NBA

3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 2/14/18

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The Atlanta Hawks

The Atlanta Hawks will be without Dennis Schroder, Kent Bazemore, Ersan Ilyasova, and Tyler Cavanaugh tonight, which will leave them quite short-handed for their meeting with the Detroit Pistons. Combine those four absences with the fact that regular rotation player Marco Belinelli was recently bought out, and Atlanta heads into this with three players who have averaged over 20 minutes per game.

Those three -- Dewayne Dedmon ($5,500), John Collins ($4,600), and Taurean Prince ($4,600) -- are all firmly in play, as are replacement options such as Tyler Dorsey ($3,800), Malcolm Delaney ($3,500) and Mike Muscala ($3,300).

The table below displays the usage rate and DraftKings points per minute of each player on the season and with Schroder, Bazemore, and Ilyasova off the floor. Top-end dudes such as Dedmon and Prince may be a bit riskier, as they could see their minutes limited some in a blowout. However, with a likely boost in usage and such a short rotation, they are still firmly in play.

Atlanta HawksSeason-long numbersWithout Schroder, Bazemore, and Ilyasova
PlayerUSG%DK PPMUSG%DK PPM
Dewayne Dedmon18.50%1.0115.80%1.00
John Collins19.40%1.0520.00%1.11
Taurean Prince21.10%0.8227.50%0.87
Malcolm Delaney17.70%0.7522.20%0.84
Tyler Dorsey19.60%0.7421.90%0.79
Mike Muscala15.40%0.8616.90%0.88


Collins stands out as perhaps the strongest play of the bunch, as his minutes are likely secure regardless of a blowout, and he has averaged well over a DraftKings point per minute. Prince's big usage bump without Schroder, Bazemore, and Ilyasova is intriguing for tournament play. Delaney, Dorsey, and Muscala all have been relatively efficient and could find themselves in the starting lineup tonight, making them worth a look in any format if trying to fit in some of the top-priced options today.