DraftKings: 3 fantasy sleepers for Jan. 12

Ekpe Udoh ($4,200)

There’s a chance you might be asking “Who is this guy?” and that might be a fair question considering he usually doesn’t play a ton of minutes. Udoh has only started getting noticed because of the injuries the Utah Jazz continue to have this season. Rudy Gobert, who’s out with his second injury, has given way for Udoh to pick up some extra minutes.

But the bigger factor for Udoh is that Derrcik Favors is being shopped around for trades. Favors is listed as questionable for tonight, making Udoh the starter. In his first role as a starter this season, Udoh scored 16 points, nine rebounds, four steals and two blocks. He’s a high efficiency shooter who’s eager to show what he has in bigger minutes.

The Jazz are best when they have a hulking bag man to throw lobs to, barrel down the lane and finish at the rim. Favors has been none of those things for them. They might be more encouraged to shop him than they already were because they realized Udoh might be a better fit for their team than Favors in the absence of Gobert.

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Udoh is a bit of a gamble tonight as well, considering we’re in uncharted territory with him playing this many minutes. DraftKings seems to believe that he’ll keep it up as they’ve increased his value by $700 dollars in two days. That’s an absurdly high amount for the DraftKings algorithm. The only downside for Udoh is he will be matched up against a rebounding machine in Dwight Howard. But at a $4,200 price, Udoh will get his numbers and maybe more.