EuroLeague Primer: Round 16 - Wednesday

EuroLeague Primer: Round 16 - Wednesday

This article is part of our EuroLeague Primer series.

PREGAME UPDATES

THE SLATE

FC Bayern Munich at Zalgiris Kaunas

Key Injuries: Vladimir Lucic (MUN), Patricio Garino (ZAL), Steve Vasturia (ZAL)

Best Bets for Success: It appears Lucic will remain sidelined Wednesday, which means Jalen Reynolds and Wade Baldwin will carry the load for the German team. Baldwin has surpassed the 25-point mark twice on DraftKings in Lucic's three-game absence, and Reynolds put up at least 31.8 points in two of those contests. It will be a battle on the glass Wednesday, as Reynolds -- third in the league at 6.9 rebounds per game -- faces a Zalgiris team that is allowing the fewest rebounds in the league. The big men for the Lithuanian club are playing well, but Bayern has been one of the best against opposing frontcourt players, so Marius Grigonis remains the team's top option. Grigonis isn't taking as many shots as much as you'd like, but he is shooting the ball as well as anyone in the league, and he is picking up the pace in the assist department.

DFS Darlings: Zalgiris' frontcourt players may be a bit too pricey for this matchup, but if they are contained Thomas Walkup could do more scoring than he usually does, and he can be considered on DraftKings below the $8,000 mark. Arturas Milaknis, who hit eight three-pointers over the last two Rounds, could also be worth a dart throw at just $4,800. Paul Zipser will be an option for Bayern, as he too would benefit from Lucic's absence and averaged 21.8 DraftKings points over the last eight Rounds.

Olympiacos Piraeus at Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul

Key Injuries: Georgios Printezis (OLY), Jan Vesely (ULK), Alex Perez (ULK)

Best Bets for Success: Nando de Colo and Kostas Sloukas shared the same backcourt last season, and they will get their first opportunity to face each other in Round 16. It took Sloukas a while to find his footing with Olympiacos, but he has looked like last year's version of himself of late, averaging 14.0 points, 7.8 assists and 31.4 DraftKings points over the last four Rounds. de Colo's minutes have been limited since he returned from a month-long absence, but he has appeared in a total of five games now, so the training wheels could be ready to come off. If de Colo does handle a full workload, he has a better chance to return value on DraftKings than Sloukas, as he checks in at a season-low $9,500 while Sloukas carries a $10,000 price tag for the first time.

DFS Darlings: Lorenzo Brown has done little since de Colo returned, but he makes for a good gamble on DraftKings at just $6,800. Brown's price was in five-figure range less than two weeks ago, and he and de Colo showed early in the season they can produce at the same time. Plus, Olympiacos has not been that stingy on opposing guards. For the same reason you can consider Marko Guduric if he plays, as his track record alone makes him a potential bargain. Fenerbahce has had no success slowing opposing big men, and Printezis will miss another Round, so all of Hassan Martin, Kostas Papanikolaou, Sasha Vezenkov and Livio Jean-Charles have some degree of appeal. Martin provides the most value at his current price, but any of the four are capable of leading the pack in fantasy points, so you could use one or two of them to round out a lineup.

TD Systems Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at AX Armani Exchange Milan

Key Injuries: None

Best Bets for Success: Pierria Henry and Achille Polonara have both been rolling on DraftKings, with Henry averaging 27.6 points and Polonara putting up 30.9 points per contest on that website since the start of December. While Polonara has the edge in that department, he won't have the matchup in his favor, as Milan has been tough on opposing frontcourt players but fairly friendly to opposing guards. Both players are getting a little pricey, but they're also returning some of the most average value on the board. Six different players have led Milan in fantasy points over their last eight games, so they have a number of players who could land here. Baskonia has been equally as tough on big men as Baskonia, and they're also allowing the second-fewest points to opposing guards. So, we'll go right in the middle and choose forward Shavon Shields as Milan's top choice in this one. Shields has scored in double figures in all but two games since the start of November, and he averaged 24.5 points on DraftKings over the last eight Rounds.

DFS Darlings: With a lot of poor matchups for a lot of players, there won't be much for value in this game. Luca Vildoza deserves consideration at just $7,200 on DraftKings, as though he did not do much last week after returning from a back injury, he looked more like himself in Baskonia's domestic league game over the weekend. While Baskonia has contained opposing guards, Kevin Punter is talented enough to overcome that, and Milan's leading scorer is also worth considering on DraftKings at $8,000.

Khimki Moscow Region at Valencia Basket

Key Injuries: Greg Monroe (KHI), Sergei Monia (KHI), Louis Labeyrie (PAM), Vanja Marinkovic (PAM), Guillem Vives (PAM)

Best Bets for Success: Alexey Shved remains the most likely player on Wednesday's slate to have a big day, as the 39.5 points he put up on DraftKings in Round 15 were the fewest he has recorded this month. That type of production doesn't come cheap, and Shved is now up to an even $14,000 on that website. Even at that price, though, he is returning some of the most average value on the board. Valencia's Bojan Dubljevic still isn't scoring regularly, but he has been producing in fantasy contests, putting up at least 20 points on DraftKings in seven of his last eight games.

DFS Darlings: This game has one of the highest over/unders we have seen this season, and each team has been one of the worst against players at a certain position, so it will be ripe with value plays. Khimki has had a lot of issues with opposing guards, which sets up Klemen Prepelic for a nice day. If Vives sits, Martin Hermannsson will be in play as well. Valencia remains the worst against players at the forward spots, so Janis Timma will be a nice low-cost option on DraftKings at just $6,100. It's a bit of a stretch since they're listed as centers, but Jonas Jerebko and Jordan Mickey have some forward traits, so they get a bit of a boost as well.

The author(s) of this article may play in daily fantasy contests including – but not limited to – games that they have provided recommendations or advice on in this article. In the course of playing in these games using their personal accounts, it's possible that they will use players in their lineups or other strategies that differ from the recommendations they have provided above. The recommendations in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of RotoWire. Kevin O'Brien plays in daily fantasy contests using the following accounts: FanDuel: kevob100, DraftKings: kevob100.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kevin O'Brien
Kevin mans the Packers and Brewers beats and moonlights as RotoWire's Director of Operations.
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