James Harden is the highest-salary player available in Fanduel fantasy picks for March 30th, priced at $12,400 for March 30th's games. His Houston Rockets will be on the road on Thursday evening to face the Portland Trailblazers. The over/under for total points in the game is coming in high at 228.5 (bet365), meaning that a lot of fantasy players will be trying to get in on the scoring by taking the star players in the game. However, is James Harden a good player to take at this point in his season?
Harden is bothered by a wrist problem
Harden jammed his wrist in a game at Denver earlier this month.
The impact on his fantasy production wasn't noticeable immediately as he had 65.9 fantasy points and 74.9 in his next two games. However, he was below average in each of his most-recent two games, with just 52.7 against Golden State and just 41 against Oklahoma City. That production might seem acceptable, but for a player of his salary, fantasy pickers would have to hope for at least 60 fantasy points to feel good about taking him. When it comes to his stats, it's the scoring that has tapered off a little bit the last two games as he has scored just 24 and 22 points in his last two outings respectively.
That scoring might seem acceptable, but remember the standards are very high when it comes to the high-priced guys in fantasy.
There could be much better value in going with Portland's point guard, Damian Lillard in March 30th games. He is priced at $9300, a full $3100 below Harden, and he's playing at home. It's true that 50 fantasy points would be exceptional for Lillard, however at least the savings on salary could open up some other options when constructing your overall lineup.
Lebron James risky too
LeBron James is another player to avoid. He is at a price of $10,700 as Cleveland travel to Chicago to take on the Bulls. James has eclipsed the 50-point mark just once in his last four games for fantasy points. That stretch includes an egregious outing by his standards on March 27th when he had just 36.6 fantasy points against the San Antonio Spurs.
Furthermore, James had just 28.7 fantasy points in a game at Denver on March 22nd.
If you are looking for a small forward that's more of a budget pick, then Maurice Harkless of the Portland Trailblazers may be the way to go. He is listed among the starters at Rotowire.com for March 30th games and Fanduel price him at just $3500. Remember, the Houston/Portland game is expected to be high scoring according to the betting lines that are out there. If Harkless gets in on that then it shouldn't take much production for $3500 of fantasy salary to pay off.
