RADIO
The NBA was on hiatus, so you missed my normal Tuesday piece last week. If you miss me, I'm still doing other things here at Rotoballer. College basketball has DFS and it's about to overload the NBA for a few days. Not here though. The NBA has center stage with seven games going on. If that isn't enough to get you excited, how about the return of C.J. McCollum? We'll get to how that affects the Blazers later.
Anthony Davis, Joel Embiid, and John Wall are the big names that are already confirmed out on this slate. The absence of Embiid really makes me question my golden rule of never punting center on FanDuel. Is Tony Bradley still a punt with Embiid out? We'll check into that as well. We've got a fun one coming up! Let's make some money before the NCAA Tournament starts!
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 3/16/21. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at guard, forward, and center on FanDuel, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. You can also check out DraftKings lineup picks and injury news before lineups lock. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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FanDuel DFS Guards
Trae Young, PG – at Houston ($9,000)
Houston resembles a G-League team most of the time and Young is a full $1,100 cheaper than Damian Lillard tonight. Oh, and this is the best matchup in the league for opposing point guards. Young was ineffective in 27 minutes of court time against the Cavs on Sunday. It seems like it was more the big lead that the Hawks had that enabled them to limit the minutes and not his sore quad that necessitated it. At any rate, this is a great spot for Young so long as the sore quad isn't lingering. Enjoy the price break!
Dennis Schroder, PG – vs. Minnesota ($6,200)
The Timberwolves are bleeding fantasy points from every orifice right now. They are arguably the worst defensive team in the league and are in the bottom third of the league in fantasy points allowed at every position but SF. The Lakers have adapted well to life without A.D. since they moved Kuzma into the starting lineup and started letting Schroder play on the ball more. Schroder has played 34 or more minutes and has at least 30 FanDuel points in each of the last three games. He's catching fire just in time to torch the Timberwolves.
Immanuel Quickley, SG – at Philadelphia ($5,200)
This is a situation to keep an eye on. The only thing that we know for sure is that Derrick Rose is out again. Austin Rivers is away from the team for the birth of his child, but he was close to returning last night, so who knows. The health of Elfrid Payton's hamstring will determine just how good of a play Quickley is. I would say that Payton will siphon more minutes from Alec Burks. That's the reason I'm willing to pay the extra $700 for Quickley. If all three are out again, both Quickley and Burks are superb value plays tonight.
Also consider: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($8,000), Anthony Edwards ($7,000), Jaylen Nowell ($4,500), Ty Jerome ($3,900)
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FanDuel DFS Forwards
Zion Williamson, PF – at Portland ($8,400)
This might be a good night not to pay up at forward. I'm a big Jimmy Butler fan like the rest of you, but that price is just too much against a team like Cleveland. We can get Zion for $2,600 less in what is likely a better matchup against Portland. The Blazers have been torn apart on the inside since Jusuf Nurkic went down again. Zion is a throwback in that he takes a lot of close shots and uses his body to take advantage of matchups on the inside. This is even worse for the Blazers. Zion had 54.2 FanDuel points in the first meeting with Portland. That should be close to what Butler does against Cleveland for a whole lot less.
Kyle Kuzma, PF – vs. Minnesota ($7,000)
Kuzma has three straight games over 5x value in March now. He has picked up a lot of the slack left out there with the absence of Davis. It's after the All Star Break now. The Lakers are going to start trying. They're a scary team when they do that. Minnesota is among the worst teams in the world trying to defend the interior. Kuzma hangs out there enough to really have a big game against this team. The heel looked fine last night, so I wouldn't expect the Lakers to limit his minutes. They did last night as Kuzma only played 28 minutes in the blowout win.
Kevin Porter, Jr., SF – vs. Atlanta ($6,000)
DraftKings has Porter as a point guard only. Fortunately, he's still a SF here on FanDuel. Victor Oladipo is a shadow of his former self. Eric Gordon, David Nwaba, and Wall are all still out. This team has an extreme lack of playmakers. Porter fills it well. He was carrying the G-League Rio Grande Vipers before his promotion. He's carrying the Rockets right now and still feels underpriced here. Boston was able to shut him down, but Utah wasn't. Atlanta shouldn't be able to. I see a nice bounce back game for Porter here.
Tony Bradley, PF – vs. New York ($3,500)
Bradley is minimum price? Oh, hell yeah! Embiid's absence is going to mean a lot of minutes for Bradley, D12, and maybe Mike Scott as well. Any time a minimum priced guy gets over 20 minutes, he has my attention. Forget about who starts. It doesn't really matter. Bradley has 59.7 FanDuel points over the last three games. He's obviously going to far surpass what is expected in this price range.
Also consider: Jimmy Butler ($11,000), Bam Adebayo ($8,500), Lauri Markkanen ($5,500), Otto Porter ($4,200)
FanDuel DFS Centers
Rudy Gobert – at Boston ($8,800)
Gobert had a staggering 28 rebounds against the Warriors over the weekend. He also scored 21 points! I would say that there's no way that he can match that, but here comes a very undersized Boston team that doesn't rebound or shoot all that well. Gobert has the best matchup among his teammates in this game. If the Jazz commit to feeding him again, I see no reason why Rudy won't go over 50 FanDuel points again. The absence of Embiid makes Rudy a slam dunk for cash games and a good GPP option as well.
Montrezl Harrell – vs. Minnesota ($6,500)
Center is the place to attack the Timberwolves. They are awful on the inside and the Lakers are finally starting to run Harrell 30+ minutes per game. His ceiling isn't as high as Gobert's, but it doesn't need to be. You can do a lot with the $2,300 savings. Harrell is an acceptable plan B if you're going to try to cram in guards tonight. Gobert's spot, while good, is not elite.
Dwight Howard – vs. New York ($5,200)
Embiid's absence means that Howard is guaranteed 25 minutes per night. With Embiid out, Howard averages nearly 1.2 fantasy points per minute. That's an elite rate at any price. Don't expect a big uptick in minutes. Howard is at the point of his career where he goes hard for half the game and that's it. However, 30 FanDuel points at this price will have us in the hunt in most GPP's.
Also consider: Clint Capela ($8,300), Wendell Carter, Jr. ($5,500), Justin Patton ($5,000)
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