Yahoo Perfect 5: Building around Luka Dončić, Joel Embiid and two Warriors’ value plays for Friday’s slate

Yahoo Sports is giving fans another way to play fantasy basketball with Perfect 5, a free-to-play game featuring each week’s NBA on Prime doubleheader. The rules are simple: pick five players, stay within a $15 budget and rack up fantasy points through scoring, rebounds, assists, defensive stats and 3-pointers. (remove if you want)

Friday’s slate features the Knicks at 76ers (7:30 p.m. ET) and Lakers at Warriors (10 p.m. ET). There’s plenty of star power, but the key to building a competitive lineup is finding value at the $1 and $2 salary tiers.

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I’m leaning into the Warriors’ affordable options while paying up for two players with 45-plus fantasy-point upside. Here’s my lineup:

My Perfect 5 lineup

Player

Team

Salary

Proj. pts

Luka Dončić

Lakers

$5

50.52

Joel Embiid

76ers

$4

44.24

Yaxel Lendeborg

Warriors

$2

38.79

Brandin Podziemski

Warriors

$2

34.15

Draymond Green

Warriors

$2

31.22

Total

$15

198.92

Luka Dončić – PG, Los Angeles Lakers – ($5, 66% picked)

Dončić is the most expensive and popular player on the board, but for good reason. He’s averaging 36 points, 8.3 assists, 6.8 rebounds and 5.3 triples through the early portion of the season. That’s an absurd amount of offensive production, and his 50.52-point projection leads Friday’s slate. Golden State presents a favorable matchup for a player who can control the pace, get to the line and generate points through scoring and playmaking. It’s an NBA Cup game and he’ll surely want to bark at Yaxel Ledenborg again; we ride.

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Joel Embiid – C, Philadelphia 76ers – ($4, 18% picked)

Embiid might be the best value among the premium players. He’s projected for 44.24 fantasy points, the second-highest mark on the board, yet costs a dollar less than Dončić, Karl-Anthony Towns and Tyrese Maxey. His projected line of 21.5 points, 10 rebounds and 4.8 assists may seem ambitious, but he always seems to play harder against the Knicks. At just 18% rostered, Embiid offers an appealing combination of production and low ownership. As always, monitor his availability and potential minutes restriction before locking him in.

Yaxel Lendeborg – SF, Golden State Warriors –…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/fantasy/article/yahoo-perfect-5-building-around-luka-doncic-joel-embiid-and-two-warriors-value-plays-for-fridays-slate-172233225.html

Author : Dan Titus

Publish date : 2026-10-30 17:22:00

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