DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks (5/12/21): NBA DFS Lineups

May 12, 2021

The top daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on May 12, 2021. Mike Marteny provides NBA DFS analysis and sleeper picks for building optimal DFS rosters.

It is a lighter Wednesday with only six games in the Association tonight. There are plenty of injuries to watch with James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland, Mike Conley, Dennis Schroder, and Derrick White are already ruled out. The bad news is that only covers the point guards!

LeBron is expected to play tonight though. He's overpriced since he will likely be on some sort of limit, but he'll be out there. There are less questionable tags floating around, which is nice. I like knowing that a few dozen guys will be out rather than waiting on news right before lock on the same few dozen. It makes this piece more useful.

This article will supply you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for the DraftKings on 5/12/21. 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, at Atlanta ($12,400)

So it takes Russ breaking a decades-old record for his price to get this high. Honestly, it should have been at this level at least a week ago and I still would have paid it. First off, there's plenty of value to get Russ in there. Second, Westbrook is one of the few guys that goes balls-out every game. He may be inefficient, but you're going to get the best Russ has that night. I like that for a floor. On top of that, the production warrants it. Westbrook has reached a new level with back-to-back games over 80 DraftKings points. He has now hit that mark in four of the last five games. Yes, that's still nearly 7x value out of Russ even at this price. Lock him up and move on to the rest of your lineup.

Trae Young - PG, vs. Washington ($9,100)

Russ has never been a strong defender, so I like using Young on the other side of this. Young put up 54.5 DraftKings points against Washington on Monday, so I would expect somewhere around that production tonight. Yes, you can fit both Trae and Russ together if you want to try and maximize your ceiling in GPP formats. I could also see a Westbrook fade in that format hoping that Russ doesn't top 80 again. We could get 6x out of Young. If you roll Young over Westbrook, you're hoping that Russ is closer to 5x, giving you a leg up on the field. That $3,300 price difference is huge.

Jordan Clarkson - PG/SG, vs. Portland ($7,500)

Clarkson has four straight games of more than 20 real points. On top of that, he's been hauling down some rebounds and most games has decent assist numbers. Clarkson's shot attempts have also been way up. I've been waiting to see this from him since both Conley and Mitchell went down. DraftKings raised the price right away, but Clarkson is finally paying off that steep tage. He has at least 44 DraftKings points in three of the last four games. That's good for 6x value.

Lonnie Walker IV - PG/SG, at Brooklyn ($4,500)

The absence of Derrick White and the phasing out of Patty Mills have opened up quite a few minutes for Walker. He has responded with 80.25 DraftKings points in 87 minutes over the last three games. That's a good output for a slate that doesn't have the cheap Toronto value on it. You can play roulette with Cleveland guards, but Walker looks to be locked into a solid role for the time being. I'll side with Walker.

Bonus Guards: Luka Doncic ($10,800), Collin Sexton ($8,400), Bogdan Bogdanovic ($7,300), Khyri Thomas ($5,600)

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DraftKings DFS Forwards

Jayson Tatum - PF, at Cleveland ($9,400)

Tatum's disaster against the Bulls has caused a precipitous price decrease to the point where I don't mind going back to him. Despite a solid 49.75 DraftKings point output against the Heat on Sunday, Tatum's price dropped another $500. If I really thought that Durant would play on the tail end of a back-to-back set, I would be gung-ho about using him. Instead, Tatum seems to be the way to go against a Cleveland team that is rolling with a G-League squad and Sexton right now.

Kelly Olynyk - PF/C, at Lakers ($7,800)

Olynyk has been one of the few bright spots for the Rockets with John Wall and Christian Wood both out. Wood might return tonight, but even if he does, I think Olynyk's production remains about the same. He did well with Wood in there when he was first traded to Houston. Even if Wood does play, I expect his minutes to be closely monitored. Olynyk has at least 43 DraftKings points in four straight games. 5x value seems to be his floor right now. You can't say that for a lot of guys on this slate.

Evan Fournier - SG/SF, st Cleveland ($5,500)

What a break it was for Boston to pick up a guy like Fournier at the deadline. He was quiet when first coming over, but now with Jaylen Brown out, Fournier has been the most consistent scorer on this team. Fournier has five straight games with at least 6x value and has gone over 44 DraftKings points in back-to-back games. I wouldn't be shocked to see Kemba rest on night two of a back-to-back set either. That could open up even more opportunities for Fournier.

Dean Wade - PF/C, vs. Boston ($4,000)

Dean Wade turned into DeanWyane Wade on Monday with a career-best 45.5 DraftKings points. Can he do it again? That's the question us MME guys have to figure out. Cleveland has nothing to play for and is resting a whole lot of players again. Wade should get plenty of opportunities again. I'll take that risk for this low of a price. The ceiling is at least 10x value.

Bonus Forwards: Kevin Durant ($9,800), John Collins ($6,700), Kevin Love ($5,900), James Johnson ($5,000)

DraftKings DFS Centers

Clint Capela - C, vs. Washington ($8,600)

Capela had a nice showing with 48 DraftKings points against this same Washington team on Monday night. There's really no reason that he can't do it again. The issue here is you have to leave out one of Capela, Russ, or Trae Young. Getting all three in the lineup is nearly impossible unless you supplement all three with Cavs/Rockets bench players and hope for the best. Yeah, I don't blame you. I'm running one like that too.

Willy Hernangomez - C, at Dallas ($5,600)

Steven Adams is still out and Dallas's answer for an inside presence is Dwight Powell. Yeah, right. Willy is going to see a lot of minutes in a superb matchup. What's not to like? Willy has at least 30 DraftKings points in five of six games with Adams out. The bad part is that Jaxson Hayes is keeping Willy form hitting 40. Now that I think about it, Hayes is a strong play too.....

Dwight Powell - C, vs. New Orleans ($4,400)

Yeah, I poked fun at Powell earlier. That doesn't mean he's not underpriced or a good offensive player. Powell's poor night last night was the byproduct of him getting tossed before halftime. Powell should be back up to mid-20's for minutes, which is nice for this price range. The Pelicans aren't that strong in the middle either, so I have no issues running them against each other as cost-saving options.

Bonus Centers: Anthony Davis ($10,500), Jusuf Nurkic ($7,200), Jakob Poeltl ($5,300), Daniel Gafford ($3,700)

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