RADIO
We have a busy night in the Association with 20 of the 30 teams in action. The Warriors, Hornets, Hawks, and Pelicans are all in the second night of a back-to-back. The Pelicans sat all three stars last night and John Collins was out for the Hawks so we could see the Pelicans at close to full strength. We may have to keep an eye on the Hawks and Warriors though.
The Bucks-Blazers has the highest implied total at 236.5. That's a spot for DFS goodness. Minnesota and Memphis aren't far behind. The Thunder/Suns matchup is the only one under 220 right now, but these lines can change a lot throughout the day. In this age of the NBA, rest is prevalent on the condensed schedule and we'll see news throughout the day that can turn this article on its ear.
This article will supply you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for the DraftKings on 4/2/21. You can also check out today’s FanDuel lineup picks. It’s also important to monitor injury news as a result of COVID-19 as the slate can completely change before line-up lock. Without further ado, let’s dive into the picks!
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DraftKings DFS Guards
Trae Young - PG, at Pelicans ($9,400)
The Pelicans have had issues with all guards this year. A guy that has moves like Trae and shoots like he does is going to be a big issue. The bad news is that Trae hasn't broken 50 DraftKings points since March 11. On a slate this size, we need him to go well past that. Young isn't really doing anything differently, he's just a streaky shooter that 's been mostly cold for a while now. He should be able to get a few more shots to drop against this defense, especially if they are missing several key pieces again.
Fred VanVleet - PG/SG, at Warriors ($8,200)
Tampa-ronto's guard corps are starting to look like a M*A*S*H* unit right now. The Raptors will be without the services of Kyle Lowry, Rodney Hood, Patrick McCaw, Jalen Harris, and Paul Watson. Most of those guys don't play anyway, but the only healthy guards on the team are VanVleet, the newly-acquired Gary Trent, and Malachi Flynn. That's it. VanVleet dominates usage without Lowry on the court as evident by his 52 DraftKings points on Wednesday night. I like Trent here too, but he doesn't have anywhere near the ceiling of VanVleet. It wouldn't surprise me if VanVleet were the highest-scoring guard on the slate with Luka playing the Knicks.
Ja Morant - PG, vs. Timberwolves ($7,600)
Morant still struggles with consistency, but this is an elite matchup against a Minnesota team that can't guard anyone. On top of that, Morant just lit up the Jazz, a solid defensive squad, on Wednesday. Sure, they were without Donovan Mitchell, but it was Mike Conley that was going to have Ja duty anyway. The Timberwolves don't have much of a defensive presence anywhere on that unit. If you're looking to take a GPP shot, Morant looks like a nice place to do so.
Kira Lewis, Jr. - PG/SG, vs. Hawks ($3,700)
Eric Bledsoe gets the bulk of the work with Lonzo Ball out, but Lewis has carved out a nice little role for himself. In the five games that Ball has missed, Lewis has topped 20 DraftKings points in four of them. That's well over 5x value and he can open up a lot with his price this low. A stable value pick is a must in DFS, especially in cash games. Lewis doesn't have a ton of upside, but he's plenty capable of giving you 6x value. You can do worse at this price.
Bonus Guards: Stephen Curry ($9,700), C.J. McCollum ($8,200), Nickeil Alexander-Walker ($6,200), Tomas Satoransky ($4,800)
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DraftKings DFS Forwards
Giannis Antetokounmpo - PF/C, at Trailblazers ($10,900)
After a dominant stretch, Giannis is in another lull. He struggled in both games against Boston and both games on the left coast swing have been blowouts so far. Still, Giannis hasn't hit 5x value in almost two weeks. This is a great place to get back to it. Portland struggles against forwards. They have for a few years now. Giannis only played 25 minutes in the first meeting with Portland and put up a pedestrian 33.5 DraftKings points in that one. If he plays his 40 minutes, there's a good shot at 60 tonight. With the Blazers nearly at full strength and adding another scorer in Norman Powell, I think they keep it close this time around. That could spell a big game for Giannis.
