Fantasy Basketball Player Props for January 22: Jalen Green, Kevon Looney, De'Aaron Fox, Daniel Gafford and More
Morgan identifies some NBA player props to maybe take advantage of on Sleeper for January 21.
After putting together a fantasy basketball DFS lineup on Tuesday, January 21, I’m back to show another way for fantasy owners to have some fun.
Today, we’ll put together a list of basketball picks on Sleeper’s app. We’ll again use FantasySP’s projections and defensive rankings for help in our decisions.
I’ll highlight a few of my favorite picks across several stats and let you pick the ones you like the best for your entry.
This article has been updated, taking out any players from the Bucks, Pelicans game. That contest has been postponed.
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Points
Jalen Green - OVER 21.5 points (1.74 multiplier)
Green is projected for 24.5 points tonight, so I like the 21.5 line he’s getting. He only scored 19 points in his last game, but topped 22 points in the nine games before that.
Green has a below-average matchup coming against the Cavaliers, but I’m trusting his recent trend instead. The teams have not met this season, but Houston plays Cleveland two times in a row, so this might be a pick that works for you twice.
Walker Kessler - OVER 8.5 points (1.66 multiplier)
Kessler is projected for 12.3 points tonight, which is comfortably over his 8.5 line. He’s scored at least nine points in seven straight contests, and is coming off a 19-point showing.
Oklahoma City is a pretty average matchup for Kessler, but with the team’s top big men out, I like Kessler to have his way down low. In a December 3 matchup, Kessler went for 17 points, which is another reason why I really like him tonight.
Collin Sexton - OVER 17.5 points (1.72 multiplier)
Sexton is projected for 20.8 points tonight, which is again comfortably over his 17.5 line. He’s tallied at least 20 points in six straight games and gotten there in 11 of the past 12 games.
He’s got a very tough matchup ahead against OKC, and scored 17 points against them in the first regular season matchup, but I’m trusting his recent numbers and saying Sexton gets to at least 18 points tonight.
Rebounds
Kevon Looney - OVER 6.5 rebounds (1.65 multiplier)
Looney is projected for 9.8 rebounds, which is way over his line for tonight. He’s gotten to at least seven rebounds in five of the past six games.
The matchup against the Kings also sets up well for Looney. He only had five rebounds when the teams met a couple weeks ago, but he’s been playing more and rebounding better since that point, so I like this pick tonight.
Ausar Thompson - OVER 5.5 rebounds (2.03 multiplier)
Thompson is projected for six rebounds, but the multiplier is a great bonus. He’s had six or more rebounds in three of the past four games, and is coming off a nine-rebound game.
The matchup against the Hawks sets up well for Thompson. He has not played against Atlanta yet this season.
Assists
De'Aaron Fox - OVER 5.5 assists (1.64 multiplier)
Fox is projected for 7.3 assists in this contest, which is one of the bigger over marks for assists. He’s topped that number in three straight games, and had 13 assists in the last game he played in.
Fox is set up for success against the Warriors, but has not played against them this season.
Blocks
Daniel Gafford - OVER 1.5 blocks (1.66 multiplier)
Gafford is projected for 2.3 blocks, tied for the most on the night. He’s had at least two blocks in three straight games, and is coming off a seven-block performance.
Against Minnesota this regular season, he had one block in the first meeting and then one block in the second clash. I think he gets at least two tonight and keeps his upward trend in blocks going.
Steals
Alperen Sengun - OVER 0.5 steals (1.37 multiplier)
Sengun is projected for 1.5 steals tonight, which is about as good a projection over his mark as you’re going to get here. He didn’t have a steal in his last game, but had at least two steals in the four games before that.
He has not gone up against Cleveland this season. The matchup says Sengun is due for at least one steal tonight.
Big-Time Multipliers
If you are looking to really boost your profits, here are some big multipliers.
Taking Trae Young to not record a double-double would multiply your score by 2.02. Taking Devin Booker to get a double-double would multiply your score by 5.01. Having Stephen Curry achieve a double-double would multiply your score by 4.48. Getting Ja Morant to a double-double gets you a nice 3.18 multiplier.
Taking Jaden McDaniels to have at least one first quarter assist would multiply your score by 2.77.
DFS Recap
I mentioned a DFS lineup at the beginning of this article, and want to recap how that went before wrapping this article up. I put together a DraftKings lineup that included Tyrese Maxey, Tyler Herro, Mikal Bridges, Rui Hachimura, Wendell Carter Jr., Terry Rozier, Nikola Jovic and Jonas Valanciunas.
Things didn't go well, to say the least. For starters, Herro didn’t end up playing, so that was a goose egg for fantasy points.
Bridges (19.25), Hachimura (17.25), Rozier (17.25) and Valanciunas (19.75) also failed to hit 20 points, so I was really in a bad spot.
Maxey was easily my top performer, scoring 51.5 points. Jovic (29.5 points) and Carter (27) were both solid, but they couldn’t make up for the overall deficiencies of my team.
It’s just one day though, and we’ll be back to try things again.