This article is part of our FanDuel NBA series.
There are only three games on Thursday night, making this a sparse schedule and an opportunity to pick from a smaller pool of players. The flip side to this coin is that there will be a lot of co-ownership of the same players. But the distribution isn't even across positions.
There are several elite point guards going, but only one, two or zero elite options at the other positions. This will allow for opportunities to engage creativity, look at matchups and try to determine whether to go big on superstuds like Russell Westbrook, or instead to go for some lesser, but still potent, options at point guard and build a more balanced team. Let's look at some players that seem interesting as potential value on this short slate.
Stephen Curry, GS at CHI ($10,600): Curry was voted the unanimous MVP last season, putting up monster numbers on a nightly basis. With Kevin Durant out for the next month, Curry will have the chance to reprise that role starting on Thursday against a Bulls defense that has allowed the 12th-most fantasy points to point guards.
Nicolas Batum, CHA at PHO ($7,300): Batum has an excellent match-up on Thursday, against a Suns defense that has allowed the fourth-most fantasy point to shooting guards over the last 10 games. He is coming off of a poor five points, seven rebounds, four assists effort in his last outing so will hope to bounce-back to the level of his previous game in which he popped for 31 points, eight rebounds and four assists against the Clippers.
Rajon Rondo, CHI vs GS ($5,200): Rondo has played well in his last two games, both of which Michael Carter-Williams sat, in which he has averaged 17 points, five assists, three rebounds and 2.5 steals. MCW was a full participant in practice on Wednesday, but Rondo's minutes didn't change much with Carter-Williams out so he should still have the chance to produce either way.
Draymond Green, GS at CHI ($8,300): For the record, I think Jimmy Butler is the forward with the biggest fantasy points total on Thursday. But I also think that's a common expectation, and I want to discuss some other small forwards in this article. Green has been disappointing of late, from a DFS perspective, though he did come alive with two big performances in his last two outings, both double-doubles that flirted with triple-doubles. With Kevin Durant done for the next month, Green may be the Warriors player whose role changes the most from a DFS point of view. No longer able to just focus on defense and ball movement, he will once again have to take on an active lead role as more of a distributor and especially more of a scorer, like he did last season. This boosts his stock and could help justify his price tag.
T.J. Warren, PHO vs CHA ($5,800): Warren has been the big beneficiary of the trade that sent P.J. Tucker to the Raptors. In the three games since, Warren has averaged 19 points, 6.3 boards, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals in 37 minutes per game. He will try to continue that positive play on Thursday, against a Hornets defense that has allowed the 16th-most fantasy points to small forwards this season.
Maurice Harkless, POR vs OKC ($4,800): Harkless has played well in an increased role since Evan Turner went down, averaging 12.6 points with 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 2.6 combined steals/blocks in his last five games. His Thursday opponent, the Thunder, has allowed the 14th-most fantasy points to small forwards this season.
Frank Kaminsky, CHA at PHO ($6,200): Kaminsky is the highest-priced center on the board on Thursday, but it is questionable if/how his role may change now that Cody Zeller is back in action. On Tuesday, it didn't matter, as Kaminsky still had a huge game against the Lakers with Zeller on a minutes restriction. But no announcement has been made on how much Zeller will play on Thursday, or if he even still will get his starting gig back with how well Kaminsky has played. Kaminsky still has a chance to be what he's been of late, but he's a riskier pick now.
Jusuf Nurkic, POR vs OKC ($5,400): Nurkic scored 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in his last game, a nice bounce-back from the eight points and four rebounds he generated in the previous game against the Raptors. While consistency may be an issue, Nurkic has shown in three of his four outings for the Trail Blazers that he has the talent to produce good numbers as their starting center.
Alan Williams, PHO vs CHA ($4,900): This is a "go for it" type pick -- low/moderate risk but high reward. Williams has moved into the rotation recently for the Suns, first because Tyson Chandler hurt his ankle and now because the Suns have seemingly committed to a youth movement. In the seven games he has been in the rotation, Williams has produced two monster efforts. And even though his last game wasn't huge, the fact that he could be productive against a Grizzlies defense that has allowed the fewest fantasy points to centers on the season speaks well of Williams' potential to do more damage against a more vulnerable defense like the Hornets.
