This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
For this Sunday, we have an extremely short four-game slate. What's even more unusual is that we have to deal with all of these potent defense in such a small slate. The Miami Heat, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors and Utah Jazz are half the teams on the schedule and are all top-notch defenses. Avoid these teams and use as many players as you can against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers and Oklahoma City Thunder. So with that in mind, let's look at some values from those teams.
GUARD
Kevin Martin, MIN at PHX ($13) - Martin is typically not a great DFS play because he's simply a scorer, but his form and price make him enticing for Sunday. Martin had a terrible November, as he dealt with a number of injuries. Now that he's healthy, he appears to be back to his elite scoring form. In fact, over his last two games, Martin has 79 fantasy points. Even better, Martin took a combined 47 shots in those two games while playing a ton of minutes. Someone with that sort of upside should never be this close to a minimum price, especially against a defense that allows the fourth most points to shooting guards.
Trey Burke, UTA at OKC ($12) - Rudy Gobert has missed the last six games and it has helped open up some holes in Utah. Burke has been asked to take more minutes and has been putting up some good numbers lately. Since the injury, Burke is averaging 15 points, 5.0 assists, 2.4 rebounds and 0.4 steals across 28.4 minutes per game over his last five games. That is some great production out of a $12 player, as he is averaging more than 25 fantasy points a game in that span. That's 2X production on his price, which is as good as you can ask for on Yahoo. To put that into perspective, that would be Russell Westbrook averaging 112 fantasy points a game at his $56 price tag when in reality he is averaging 51 fantasy points a game.
GUARD TO AVOID:
Mike Conley, MEM at MIA ($29) - Conley has little upside and is definitely worth avoiding in a matchup like this. On Sunday, he has to square off against a Miami Heat defense that ranks in the top-three in nearly every defensive statistic. Most notably, the Heat rank second in the league in fantasy points allowed to point guards with their stifling defense. More worrisome is the form of Conley. Over his last six games, he is barely averaging 23 fantasy points a game, which is terrible value for his $29 price tag. This should be the lowest scoring game of the day, and it's better to avoid almost every player in a grinder like this, especially the point guard.
FORWARD
Gordon Hayward, UTA at OKC ($32) - Hayward has been one of the best scorers in the NBA the last few weeks and is worth using every day until he hits a slide. Hayward has scored at least 36 fantasy points in six consecutive games and has averaged just shy of 40 fantasy points a game over his last eight. In his last 10 games, Hayward is averaging 22.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.8 steals per game. That's good production from a $32 player, and he should be right back at it on Sunday, as he'll need to match a potent Thunder offense bucket for bucket. He actually played Oklahoma City in his last game and tallied 37 fantasy points, which he should have no problem duplicating.
Trevor Booker, UTA at OKC ($12) - You're probably noticing a trend here of Utah players and rightfully so. Not only do they face a Thunder team that has struggled defensively all season, they have underpriced players due to their lack of offensive production this year. Since the injury to Rudy Gobert, the team has played much more up-tempo and a higher-scoring brand of basketball. That injury also opened up some minutes for Booker, as well. Over his last four games, Booker is averaging 9.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.5 blocks per game. That's more than 24 fantasy points a game, which is an absurd value. That's the aforementioned 2X value that we get from Trey Burke as well and that's almost impossible to pass up on Yahoo.
FORWARD TO AVOID:
Serge Ibaka, OKC vs. UTA ($27) - Ibaka continues to be priced as a top-notch forward, but he's not producing like one. Ibaka has surpassed 28 fantasy points only twice in his last 12 games. That time almost directly correlates with the return of Kevin Durant, which is clearly hurting his numbers. Not only has his scoring gone down, but Durant has been stealing rebounds from him as well. Even worse about Ibaka on Sunday is the matchup. The Thunder square off against a Utah team that plays some of the best defense in the league. In fact, the Utah's best defensive player is Derrick Favors, who Ibaka will have to square off against Sunday.
CENTER:
Jon Leuer, PHX vs. MIN ($15) - There may not be a player deeper in a doghouse than Markieff Morris, and Leuer is reaping the rewards. Starting for Morris, Leuer has actually scored at least 24 fantasy points in seven of his last 10 games, averaging 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.7 blocks and 0.7 steals per game. That's about 25 fantasy points a game, which is fantastic value. With three of the top four centers squaring off against the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Memphis Grizzlies, let's use a cheap Leuer in a much better matchup.
CENTER TO AVOID:
Hassan Whiteside, MIA vs. MEM ($35) - Avoiding the No. 1 player at any position is risky, but there's not a lot to like about Whiteside on Sunday. Not only has his form been lacking, he has an incredibly tough matchup. Whiteside will have to square off against a stifling Marc Gasol, as the Grizzlies rank in the top-five in fantasy points allowed to centers this season. Gasol is also the type of center that can put Whiteside in foul trouble with his crafty and versatile game, which Whiteside has had a problem with throughout his career. What's even more concerning is that Whiteside has not surpassed 30 fantasy points in his last six games. That's about 23 fantasy points a game, which is simply terrible value for a $35 player.
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