FanDuel NBA Daily Picks and Pivots – March 12
Welcome to the Sunday FanDuel NBA edition of Picks and Pivots, a fantasy basketball column focused on helping you find the best core lineup for tonight’s five game slate which kicks off at 6:00PM EST!
As a reminder, the concept behind FanDuel NBA Picks and Pivots 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 payday!
Saturday Night’s FanDuel NBA action saw scores jump to 393 for GPP wins on the back of a 77 point outing by the birthday boy – Anthony Davis. Over the first 112 slates, the average winning GPP score has been 378.7 which would mean we need 6.3x value from our roster in order to win big!
Over the first 112 slates, the average winning GPP score has been 378.7 which would mean we need 6.3x value from our roster in order to win big!
Saturday Night’s Picks and Pivots ended up with nearly identical 286 and 284 FanDuel scores as we built off the same core and mixed/matched the Spurs/Warriors value. Ultimately we landed just outside the cash line really as a result of the wrong combinations of value. Patty Mills dropped 30 FanDuel Points while Ian Clark dropped a 40 burger and unfortunately we had those players on opposite rosters otherwise it would have been a highly profitable night!
We move on to Sunday where we get one early game (that we will ignore for DFS) and focus on the five game main slate which has a handful of high scoring affairs to choose from!
FanDuel NBA – Top Point Guard Picks
The marquee game on this slate matches the Cavaliers/Rockets as they have the second highest team total (231) and three studs in LeBron James, James Harden and Kyrie Irving to choose from. The problem is, these players also happen to be the three highest priced players on the slate so you have a decision to make – do you build around them and leave only $4.6k per player for the rest of your roster or can you go with a more balanced approach?
Damian Lillard ($9,000) Although I would love to stack the Houston/Cleveland game, I think on this slate there is merit to building a more balanced roster and one of the reasons we can do that is that Portland/Phoenix has the highest combined team total on this slate and a bevy of moderately priced players with high upside!
Portland has the second highest team total on the slate, just one point behind Houston, as they see the second highest pace boost of any team and are projected to score nearly 9 points higher than their season average. As the Blazers go, so goes Damian Lillard and for only $9k, we can target a player who has GPP winning ability on any given night.
Lillard is seeing massive usage right now, putting up 20+ shot attempts in six of his last eight games and takes on a Suns team ranked 28th in DvP to opposing PG’s this season. Lillard has one of the safest floors of any player on this slate, scoring no less than 35 FD points in eight straight while scoring 40+ in five of those eight!
D’Angelo Russell ($6,900) The Suns/Lakers have a combined 221 team total and this is a game where I plan to get heavy exposure as both teams see solid pace boosts and are projected to score 7 or more points higher than their season average.
Russell has officially been released, playing 30+ minutes each and every night and the fantasy results are following right along! Russell has put up 30+ FanDuel points in three straight games including a 43 FD point outing in his last contest.
Russell is seeing his usage spike as well as he has put up 20 or more shot attempts in two of his last three games. The Sixers are ranked 20th in DvP to opposing PG’s so this is a match-up we can exploit and with the expected fast paced nature of this game, Russell has massive profit potential on a sub $7k price tag!
FanDuel NBA – Top Shooting Guard Picks
Devin Booker ($6,200) Booker’s price is simply way too cheap for his level of production and DFS upside and I will have massive exposure to him tonight. Players like Booker are one of the reasons I think you can fade the Houston/Cleveland game and build a more balanced roster approach as Booker costs half of what James Harden would go for and has the ability to match him from a DFS output!
Booker comes into this game playing some of his best basketball with 32 or more FD points in three straight games including a 44 point outing last night against Dallas. Booker has between 18 and 21 field goal attempts over his last three games as we have seen a usage spike from the talented Suns SG and in this fast paced match-up, I would recommend going overweight on the field with your Booker exposure!
C.J. McCollum ($7,200) We have already locked in two of the stars from this Portland/Phoenix game and I see no reason not to stack as much of this back-court as we can. McCollum, like Booker, is priced at a significant discount and I love the idea of stacking these two in my FanDuel lineups.
Think about this a different way, I can roster both Booker/McCollum for a combined $13.4 FanDuel points which is only $1,700 more than James Harden alone would cost!
McCollum has put up 40+ FanDuel points in two of his last four games and takes on a Suns team that is ranked 28th in DvP to opposing SG’s. Stack this back-court up and watch the shoot-out vault you to the top of the leaderboard!
FanDuel NBA – Top Small Forward Picks
Maurice Harkless ($4,800) If you are not paying up for LeBron James on this slate at SF, I think paying down is the right approach and “Why you gotta be Moe Harkless” continues to be under-priced on FanDuel!
Harkless is locked into 30+ minutes each and every night with Evan Turner out with an injury, hitting 5x value in each of his last two games and flashing his GPP upside with a 36 FD point, 7x outing just three games ago!
Brandon Ingram ($4,200) Another bargain SF that is locked into major minutes is Brandon Ingram, who has played 35+ minutes in three straight games, averaging over 25 FD points which would exceed 6x value at this price point!
Ingram is taking on an expanded role on offense, with double-digit shot attempts in five of his last seven games with the ability to rack up rebounds/assists which adds to his DFS ceiling!
FanDuel NBA – Top Power Forward and Center Picks
Julius Randle ($6,700) If you are rostering D’Angelo Russell then I would recommend stacking him with Julius Randle who dropped 43 FanDuel points against this Sixers team the last time they played!
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Randle is playing 30 minutes a night and his ability to contribute across the board statistically gives him a massive DFS ceiling as he has two 49+ FD point outings over his last five contests! The price point is simply too cheap for this level of production and he makes for another solid mid-range player with top DFS upside!
Kristaps Porzingis ($6,400) Speaking of under priced PF’s, this combination of Randle and Porzingis I expect will be very popular and at these salary levels I see no reason to get cute and fade.
Porzingis and the Knicks take on a Brooklyn team that he has put up 37 FanDuel points per game against in two earlier season match-ups. The Nets are ranked 29th in DvP to opposing PF’s and from a match-up perspective this is nobody on this Brooklyn team capable of stopping KP, lock him in tonight!
Hassan Whiteside ($8,500) The center position is a tad bit underwhelming tonight and I expect most will look to the recent DFS darlings in Jusuf Nurkic/Alan Williams but I love this spot for Whiteside who is priced at only $8.5k tonight!
Whiteside takes on an Indiana team that he has dominated this season, averaging 48 FanDuel points per game in two earlier season match-ups. Whiteside is rocking a streak of eight straight double-doubles and has put up 36 or more FD points in seven of those eight games. Whiteside is another player with a reasonable price point we can slot into our balanced roster approach with 45-50 point GPP upside!
Best of luck tonight in your FanDuel NBA contests and stay tuned to Fantasy CPR on Twitter for all the late breaking lineup news and roster updates!