RADIO
Mercifully, we have a relatively large slate on Wednesday which will make it a bit easier to avoid the tanking teams. However, another trap does come into play with several teams heading into the back end of back-to-back games, including the following teams: Clippers, Cavs, Trailblazers, Clippers, and Mavs.
That won't stop me from making LeBron James the centerpiece of my lineups, as he'll have a more positive matchups against the Hornets on Wednesday. There are plenty of low-priced options to plug into lineups to fit in around, just be sure to follow injury/rest news throughout the day.
Below you will find our daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 3/28/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options, to lower-priced players and value picks on FanDuel.
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FanDuel DFS Guards
Dennis Smith Jr.-PG, @LAL ($7,500)
The Mavs are one of the many teams who could burn people with irregular rotations, but the news that J.J. Barea will be out for this matchup against the Lakers should help make minutes a bit safer for Smith. In addition to minutes, the absence of Barea should also open up usage and ball-handling opportunities for Smith, who has averaged a 31% usage rate and 1.04 FD points per minute with Barea off the court this season. The Lakers are also a good matchup as they have allowed 57.8 FD points per game to opposing point guards over their past five games. I’d feel best with most of my exposure to Smith in GPP contests in case the tanking Mavs limit his minutes but he looks to be a strong play despite playing on the back end of a back-to-back.
Cash Game Option: Austin Rivers- PG, @PHO ($5,800)
Update: Shabazz Napier ($3,500) is at minimum price, and with Damian Lillard ruled out for Wednesday's game he is an elite punt option.
Troy Daniels- SG, vs. LAC ($4,100)
Devin Booker and T.J. Warren are both doubtful heading into the Suns’ matchup against the Clippers on Wednesday. Their continue absence has helped Daniels become a relevant DFS option as over his past five games, Daniels has averaged 31 minutes and returned an average of 6.1X value. The Vegas total isn’t out for the game as of the writing of this article, but it figures to be a high scoring game thanks to both the Suns and Clippers being in top 10 in pace. That should set up a good environment for Daniels assuming Warren and Booker both sit out as presumed based on the news we have.
FanDuel DFS Forwards
Robert Covington- SF, vs. NYK ($6,000)
Covington will make you sweat it out on a nightly basis thanks to his inconsistent shooting. However, he has managed to even his performance out a bit, shooting 50% from the field over his past five games and returning exactly 5X value on average. The Knicks haven’t exactly been putting up strong defensive fights of late either, with a defensive rating of 113.4 to opposing forwards over their past 10 games. Covington’s price remains reasonable, and over the course of the season he has been able to return 5X value in 39% of games and 6X value 23% of the time at his 6K price point. With guaranteed minutes outside of a blowout, Covington is a viable play in all contests tomorrow.
Derrick Favors- PF, vs. BOS ($5,700)
Favors performance on Sunday against the Warriors looks bad on the surface, but his minutes were limited due to a blowout win. He likely remains underpriced as a result, which is something to target on Wednesday’s slate. He heads into a tough matchup Wednesday against Boston, but he has shown the ability to play well in an even tougher matchup, dropping 38.1 FD points on the Spurs Friday night. Due to his tough matchup and likely slow pace to the game, Favors isn’t likely to show up on optimizers and shouldn’t be a chalky pick. However, this is a play based on his price point and I’m comfortable with him as a result despite the tough matchup.
FanDuel DFS Centers
Nikola Vucevic- C, vs. BKN ($8,700)
Vucevic’s price tag has gotten steep, but we haven’t seen his minutes fall in tanking efforts (at least yet). Given that, we can turn our focus to his matchup which couldn’t be much better as the Nets have struggled defensively against centers and opposing point guards all season. The center position remains aggressively priced on FanDuel, so if you aren’t comfortable with Vucevic’s price tag, there are options to pay down for. Jusuf Nurkic has been on a nice run of late but hasn’t seen a huge price uptick yet. With Damian Lillard ruled out for personal reasons, he should see some extra usage and is a continuing option at the position as a result.
