Your Daily Fantasy Basketball picks for Feb. 23, 2017, include the great LeBron James and the DeMarcus Cousins-less Sacramento Kings.

The NBA is back and it gives us a solid six game slate. With the recent trades of DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans and Lou Williams to the Rockets, the teams involved will have to change their rotations and that will mean minute changes for the teams.

The trend of tonight’s slate will be about the trades the teams made that are playing. The Rockets back court could see less minutes for Eric Gordon and the Kings can see more minutes for their big men. It is important to look into the teams new rotations and try to get players who are now cheap who can get more minutes.

Let’s take a look at the games and pick the players who will help us win some money tonight. Good Luck everyone.

Point Guards

Kyrie Irving vs New York Knicks

Now that Kevin Love is out, Kyrie and LeBron have all the shots that they can handle. Derrick Rose is bad on defense and without Kevin Love, the game should stay close. Kyrie has been great and this game will be very high scoring with both teams playing little defense. Attack this game and start with Kyrie.

Jrue Holiday vs Houston Rockets

Whoever plays against the Rockets, you start them. With Tyreke Evans being traded that means Holiday will have the ball more in his hands. Also he now has a new toy in Demarcus Cousins to play with, that means his assist numbers will go up. He has the two best big men in the game and this is a very fast paced game with little defense going to be played, Holiday is a great pick for tonight.

Derrick Rose vs Cleveland Cavs

The Cavs and Knicks might score 250 points combined tomorrow night. Since Kyrie has to take on a much bigger role in the offense, his defense has been worse than usual. Opposing point guards vs the Cavs have been great in the last five games and that trend will continue. Rose is a good play tonight and he will be a good pivot off of the higher priced PGs on the night.

Darren Collison vs Denver Nuggets

The Nuggets are a bottom three team against the point guard defensively. Now that Cousins is gone, Collison is the man now in Sacramento and he will have the green light to shoot whenever he wants. Collison is a great pick for tonight.

Shooting Guards

Evan Fournier vs Portland Trailblazers

Now that Serge Ibaka has been traded, that opens up more shots for Fournier. Fournier will be in a great matchup vs Portland whose backcourt may be the worst defensively in the league. He is now healthy and will take on a much bigger role in the offense.

Will Barton vs Sacramento Kings

Barton has been moved to the bench and that is a good thing for his value. He now will run the second unit and Barton will get to shoot as much as he wants. The Kings now without Cousins will respond in two wins, give in and let other teams drop 120 on them or man up and still allow 120 points. Either way, attack the Kings in every game possible for the rest of the season.

Buddy Hield vs Denver Nuggets

Buddy was traded to the Kings and the GM thinks he can be the next Stephen Curry. Spoiler alert, he’s not. What does that mean for his fantasy purpose now? The Kings will play him a lot and let him shoot the ball since he is one of the best players on the roster now. There’s a chance he might not be ready to play yet, so make sure he is in the lineup before you play him tomorrow and if he is, load up on Buddy.

Small Forward

LeBron James vs New York Knicks

LeBron James has been on a roll ever since Kevin Love has been out. That will continue versus the Knicks. This isn’t a newsflash but the Knicks are bad on defense. Last time LeBron played the Knicks, on Feb. 4, he dropped 32 points, five rebounds and had 10 assist. That was without Kevin Love. LeBron will come close to dropping 40 and his rebounding numbers will go up. LeBron will have a triple double tonight.

Tyreke Evans vs Denver Nuggets

Evans goes back to Sacramento where he started his career and now along with Collison, this is their team. Evans might still be on a minute restriction but if he is starting and is playing at least 25 minutes, he will give you great value. Again, check the lineups and make sure he is in there. Evans can return to his glory days now that he is back in Sacramento and go back to the player who averaged 20/5/5.

Power Forward

Kristaps Porzingis vs Cleveland Cavs

Porzingis will be matched up against Channing Frye. Frye is a horrible defender and Porzingis should have his way against him. His price tag is low and with the high pace of this game, he should have no problem grabbing double digit rebounds and scoring 20 points.

Frank Kaminsky vs Detriot Pistons

Kaminksy has been crushing value with the injury to Cody Zeller. The matchup against the Pistons isn’t great but power forward is not very good on this slate and his can give you value. With the bad matchup versus the Pistons he should be at a low ownership and that is what you want in tournaments. Continue to ride the hot hand of Kaminsky tonight.

Center

Nikola Jokic vs Sacramento Kings

Now that Demarcus Cousins is gone, the Kings might have the worst two centers in the league. Nobody on the Kings roster will come close to holding Jokic to less than 20 points and 10 rebounds tonight. Jokic has been a top three center this year and in this matchup he has the chance to be the highest scoring player on the slate.

Willie Cauley-Stein vs Denver Nuggets

The trade of Demarcus Cousins has affected this whole slate and Cauley-Stein will have the biggest benefit. I’m guessing that Cauley-Stein will get the first shot at starting and if not he should see a big uptick in minutes still. He has been a good fantasy point per minute guy this year and this is his time to shine. Cauley-Stein has a low price and in a fast pace game versus the Nuggets, he should have no problem hitting value.