Top building blocks and fades for Friday's NBA DFS action - ESPN

Which players should you build around and which players should you fade in DFS as we tip off tonight's NBA action? Our experts have the answers.

Today's panel includes ESPN Fantasy's Joe Kaiser, Jim McCormick and Kyle Soppe as well as DFS expert Renee Miller.

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Players to build around

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Joe Kaiser -- Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks

Still priced under $5,000 on both sites, Parker put up 18 and 19 points in the two games leading up to Wednesday's seven-point effort against the Pistons. He is starting to get around 25 minutes on a regular basis and with that type of time on the court he has the scoring and rebounding ability to get to 25-30 DFS points. Parker isn't the most exciting play, but on a night with many stars in tough matchups, he is a safe play with a high floor at a low salary.

Jim McCormick -- Paul Millsap, Denver Nuggets

In order to afford the likes of Karl-Anthony Towns or Giannis Antetokounmpo (or both) tonight, it will require some savvy and shrewd decisions among players hovering around 5K on both sites. It appears Denver was patient with Millsap in his return from a wrist injury, as he was efficient in 23 minutes of action recently and should now near 25 minutes against a patchwork Memphis frontcourt. Given his reasonable price, Millsap is in a great spot to exceed value tonight.

Renee Miller -- Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors

I wanted to go with a Warrior here, and Green carries a very fair salary tonight. He gets a terrific matchup with the Hawks' frontcourt, a top 10 matchup for opposing fours that is even better against centers, should the Warriors play small tonight. Even when Green's shot volume is frustratingly low, he fills the stat sheet in every other category. Double-digit rebounds and assists aren't surprising from the versatile big man, and he should be able to rack up the blocks and steals tonight too. Power forward isn't exactly loaded today; I can see dropping down to Thaddeus Young or Jabari Parker, but if you're looking for the high floor/ceiling combination I love, lock in Green.

Kyle Soppe -- Dwight Howard, Charlotte Hornets

I wouldn't advise rostering big men against the 76ers on a regular basis, but this feels like a good spot to roll the dice. Howard has managed a total of just nine rebounds over his past two games and that has resulted in a significant salary cut. He still owns the sixth highest rebound rate in all of basketball this season however, so I have no worry that the days of double doubles will return in short order, and with Philadelphia having played last night, there is nice potential to chase here. Yes, I understand that Joel Embiid is playing in back-to-backs these days (though I'm still not confident in assuming he plays), but is that a major worry? In the three games in which Embiid was playing on no rest, an opposing big produced viable numbers (DeAndre Jordan notched 21 rebounds, Marcin Gortat had a double double, and Domantas Sabonis provided 10 points, six assists, and eight rebounds). With 20 teams in action, D12 makes for a nice contrarian play in tournaments.

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Players to fade

Joe Kaiser -- Alex Len, Phoenix Suns

Len has had some nice games lately as a scorer and rebounder, which puts him on the DFS radar tonight against Oklahoma City. I'm not falling for it, though. Steven Adams is a tough, physical player who will make rebounds difficult to come by for Len, and the Phoenix center doesn't score enough (8.4 PPG this season) to make up for a quiet night on the boards.

Jim McCormick -- Josh Jackson, Phoenix Suns

It's been fun to see Jackson finally break out as a scoring weapon for Phoenix. That said, he's still not entirely efficient when it comes to shot selection. Facing a Thunder team that features the perimeter defense of Paul George, I'm fading Jackson in an outing that could trend towards his fantasy floor.

Renee Miller -- Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets

Not only am I locking in Green tonight, I want one of Russell Westbrook or Stephen Curry to go with him, which somewhat limits my ability to pay for a $9-10K center tonight. Jokic was a let down in a good matchup with the Clippers the other night, and regardless of how bad they are, no one is considering Marc Gasol and the Grizzlies a great matchup. They play at the slowest pace in the league and give up the third-fewest fantasy points to opposing centers. I'm also considering that the return of Paul Millsap may take some adjusting to for the Nuggets' other frontcourt players. All in all, I can't justify paying up for Jokic given the huge slate and my other salary priorities. Even in lineups where I do spend at center, I'm looking at either the red hot Karl-Anthony Towns or Gasol himself.

Kyle Soppe -- Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City Thunder

There is always the chance that enough value opens up by lock to make this restrictive price tag a little easier to swallow, but I'm not counting on it. I understand that the matchup is as good as it's going to get, but do you really think Westbrook gets his full allotment of minutes on the first night of a road back-to-back in a game that the Thunder could win by 40 (we've seen it before with Phoenix)? Oklahoma City is 2.5 games away from not being in the playoff picture, but they are also 1.5 games away from being the three seed in the West, so I'm thinking they use this as a spot to recharge their energizer bunny. And hey, the Suns allowed just 102 points on Wednesday, their best defensive performance of February. Westbrook is simply too rich for my blood this evening.

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