We have a typical jumbo-sized Wednesday slate with 11 games on tap, offering us a bevy of options across the salary cap. As customary, there are some players who are shaping up as strong potential point-per-dollar values, while others that look like they are carrying salaries that aren’t commensurate to how they’ve performed thus far.
As customary, we’ll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.
Guards
LaMelo Ball, CHA vs. TOR ($44): Ball has gotten the new season off to a stellar start, averaging 50.4 Yahoo points per contest over his first four games. Ball has already flashed a ceiling north of 60 Yahoo points and is shooting a career-best 41.7 percent from three-point range on a whopping 12.0 attempts from behind the arc per contest in his first three games. Although Toronto has made shooting difficult for point guards in the early going this season, Ball’s usage and across-the-stat-sheet upside makes him a potential steal even at his elevated salary.
Jeremy Sochan, SA at OKC ($22): Sochan is a prime example of a player who’s outperformed his salary to date, as the third-year pro has opened the season averaging 34.3 Yahoo points per game while shooting a career-best 52.3 percent. The 2022 first-round pick has also upped his aggressiveness offensively, taking a career-high 14.7 shot attempts per contest while pulling down 9.0 rebounds per game as well. Considering how integral he’s been to the Spurs on both ends of the floor thus far, Sochan could deliver very strong value relative to salary Wednesday.
ALSO CONSIDER: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC vs. SA ($55); Dennis Schroder, BKN at MEM ($23)
Guard to Avoid
Donovan Mitchell, CLE vs. LAL ($45): The issue here with Mitchell is primarily salary. The fact is, he just hasn’t quite lived up to it yet early this season. The standout guard has been at 37.9 Yahoo points or fewer in three of his first four games, posting solid numbers that are not necessarily to the level you’d want to see if investing this highly at one position. The Lakers are allowing a middling 44.4 percent shooting to two-guards thus far as well, and options below Mitchell in salary that could well outproduce him include Ball (listed above), Tyrese Maxey ($43) and Trae Young ($41).
Forwards
Jaylen Brown, BOS at IND ($37): Brown has opened the season in typically reliable fashion, averaging 42.4 Yahoo points over his first four games while scoring no fewer than 34.9 Yahoo points in any one contest. The star wing has accomplished those numbers despite shooting just 40.7 percent thus far, a figure that’s naturally bound to rise given Brown’s body of work throughout his career. It’s also worth noting the majority of his efficiency issues thus far have come from in front of the arc, as he’s drained 39.3 percent of his three-point attempts. Given the ultra-safe floor and expansive ceiling, Brown is an excellent way to not break your bank while still giving yourself a shot at a standout fantasy return.
Rui Hachimura, LAL at CLE ($20): Hachimura has far exceeded expectations in the early going, and he’s done so with the help of elite 61.5 percent three-point shooting. That number will come down eventually by a significant amount, but for the moment, the veteran forward is riding a hot hand and is averaging 33.1 Yahoo points per contest, making his salary all the more eye-catching. Hachimura has also stepped up his rebounding, pulling down between seven and 10 boards in each of his last three games. Despite sharing the floor with plenty of high-usage options, Hachimura has found his way to a solid 14.3 shot attempts per contest in his starting role and could certainly deliver a strong return on investment again Wednesday.
ALSO CONSIDER: Paolo Banchero, ORL at CHI ($41)
Forward to Avoid
Deni Avdija, POR at LAC ($31): Avdija has gotten off to an unremarkable start in his new Portland digs, averaging 9.3 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.5 steals while shooting an abysmal 28.9 percent thus far. He’s averaged 25.9 Yahoo points per game thanks to solid stats in non-scoring categories, but this is still too high a salary for a player in this deep of a shooting funk. While Avdija will undoubtedly boost his numbers up over time, there are better ways to allocate salary Wednesday.
Centers
Chet Holmgren, SA vs. OKC ($38): Holmgren carries a salary $16 below that of Anthony Davis atop the center player pool, yet he’s averaging an elite 57.4 Yahoo points per game over his first three contests. The 7-foot-2 star has wasted no time racking up the rebounds (13.0 per game) and blocks (4.0 blocks per game) in the early going, but he’s also averaging 23.7 points, 13.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest. Holmgren has essentially been matchup-proof, and despite the daunting presence of Victor Wembanyama down low Wednesday, the fact Holmgren has been able to significantly outpace his current salary thus far makes him highly worthy of a look.
Andre Drummond, PHI vs. DET ($26): Drummond continues to hold down the starting center role during Joel Embiid’s (knee) season-opening absence and doing so with plenty of success. The veteran is averaging 32.8 Yahoo points per game over his first three contests, and he’s come just a point and a rebound short in two different games of opening the season with three consecutive double-doubles. The big man is back in play again Wednesday against his original team and is coming in with two full days of rest after logging 37 minutes against the Pacers on Sunday.
ALSO CONSIDER: Anthony Davis, LAL at CLE ($54)
Center to Avoid
Jonas Valanciunas, WAS vs. ATL ($27): Valanciunas is sporting a salary commensurate to his production from prior years, as he’s been under 20 Yahoo points in two straight and is averaging just 22.1 Yahoo points per contest thus far on the season. The veteran big man scored a modest 19.8 Yahoo points in this same matchup against the Hawks on Monday, and given he’s yet to top the 22 minutes he logged in that game, I’m not comfortable laying out a salary close to $30 for him.
