This article is part of our Yahoo DFS Basketball series.
Sunday's NBA slate is a meager one, with just 10 teams in action starting at 3:30 PM Eastern time. Even with the limited number of games, there are still plenty of strong value plays to be found. Read on to see which players to target and which to avoid.
GUARD
Donovan Mitchell, UTA at MIA ($31): Mitchell's average of 30.7 fantasy points is brought down by the rookie's low-usage start, as he averaged just 14.6 over his first five NBA games. He continues to improve in front of our eyes, having mustered 36.6 fantasy points per contest in the past six games. Mitchell's price is likely to keep climbing, so grab him at an affordable rate while you still can.
Raymond Felton, OKC at PHO ($10): Felton's provided tremendous value relative to his minimum valuation recently, averaging 21.8 fantasy points per contest in the past four. Maintaining that momentum should be easy against an awful Suns team that's allowing a league-high 112.4 points per game. The backup point guard could also get more minutes than usual given the high likelihood of the Thunder building a big lead and resting their starters.
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GUARD TO AVOID
Goran Dragic, MIA vs. UTA ($27): This seems like a great buy-low opportunity considering Dragic has reached 46.5 fantasy points in two of his past three appearances. That's unlikely to be the case, however, as Utah has allowed the fourth-fewest points per game to the point guard position (36.2). The Jazz have been even better of late, allowing just 31.5 fantasy points over the past five games.
FORWARD
Kawhi Leonard, SA at POR ($37): Leonard took a few games to get back up to speed, but he's starting to look like the guy that almost won MVP last year with over 49.0 fantasy points in each of his past two appearances. His price should steadily climb now that Leonard's proven to be healthy and as good as ever, and a Portland team that has cooled off considerably after a hot start is unlikely to slow his ascent.
Taurean Prince, ATL at LAL ($23): Prince has flown under the radar in Atlanta, but fantasy owners have benefited from his consistent contributions. The second-year small forward has been exceptional in his past five games, averaging 14.6 PPG and 8.2 RPG with two double-doubles. Los Angeles allows the third-most fantasy points to small forwards (38.5), so another excellent Prince performance should be coming.
FORWARD TO AVOID
Kristaps Porzingis, NY at DAL ($42): New York's been awful on the road, and Porzingis seems unlikely to help reverse that trend after averaging just 30.0 fantasy points per game in his last three. Meanwhile, the Mavericks have defied their record when it comes to defending power forwards, holding the position to just 18.0 PPG and 37.7 fantasy points per game -- fourth-lowest and ninth-lowest in the league, respectively.
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CENTER
Dirk Nowitzki, DAL vs. NY ($15): The Knicks have serious trouble defending stretch bigs, allowing the sixth-most made three-pointers to centers and the second-most makes from beyond the arc to power forwards. This plus matchup is the cherry on top of what is already a great situation to use Nowitzki, who's been thriving lately with at least 27.6 fantasy points in all but one of his past seven appearances.
Tyson Chandler, PHO vs. OKC ($11): Chandler has been fantastic at cleaning the glass recently, grabbing 10.8 RPG in his past six games. He's facing a Thunder team with two of the league's premier chuckers in Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony Sunday, and even Steven Adams' prowess on the glass shouldn't be enough to stop Chandler from racking up rebounds. At $11, he's a low-risk, high-reward pick also capable of knocking in double-digit points on occasion and blocking the odd shot.
CENTER TO AVOID
Hassan Whiteside, MIA vs. UTA ($29): This slate's most expensive center is unlikely to be its highest scoring one, as Whiteside has neither momentum nor matchup on his side. Miami's often chosen to go small in key situations such as Thursday's overtime against the Knicks, benching Whiteside for floor-stretching big man Kelly Olynyk. With that in mind, it's not surprising Whiteside is averaging just 26.0 fantasy points over his past five games. Things are unlikely to get better against a slow-paced Jazz squad that's allowing the third-fewest fantasy points to centers (36.0).
