FanDuel Price: $3,500
Projected FanDuel Points: 17.5
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.01
Last night, the NBA announced that Serge Ibaka would be suspended one game for his part in an altercation with James Johnson on Tuesday night. As a result, Ibaka will be on the sideline for Thursday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Second-year forward Pascal Siakam should start in his place, having started four games earlier this year.
So long as Siakam draws the start, he should produce at a high level. Through four games as a starter, he's put together an average of 28.6 FanDuel points across 26.8 minutes per game. Maybe most notable is his five total steals and four total blocks in those games, with FanDuel awarding three fantasy points per each in those peripheral categories.
Jonas Valanciunas and Jakob Poeltl could have a problem being effective if Kevin Love plays the majority of center minutes for Cleveland. Neither is accustomed to following shooters on the outside and, with Love averaging 5.8 three-point attempts per game, they could be sent to the bench early on. If that's the case, Siakam would almost have to take the spot of Ibaka, the Raptors' usual small-ball five.
Any way you cut it, Siakam should get some decent run in a game with the highest over/under (219.5) of the night.
Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.