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Hey everyone, this is a sponsored post from FanDuel. They gave me some money to play their games, and now I give you guys tips as best I can on which Clippers players to draft and not draft. All of the opinions I express and advice I give over the course of the season is my own.
The NBA season is upon us. The Clippers are already off to a roaring 3-0 start, and it's a good time to take a look at what you need to know if you're considering drafting any Clippers to your FanDuel teams this week. The three games this week are:
- Monday vs Phoenix
- Wednesday @ Golden State
- Saturday vs Houston
Now, in my opinion, it's too early in the season to read too much into matchups, but there's some clear signs here--the Clips are gonna have an easier time against Phoenix than the other two teams on the Slate. The Warriors and Rockets will both be hard-fought, emotional games.
If you play daily fantasy sports, you know how the drill goes: you draft a team, and every player is assigned a "salary". You have a certain salary cap that you're allowed to fill up. The trick is to draft players who will outperform their salary and not draft players who will perform worse than their salary.
Here are my player-by-player tips for who to pick up:
Players to draft:
- J.J. Redick: Efficient and underrated, Redick is a good pickup to go off in any given night. He doesn't get tons of attention, but he's the engine that makes the Clippers' offense run, and he's gonna score points and make threes consistently
- Blake Griffin: Bad matchups be damned, Blake Griffin is a monster to start this season and I don't see him slowing down any time soon. His mid-range game is on point and his decision-making is at an all-time high. He won't average 32 points on 64% FG for the season, meaning he's gonna dip eventually, but for now, ride the wave while it's high.
- Jamal Crawford: He might be valued low, but there's always that slim chance that he'll break out and give you 30 points on a relatively cheap salary. If you're out of options he's a high-upside guy.
- DeAndre Jordan: DJ will get you double-digit rebounds, and he's gonna get blocked shots too. He doesn't score a lot of points, but in leagues where a rebound is worth more than a point, I'll take the reigning rebound champ, especially in matchups against Phoenix and Golden State. Houston, if Dwight Howard plays, might be a different story.
Players to avoid:
- Chris Paul: CP3 is still good on the court, but until he gets his finger fully healed, I wouldn't pay too high of a price for him. Especially with Griffin on a tear, Paul has been able to contribute a little less offensively. If there were to be one game where I'd pick him and hope he goes off, it would be vs Golden State.
- Josh Smith: Smith has been blocking shots at an amazing rate so far, but he's given nothing offensively. He can't make shots, even around the rim, and he hasn't looked as versatile as he normally does with the ball. Smith will be fine over the course of the year, but for now I'd avoid him until he shows us that he's getting back on track.
- Lance Stephenson: I've been pleased with how Lance has performed, but he hasn't shown any potential for putting up big numbers. Right now, he's focused on playing within himself and learning how to play with the starters. In a few weeks, we might be telling a different story, but for now, I don't see him putting up good fantasy numbers.