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The NCAA tournament has grabbed the attention of many sports fans this weekend, but the NBA is still going strong and if you want to watch basketball at the highest level, then you should tune into some NBA action tonight as we have eight games going in the Association. It's been quite some time since I wrote an NBA DFS picks piece, but I've played every slate all season long and I'll definitely have some lineups going tonight on what looks like a pretty fun (and hopefully not too crazy) slate.
With both FanDuel and DraftKings having multi-position eligibility players, we'll have to attack slates accordingly to make our lineups as optimal as possible. That's where I come in! I'll look to find my personal top plays and values for tonight's slate. Things can change during the day as well, so I'll do my best to update as news comes out!
Here are my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel and DraftKings on 3/17/23. Keep an eye on RotoBaller’s NBA injury news and also our full NBA injury report today to stay up to date before lineups are locked. Happy St. Patrick's Day, by the way!
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DraftKings and FanDuel Guards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Trae Young vs. GSW (FD: $9900, DK: $9500)
Young is only $100 cheaper than Stephen Curry on FanDuel, but he's a full $1000 cheaper on DraftKings than his opponent tonight. I think a lot of folks will flock to Curry after his 40-point barrage the other night, but Trae is perfectly capable of putting up a crooked number here, too.
The Warriors have been pretty bad defensively this season compared to their usual standard and losing Draymond Green for tonight's game certainly isn't going to help that. They have little to no rim protection, so I would expect Trae to attack the rim off the dribble tonight and not just settle for threes. That's honestly when he's at his best, he has a lot of creative and unique moves on drives as his game is really patented after Steph's - and we know Curry can score in the paint, too. This game is going to be a shootout and I wouldn't mind pairing both point guards together in game stacks for tournament purposes.
Jaylen Brown @ POR (FD: $9200, DK: $8900)
I'm not sure you can find a higher ceiling play for around 9k than Brown. He's gone over 50 DK points in five of his last seven games and gets an excellent matchup here against Portland tonight, a team who simply hasn't played much of any defense at all this season. Ironically enough, Brown's worst game in that seven-game stretch was against Portland when he managed just 20 DK points in 25 minutes, but that feels more like a fluke than anything else, and if we get a full workload for him tonight, it's hard to imagine he won't be good for 45+ DK points against the Blazers.
Josh Green @ LAL (FD: $6200, DK: $6500)
Green is only SF-eligible on DraftKings, but I had to write about him somewhere, and he's only SG-eligible on FanDuel. We still need word on Kyrie Irving for tonight, but Luka Doncic has been confirmed out for Dallas. If Kyrie does play, that will ding the upside of using Green at this price a bit, but it should hurt Jalen Hardy's minutes and production much more. Green should start for Dallas tonight pretty much no matter what and let's not forget that Tim Hardaway Jr. is still questionable, too.
I love Green's game and he brings much more than just scoring to the table for fantasy purposes. He's been rebounding and passing the ball well, too, with 10 boards against Memphis last week and then seven assists in each of his last two games as well. If Irving is out, smash him into cash lineups, and if Kyrie does happen to play, then I think Green makes for a compelling low-owned GPP pivot.
Also consider: Stephen Curry @ ATL, James Harden @ CHA, Trey Murphy III @ HOU, and Coby White vs. MIN (if Caruso is out)
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DraftKings and FanDuel Forwards - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Jonathan Kuminga @ ATL (FD: $5400, DK: $4400)
The Warriors are a team I am looking to target for some value as they'll continue to be without Andrew Wiggins (personal issue) and won't have the services of their main glue guy, Draymond Green, who had the appeal of his 16th technical foul denied and has to serve a one-game suspension tonight.
Atlanta is a team that likes to push the pace and the Warriors will likely oblige them. Kuminga should draw the start at PF and can play some small-ball center, too, when Looney is off the floor as the Warriors' only other big man in the rotation at this point is JaMychal Green (who makes an interesting punt play, too).
In the eight games that Dray has missed so far this season, Kuminga is averaging 14.3 points, 3.9 boards, and 2.9 assists - nothing too spicy, but a few bad games in there are bringing his overall average down. He's a very talented young player who should have a lot more opportunity than usual tonight due to Green's suspension and this is a pretty solid matchup for him (and the other Warriors' big men, too).
Kenyon Martin Jr. vs. NOP (FD: $5600, DK: $5300)
The Warriors-Hawks might have a massive total tonight, but this Pelicans-Rockets game really interests me for DFS as it's coming in around 231 points as of right now, and I think it should be a close game based on how poorly the Pelicans are playing and how well Houston has played (compared to how badly they've played most of the season).
K-Mart Jr., who is listed as KJ Martin on DK and just Kenyon Martin on FanDuel, has been probably the steadiest contributor in Houston over the last month. Even now that their starting lineup is all healthy once again, K-Mart has continued to be productive and has gone 20-8 and 16-8 in his last two games, both Houston wins over Boston and LA. He's not splashy at all, and you'll probably want some other Houston guys if you're chasing a ceiling. But for cash games, Martin projects a very solid value in this price range with a pretty predictable outcome of around 25-30 fantasy points.
Xavier Tillman Sr. @ LAL (FD: $5400, DK: $5200)
So, Tillman is only available at the center position on DraftKings, but you can play him (or Wood or Collins) at PF on FanDuel tonight and roll some multi-center lineups (something I love to do). Tillman had a "meh" game last time out against Miami in a tough matchup but gets the Spurs tonight, and San Antonio has been one of the softest teams in the paint against opposing big men all season. Zach Collins is a skilled big man, but he is not a physical player and the Spurs have been letting opposing big men dominate all year long, especially after Jakob Poeltl departed for Toronto. Tillman has to be efficient as he hasn't been playing more than 25-28 minutes, but at this price and in this matchup, I think he can get it done.
Also consider: Anthony Edwards @ CHI, Bogdan Bogdanovic vs. GSW, Santi Aldama @ SAS
DraftKings and FanDuel Centers - NBA DFS Lineup Picks
Christian Wood @ LAL (FD: $6900, DK: $6700)
I was off Wood on the last slate because I simply didn't trust his coach to play him the minutes he needed to dominate and boy was I wrong! I don't want to make that mistake again, and I hope I am not chasing here, but I think Wood is still a pretty solid play tonight at this price point against a Lakers team that has allowed solid production to opposing big men. As I said with Josh Green, Kyrie's status matters here a bit as both Green and Wood (as well as Hardy) would be very attractive plays if Irving sits, but I think you can still play Wood even if Kyrie is in as his minutes are not at all affected by Irving, just his usage.
Zach Collins vs. MEM (FD: $7000, DK: $6500)
Collins sat out the last game for the Spurs, so he should be rested and ready to go for this one tonight. With Charles Bassey out, the only big men backing up Collins are Mamu and Gorgui Dieng, so we could see Collins play 30+ minutes tonight in a solid spot here against Memphis. The Grizzlies have been pretty rough on defense of late as they're clearly missing the interior presence of Brandon Clarke and Steven Adams. I like Collins here in tournaments, I think his price is high enough to scare off a lot of players, but he has an elite fantasy skill set and could put up a big score tonight, we've seen him do it already this year when the opportunity is there in good matchups.
Also consider: Joel Embiid @ CHA, Alperen Sengun vs. NOP, Kevon Looney @ ATL
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