NBA DFS: Derrick Rose and best/worst DraftKings daily fantasy basketball plays for Monday, Oct. 28th

Welcome to your daily NBA DFS digest at FakeTeams, gents. Every day I’m here with a handful of pro-tips to roster a winning team just a few hours from now.

You might be new to fantasy hoops, so let me tell you this: the world doesn’t end in LeBron James. Each night gives us a pretty good batch of surprising performances and leaves us in the dust with more than a few upsetting outings by those we played. First world problems, carry on. That’s the beauty of this game. There are so many matches going on every single day and such a big roster available that you can’t fixate yourself in the very same player on and on but instead you need to keep things fluid.

So read on, take note, play cool, and win the day. (Player salaries pulled from DraftKings.)

Love: (PG) Derrick Rose, DET ($5400, vs IND)

The matchup against Indiana is dead-average, and Rose has been putting on a show to start the season as the leading man of this Pistons. Not only that, but the man himself has said—for some undisclosed and not understandable reason—that he’s been playing bad so far. That is, while he’s averaging 25.3 points, five dimes and a steal per game for 36.67 DKFP per contest and 1.39 DKFP per minute on the court.

Hate: (PG) Mike Conley, UTA ($7100 at PHO)

Mike Conley, on the other hand, has been terrible in his three games. He rebounded a bit in his last match with Utah (12 points, eight assists, three boards in just 24 minutes, the fewest he’s played this season, though) but that was against the cupcake-Kings and Phoenix should pose a much tougher matchup for the new Jazz-man. Conley is just averaging 10 points per and only his 5.3 assists are saving him, as the 20.75 DKFP per game mark isn’t looking any good for someone of his caliber.

Love: (SG) Josh Hart, NO ($4800, vs GS)

Not only can Josh Hart give fans great reactions to fools bouncing balls off their faces, but he can also ball as anyone in the league. Entering Monday’s contest against the Warriors, Hart could be the starting point guard (in real life, that is) if Jrue Holiday misses the game (completely possible) boosting his value even more. His salary has raised a whopping 31% from the last time, but he’s still cheap for his production. He’s playing 29.3 minutes, scoring 18 points and getting 7.3 boards a night. His 1.14 DKFP per minute played rank fourth among tonight’s slate SGs (only behind James Harden, Zach Lavine, and Devin Booker), and the Warriors have been, well, a little underwhelming to say the least.

Hate: (SG) Joe Ingles, UTA ($5300, at PHO)

Good Ingles enters tonight’s game with the 12th-highest salary among shooting guards. All of that while ranking 32nd among them in DKFP per game and 38th in DKFP per minute. That is ugly, same as the matchup against Phoenix (ninth-best defense in DKFP allowed). Ingles has played three games so far this season and even though he’s averaging a massive 28.7 minutes he’s only being able to score 5.7 points per game with 3.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists. A little bit of everything but not much overall.

Love: (SF) RJ Barrett, NYK ($6100, vs CHI)

The Knicks will look to get their first win against a Bulls (eigth-worst defense) team that is after that sweet .500 record. Barrett has taken the reigns of Manhattan from day one, as his 24.6% usage leads the team among those with more than 30 minutes played in the season. He’s also playing the most minutes (36.7) and scoring the most points (21.0). Sprinkle 5.0 boards, and 2.7 both assists and steals and you have a stud in Barrett.

Hate: (SF) Cedi Osman, CLE ($4800, at MIL)

Don’t fall for it! It’s a trap! Yes, Cleveland is facing Milwaukee, which happens to be the team conceding the most DKFP per game (yes, small sample size, but still). Osman is averaging 28.5 minutes per game but he’s only scoring seven points per, with just two rebounds to make for that along with an assist and a steal per game. All that has made him average 13 DKFP per game, a considerably low mark for someone with his role and price.

Love: (PF) Kevin Love, CLE ($8400, at MIL)

Kevin is back, he’s shooting three triples a game and scoring half of them, he leads the team in minutes and his 16 points per game rank third among his teammates. That could make for a good case to roster him, but just so you are happier and even more comfortable doing it, let me tell you Love also leads the Cavs in rebounds (15.5 per game) and assists (6.0). His current 48.13 DKFP pace ranks third only behind Pascal Siakam (48.13) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (massive 70.75) among eligible players in tonight’s slate.

Hate: (PF) Jonathan Isaac, ORL ($5300, at TOR)

The Magic have given Isaac 24 and 25 minutes in his first two games this season. Isaac’s answer? Two duds. He posted a 3/8/2 line in the season opener and an 8/4/0 line this past Saturday against Atlanta. Only his six combined blocks have pumped his scores a bit, but other than that he’s more than a risk to put on any of your teams. Almost anyone you can select from tonight’s roster would be a better pick, as only three players with at least 24 minutes of playing time per game are averaging lower DKFP per game.

Love: (C) Montrezl Harrell, LAC ($6400 at DET)

While Harrell has yet to start a game and is the official backup of Ivica Zubac, he’s more than doubling the latter’s minutes per game (as expected, 31.7 to 14.3). In his time on the court, Harrell has been a beast so far. He’s putting up averages of 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.0 dimes per contests to go with a sweet 0.7 steals and blocks to round things up. Going against Charlotte tonight he should eat as much as his chews can handle.

Hate: (C) Steven Adams, OKC ($6400 at HOU)

While the matchup is great (Houston is allowing the third-most DKFP per game to opposite teams), Adams isn’t playing that great during the first few games of the 2019 season. In two contests he’s averaging 28.5 minutes but only five points per game. Yes, he’s snatching 12.5 boards a night, but I don’t trust that number going forward. Other than that, his assists, steals and even blocks are almost nonexistent (one, one, and half one), and he’s turning the ball over more than once per game. His 0.86 DKFP per minute played is one of the worst averages among all centers, starters and backups included.