NBA Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks for March 17

NBA Picks and Pivots – FanDuel Picks for March 17

Welcome to the Thursday edition of Picks & Pivots, a daily fantasy column focused on providing analysis for the upcoming NBA FanDuel slate. The purpose of this column is to first identify key building blocks that can be used for any roster construction and then identify pivot points to help differentiate your lineup in hopes of a big pay day!

Before we dig into tonight’s games, let last night serve as a reminder that it is critical to monitor last minute news before lineups lock as late breaking news around LeBron James and Rajon Rondo sitting out opened up a variety of value options that were found on many winning rosters.

More from FanDuel

There is one match-up that I plan to target across all formats this evening and that is the Utah Jazz back court against the Phoenix Suns. The Suns present the most favorable match-up to opposing back courts on the season and the Jazz back court of PG – Shelvin Mack ($5,500) and SG – Rodney Hood ($5,400) are two players I plan to utilize across all formats as the match-up and the guaranteed minutes present us with the ability to roster players with solid floors and massive upside. Mack over the last three games has hit 6 times value in each contest and with Gordon Hayward questionable to play tonight, Hood has the ability again to put up 30+ points as he did in a much tougher match-up last game against Cleveland.

Using these players as building blocks, with their cost savings relative to potential output will allow us to pivot to some of the higher priced players in very favorable match-ups.

First, the Brooklyn Nets take on the Chicago Bulls, who on the season present one of the best match-ups to opposing front courts and with Pau Gasol and Taj Gibson unlikely to play tonight, this gives us the ability to utilize C – Brook Lopez and PF – Thaddeus Young against a depleted Bulls team. One additional favorable match-up for opposing teams against Chicago is at Small Forward, so this is a potential spot for SF – Bojan Bogdanovic, who just put up 53.6 fantasy points last game and is very playable at $4,700. We may see him over owned as a result so there is merit to fading the career high performance and let others chase the points.

One additional team I will look to target is Milwaukee against Memphis, as the Grizzlies continue to be ravaged by injuries and the season long DvP statistics do not reflect the injury riddled lineups the Grizzlies are utilizing each night. Playing on back to back nights with a depleted roster, I will look to utilize the high upside trio of Bucks – SG – Khris Middleton, SF –Giannis Antetokounmpo and PF – Jabari Parker.

The Grizzlies have struggled in recent weeks against opposing Shooting Guards and last night Zach Lavine was able to take advantage of the match-up so I expect Middleton, who had put up over 40 points in three straight games prior to a letdown against the Raptors, to flash the kind of upside we need to take down a big pay day.

It would be easy for me to recommend rostering the Greek Freak, who seems to get a triple double every night and seems like a must start at least across a few lineups as without many other “elite” players in action tonight it may be difficult to fade the player with the highest upside.

Lastly, keep an eye on the late lineup news specifically around the Bulls tonight. If Gasol and Gibson are out, it could open up major minutes to PF-Bobby Portis who at near minimum price would have all the minutes he could handle against the Nets and would be a great tournament option.

Next: NCAA Tournament Predictions Midwest Region

Good luck as always, enjoy one of the best sports days of the year gamers!