffleupagus is someone I might actually consider using. Yes, he’s been awful the last couple seasons, but I don’t think he was in great positions. Granted, Charlotte probably isn’t the best place for him, but I do think there is something to say about wanting to impress your new employer with a great first impression. Rasheed Sulaimon was a pretty good player at Duke and Maryland during his college days; it’ll be interesting to see how he plays tonight, but I think I’ll look elsewhere for a sneaky play.

Denver Nuggets @ Toronto Raptors

The Raptors were the other team that we saw on Saturday night and obviously there were a few takeaways from that game. DeMarre Carroll came out like a man possessed and took his assignment guarding Kevin Durant very seriously. In 19 minutes, he finished with 14 points, four rebounds and four steals- good enough for 24.8 FDP. I doubt Carroll will have that same intensity tonight, but he sure as hell makes for an interesting GPP dart. Jared Sullinger nearly double-doubled in his unofficial Raptors debut with 10 rebounds, seven points, a block and a steal- good for 20 FDP in 23 minutes, which is basically the amount of time he played each game for the Celtics. Pascal Siakam nearly double-doubled as well with nine points, eight rebounds (four offensive), two blocks, an assist and a steal in 21 minutes; I expect to see the same from him tonight. I also want to see more minutes from Jakob Poeltl, the rookie center from Utah, by way of Austria. I’m not sure we’ll get it since he only played 13 minutes on Saturday, but he is a name to watch out for. Terrence Ross looked pretty good in his limited 15 minutes; he finished with 11 points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals- good for 20.4 FDP. However, in the preseason you’re going to see some of these shooting guards putting up around 30 fantasy points and T-Ross certainly won’t be doing any of that.

Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan weren’t mentioned until the second paragraph of a Raptors write-up, so you know it’s the preseason. Both guys played at least 20 minutes on Saturday and I could be tempted to use one or the other. Lowry got off to a very slow start against the Warriors due to turnovers and sloppy play in general, but I’ll forgive him since it was the first game of the preseason. DeRozan wasn’t that great in the same game, but it’s not like he’s trying to take over a meaningless game either.

Another year of rocky mountain basketball is back and this won’t be an easy situation to monitor for the Nuggets tonight. The one guy that stands out is Nate Wolters; he had a great collegiate career at South Dakota State and he can certainly shoot the three. I honestly have no idea what to do with these guys as of now, so stay tuned for the updates and if there aren’t any then this could be a situation to avoid altogether.

Utah Jazz @ Portland Trail Blazers

During the regular season, it’s painful having to roster anyone from the Jazz and I don’t see this getting any more glamorous during the preseason. Their slowed down tempo is rarely conducive to NBA DFS success, but I think guys like Dante Exum and Marcus Paige could be worthy of a roster spot tonight. Henry Sims and Jeff Withey are fighting for a roster spot so we could possibly use that to our advantage.

As painful as it is to roster Jazz players, it’s even more painful it is to roster opposing players against them. The Jazz have one of the best defenses in the league, but I’m not going to completely shy away from them in a preseason game. Sure, the defensive schemes are going to be there, but their talent won’t be for a good portion of the game. The Blazers have some decent talent themselves with guys like Allen Crabbe, Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner and Noah Vonleh that could be of use. Meyers Leonard is OUT with shoulder issues. Tonight was supposed to mark the beginning of the Festus Ezeli era in Portland, but he’s dealing with knee issues and probably will not suit up. I still cannot express how upset I am with my parents that “Festus” isn’t the first name on my birth certificate…I guess “Alan” was soooo much better and acceptable for society.

Given that news about Leonard and Ezeli, Greg Stiemsma is the only center listed on the roster. Ed Davis played center at times last season and was one of the better $/pt players down the stretch- I really like him a lot tonight.

San Antonio Spurs @ Phoenix Suns

Alright, teams coached by J-Kidd and Greg Popovich on the same night…in the preseason! Seriously, what did we all do to deserve this?

Pau Gasol, LaMarcus Aldridge, Tony Parker, Danny Green, Manu Ginobili and Patty Mills are all OUT tonight, so that makes things a bit easier. Kyle Anderson figures to be a popular play tonight, for good reason. Jonathan Simmons, Dejounte Murray and Livio Jean-Charles could all produce as well. The one guy I’m interested in is Dwayne Dedmon, who produced admirably when given the chance in Orlando; he’s certainly the most experienced big who will be suiting up tonight.

Much like playing against the Jazz, the Spurs opposition each game doesn’t offer much hope. It’ll be interesting to see how a totally new group responds on the defensive end but in the preseason all bets are off. The three guys I’m interested in from the Suns are Dragan Bender, Archie Goodwin and TJ Warren.

Bender was selected fourth overall by the Suns and his game mimics that of Kristaps Porzingis, as he is 7’1, can really space out the floor and pop it from outside as well. Granted, it was against subpar competition, but Bender did have a game at the start of 2015 where he posted a stat line of 43 points, 21 rebounds, six assists and five steals– that’s the kind of upside that we’re talking about here. Goodwin and Warren had brief breakouts last season, but their roles are still undetermined for this upcoming campaign- perfect for preseason DFS purposes. Warren will at least start the season at small forward while PJ Tucker recovers from an injury, but how long he stays there will depend on how well he does at this point of the season.

Suns Update: As per RotoWorld, “Eric Bledsoe, Devin Booker, T.J. Warren, Jared Dudley and Tyson Chandler will start on Monday against the Spurs.”