What to Do When Kevin Durant Sits

There's no simpler or more frequently used strategy for finding value in daily fantasy basketball than switching an injured star for his immediate replacement. This works excellently when moving from New York Knicks SF Carmelo Anthony to backup Derrick Williams. For teams with one star, a cheap alternative has to make up the lost production.

On teams with two star players - like the Toronto Raptors with PG Kyle Lowry and SG DeMar DeRozan - the easy move is to roster the healthy one whenever one misses a game. For teams with two stars, the healthy one will assume a bigger workload and usage rate, allowing them to easily exceed value at an already high price.

An interesting scenario unfolds with a team like the Oklahoma City Thunder, which has two obvious stars in SF Kevin Durant and PG Russell Westbrook.

They also have PF Serge Ibaka. While Durant and Westbrook are routinely priced at the top of their respective positions, Ibaka comes at somewhat of a discount, due to the fact he regularly meets his floor, but rarely greatly exceeds it.

Due to their respective salaries and the scoring formats of some major DFS sites, it's difficult for Durant and/or Westbrook to return elite tournament value at the best of the times when they are playing together. Westbrook leads the league with a usage rate of 34.6%, while Durant is tied for 16th at 27.7%.

The only other teammates in the top 16 are SF LeBron James (fourth) and PG Kyrie Irving (seventh) of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Ibaka sits tied for 187th among qualified players, with an average usage rate of just 17.2%. Plenty of room for growth.

Durant has started 32 of his team's 39 games this season. It's already five more games than he played in 2014-15. But unlike during Westbrook's 2014-15 season, he has so far struggled to return elite tournament value with Durant out of the lineup. There are a few reasons for this.

Pricing: Westbrook entered the 2014-15 season priced as a good player, but not among the position's elite. Westbrook has recorded a high of three triple-doubles in just one season before posting 11 during the 2014-15 season (he has three this season). He set career highs for points, rebounds, assists and steals during that season.

Ownership: It took some time last season for DFS owners to clue into the fact of Westbrook being a must-start with Durant out of the lineup. With ownership being tied into the pricing algorithms on most sites, it also took a while until owners would have to debate his potential worth to their teams.

This year Westbrook's price has been near the level at which it concluded last season. Everyone is also fully aware of his worth to the Thunder, making him the obvious choice with Durant out of the lineup. Yet, due to his usage rate already coming in as the highest in the NBA, there's not that much more Westbrook can do with the extra space and opportunity.

The ownership is also so high for Westbrook when Durant's not in the lineup that unless he has his absolute best game, his owners won't reap any reward.

The Alternative: Ibaka's upside is much lower than that of both Durant and Westbrook, regardless of who is in the Thunder's lineup. He routinely hits his floor due to his modest salary, and season averages of 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.4 blocks. He has scored 20-plus points just five times this season, the same amount of times he has recorded at least 10 rebounds.

Two of those five games he recorded both 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds.

When Durant is out of the lineup and the Thunder have a plus matchup, ownership on Westbrook soars. Electing to roster Ibaka instead is the proper move in GPPs. He'll have a lower ownership, offer more cap relief and have an easier time returning value.

Westbrook's higher statistical and fantasy point averages keep him the proper choice in cash games.