Jayson Tatum, - PF, vs. Rockets (9,100)
This is a great matchup for Tatum and the Celtics and boy, do they need it. Boston has lost six of nine games. Injuries have had something to do with it, but not all. Tatum is carrying the Celtics right now. Just because the team is struggling doesn't mean that Tatum is. He has cleared 55 DraftKings points in two of the last four games. There's a good chance that he hits that here against Houston. We have little reason to think that Boston is going to blow them out. They aren't doing that to anyone of late.
OG Anunoby - PF/C, vs. Warriors ($6,800)
We've seen this from OG before, right? He had a string of game where we saw this from him last year. Pascal Siakam and Chris Boucher have been struggling of late. OG has stepped up with seven straight games over 32 DraftKings points. I don't usually like running guys against the Warriors, but this is one place where I think it's warranted. Outside of VanVleet, Anunoby has been the only other reliable piece of this team. That may change once Lowry returns, but for now, OG is making this price tag look like a pittance for the numbers that he's producing.
Jaden McDaniels - SF/PF, at Grizzlies ($4,900)
Considering that McDaniels continued his strong run against the Knicks, I'm willing to run him against just about anyone right now. He's not the type of guy that's going to break a slate. In all honesty, his ceiling probably already happened against Brooklyn when he put up 39.25 DraftKings points. I still have room for 6x value in my lineup. That's about the floor from McDaniels right now. That may change when D'Angelo Russell comes back, but we'll deal with that when it comes. For now I'm just enjoying the value.
Bonus Forwards: Domantas Sabonis ($9,300), Kyle Kuzma ($7,200), Draymond Green ($6,700), Bogdan Bogdanovic ($5,700)
DraftKings DFS Centers
Karl-Anthony Towns - C, at Grizzlies ($10,100)
Towns has at least 50 DraftKings points in 9 of the last 12 games and has cleared 60 four times. He is putting up some monster double-doubles lately. Towns is not a great defender, but his carrying the offense makes him an exciting DFS play. Memphis is strong up front, but Towns did have 52.5 DraftKings points on them the first time around. I don't see ownership on Towns being all that high with the other elite options out there. Towns is a good pivot in GPP formats.
Christian Wood - C, at Celtics ($8,400)
The Rockets have no reason not to play Wood. The minutes are there. The production should follow. Boston has given up some big games to centers since Tristan Thompson went down and Daniel Theis was moved. This is a big spot for Wood, but that doesn't mean he's a guarantee. Wood only put up 37.5 DraftKings points against the Nets on Wednesday. Wood is worth the risk since we know what his ceiling is. He doesn't have the floor of Towns, but the ceiling is just as high and for $1,700 less.
Jonas Valanciunas - C, vs. Timberwolves ($7,700)
The way to attack the Timberwolves is up front. Jonas put up 50.5 DraftKings points in 30 minutes on Minnesota the first time around. We just saw Jonas put up a very strong game against Utah. That bodes well for what he's going to do to Minnesota here. He averages a double-double on the season. Expect one of those at the very least tonight. Valanciunas is one of my favorite mid-range plays on the entire slate.
Montrezl Harrell - C, at Kings ($6,600)
Well the return of Andre Drummond lasted all of 14 minutes before he lost his toenail during Wednesday's game. Hey, I've been there. I'm not dogging him. It hurts like a bitch and I could put a shoe on for nearly a week. It's just the Lakers' luck though. And Drummond's luck. He finally lands on a team that desperately needs his services and he suffers a freak injury. This puts Harrell back at the forefront against a Kings team that is among the worst defenses in the league. This is Harrell's chance to prove that he still deserves to split time with Drummond once he's able to come back. I expect this first audition to go swimmingly.
Bonus Centers: Julius Randle ($9,600), Clint Capela ($8,100), Moses Brown ($7,200), James Wiseman ($5,400)
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