DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks (4/28/21): NBA DFS Lineups

The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on April 28, 2021. Mike Marteny provides NBA DFS analysis and sleeper picks for building optimal DFS rosters.

We have a big ten-game NBA slate tonight, but with an increasing number of teams that have nothing to play for, I wouldn't call it a great slate. On top of that, you have a growing number of teams that don't care about playoff seeding. They just want to enter the playoffs healthy. Such is the state of the NBA in the 2020-21 season. It makes DFS increasingly difficult. All of these plays are my favorites as things currently stand, but those can change in an instant.

Value is everywhere. Stars are not. LeKing, De'Aaron Fox, Donovan Mitchell, Trae Young, Collin Sexton, Kemba Walker, LaMelo Ball, and Victor Oladipo are all out. And those are just the point guards! Every position is similarly decimated. Picking the right spots in DFS is extremely critical at this time of the season. Most values wont hurt you anymore, but choosing a star that's a dud will ruin you right away.

This article will supply you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for the DraftKings on 4/28/21. 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! 

DraftKings DFS Guards

Russell Westbrook - PG, vs. Lakers ($11,100)

Russ's streak of 5x value games came to an end at 16 against Cleveland on Sunday, but he showed back up on Monday and dropped 64.75 DraftKings points on the Spurs. The Lakers are starting to get healthy, but they are still missing LeBron. The presence of Davis, even for some of the game, could affect Westbrook's output. However, Russ put up 63.5 DraftKings points on the Lakers the first time around. He is the one guy that gives maximum effort every time he's out there. Not many players in the league do that anymore. That makes Westbrook a player to target for DFS purposes.

Ja Morant - PG, vs. Portland ($8,200)

This will be Morant's third game against Portland, the full season allotment as it would be, in the span of six days. He put up 108.75 DraftKings points in the first two games of the series. The only thing that changes here is the venue, as Portland will come to Memphis for this one. This is an outstanding matchup for Morant and he was the most exciting player on either team in the first two games. I think he'll do it again. Morant averages a little over 1 DraftKings point per game more at home than on the road this year.

Tyrese Haliburton - PG/SG, vs. Utah ($7,100)

The loss of Fox has opened up the starting point guard slot for Haliburton. The rookie has looked good, putting up 84 DraftKings points in games against Dallas and Golden State, two teams in the top-ten in the league in fantasy points allowed to point guards. This is another tough matchup for Haliburton, but his price is still low enough to provide value for us here. 6x value is still a possibility at this price point since Haliburton is playing about 35 minutes per game.

Derrick Rose - PG/SG, vs. Chicago ($5,400)

Rose has turned the clock back ten years or so. He has at least 30 DraftKings points in four of the last five games. Okay, so maybe that's not his 2011 numbers, but it's better than he's been in last few years. Now Rose gets a crack at his former team tonight. I won't even say that Rose's ceiling is capped coming off the bench. He's still playing more than 30 minutes per game and is scoring is almost as good as ever. Rose is an absolute steal at this price.

Bonus Guards: Darius Garland ($7,700), Jordan Clarkson ($6,900), P.J. Dozier ($5,400), Facundo Campazzo ($4,800)

Want more NBA DFS tools and content? Our NBA Premium package includes our daily DFS Cheat Sheets, Research Station, Optimizer, and access to our Premium Slack Chatrooms where members can chat with our NBA analysts. Check out this recent big win from RotoBaller premium member Bsuperak on FanDuel - join in on the winning!

DraftKings DFS Forwards

Michael Porter Jr. - SF/PF, at Denver ($8,600)

Porter is putting up numbers very close to those of Joker at about 80% of his price. Jokic has done everything Jamal Murray did. That leaves Porter to pick up the scoring slack. Porter has 70 actual points over the last two games and 106.25 DraftKings points in that span. This is a great matchup against the Pelicans, a team that Porter put up 70 DraftKings points on in the first two meetings.

Marcus Morris - SF/PF, at Phoenix ($6,100)

You never know what you're going to get with Paul George right now. We know exactly what we are getting out of Morris. He has taken on much of the scoring load left behind by Kawhi Leonard and a few of the rebounding assignments as well. George's ceiling is much higher, but so is his price. Morris provides a far more stable floor at over $3,000 less. If you're paying for Westbrook and Jokic, you need all the solid value that you can get.

Cody Martin - SF, at Boston ($4,000)

The youth movement is underway in Charlotte, as evident by Martin playing over 30 minutes in each of the last two games. He has responded with 69 DraftKings points in those 61 minutes. Martin is racking up most of these points through defensive avenues, but he's still scoring in double figures as well. Two strong games in a row, including one against tonight's opponent in which he went for 40.5 DraftKings points, show that Martin's stock is trending up. Jump on before his price follows suit.

Bonus Forwards: Brandon Ingram ($8,800), Miles Bridges ($7,400), Keldon Johnson ($5,200), Georges Niang ($3,400)

DraftKings DFS Centers

Nikola Jokic - C, vs. New Orleans ($11,000)

Jokic is back to his normal 5x value after a dud against the Warriors. With Michael Porter Jr. taking a lot of the scoring load off of Jokic, his ceiling isn't as high as it used to be. However, we still know that Jokic can take over at any time. His ceiling is still higher than anyone else's on this slate. That's true of every slate since Jamal Murray went down. However, I can see a fade here in GPP formats with the emergence of Porter. In cash, I don't know how you get away from Jokic.

Jusuf Nurkic - C, at Memphis ($6,800)

Jonas Valanciunas is back, so the chances of Nurkic putting up nearly two fantasy points per minute against the Grizzlies tonight seems unlikely. That said, Nurkic is still priced too low for what he has been doing. The ceiling isn't all that high. Portland is limiting his minutes whenever possible and isn't letting him play more than 30 in a game. Still, Nurkic is one of the better rebounders in the league and possibly the best passing big outside of Denver. He'll do plenty in that 30 minutes of court time.

Daniel Gafford - C, vs. Lakers ($4,300)

For some strange reason, the Wizards insist on playing Alex Len. Len is tits on the DFS boar. Len does almost nothing with the minutes he is given. Meanwhile, Gafford has shown the ability to put up some really good numbers in small numbers of minutes. Gafford has at least one block in eight straight games despite getting himself into foul trouble on the regular. Gafford is a perfect dice roll with the upside that he has. However, he's one of those guys that can torpedo your lineup too.

Bonus Centers: Zion Williamson ($10,200), Bam Adebayo ($8,700), Jakob Poeltl ($5,900), Daniel Theis ($4,600)

NBA DFS News and Injury Alerts

More DFS Lineup Picks and Analysis