DraftKings & Fanduel NBA Daily Fantasy Picks: DFS Lineups 3/16/19

Hello weekend! On Saturday we have 8 NBA games. This article focuses on the main slate today only, discussing 7 games and excluding the awesome 12:30 game of Atlanta Hawks vs the Boston Celtics. Saturdays are notorious for teams being on 2nd night of back to backs, and that is the case on Saturday. We have 5 teams in this scenario, those teams being the Washington Wizards, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans, Portland Trailblazer, and the San Antonio Spurs. The game of the night is the Golden State Warriors vs the Oklahoma City Thunder. As a basketball fan, I will be watching this game as it could be a preview of the Western Conference finals. As a GPP player, I will limit my exposure to this game because the players will have high ownership. I will not completely fade this game, but I will try to pivot off a few players to differentiate my lineups.

DK Salary: $8,000 / FD Salary: $9,400

My first pick has the best possible matchup against his position. The Utah Jazz will be hosting the Brooklyn Nets and the Nets rank 30^th vs the center position. This makes Rudy Gobert an awesome play on Saturday. FanDuel rose his price to $9,400 making him the second most expensive center and I believe that will limit his ownership. He has an extremely high floor as he is second in the league with 54 double-doubles. Gobert has been in good form, as he has scored 32 or more fantasy points in all of his games but one since January 12^th. People will avoid Gobert because this game has a 8.5 point spread. If the Nets are able to keep this game close, we can see Gobert play his normal 32 to 34 minutes at lower ownership and score 50+ fantasy points, this is why he is my favorite GPP play on the slate.

DK Salary: $5,900 / FD Salary: $6,100

My favorite point per dollar plays on the slate is Dallas Mavericks rookie point guard, Jalen Brunson. The Dallas Mavericks will be hosting the Cleveland Cavaliers in a game with a 215 point total and a 6.5 point spread. The Cavs rank 29th vs the point guard position, but are even worse as they rank last in terms of defensive rating as a team. Like Gobert, FanDuel rose Brunson's price but this price increase shouldn't be enough to scare us off of Jalen Brunson. Head Coach Rick Carlisle has given Brunson 30 or more minutes in 5 straight games. Brunson has taken advantage of this opportunity and has scored 26 or more in each of those games. One reason coach Carlisle has given him more minutes is because Brunson contributes in all categories. Brunson has recorded at least 9 rebounds plus assists in all the games since this minutes bump. We are projecting him to play 23 minutes and to score 19.29. As I said above, hes played 30 or more minutes in the last 5 games and in this great matchup against the worst defensive team in the league, I can easily see him score 40+ and be the best value play on the slate!

DK Salary: $5,200 / FD Salary: $5,000

The Memphis Grizzles vs Washington Wizards game is a battle of two opposite teams in terms of style of play. The Wizards are the 8^th fastest team in terms of pace and no one is slower than the Memphis Grizzles as they rank 30^th in the NBA. One thing we have going for us is that usually the home team dictates tempo, so being that the Wizards are at home, we should expect this game to be at least average in terms of pace. This is great news for Grizzles backup center Joakim Noah. Noah is always under owned because he is a backup, but that is exactly why I love him for GPP games. Everyone will see the matchup against the Wizards who rank 25th vs the center position and roster Jonas Valanciunas. But Valanciunas has never been stretched out in terms of minutes, even going back to his days as a Toronto Raptor. Valanciunas and Noah play about the same minutes and have similar fantasy output, but we get Noah $2,700 cheaper. Noah has a high floor because of his minutes floor and the fact he contributes in all categories. At $5,000, Noah is a cheap play who will come at lower ownership with a ceiling of 45 points. In this matchup he has the ability to win you a large field tournament. Anytime we get a player cheaper on FanDuel than DraftKings we should take notice and have exposure to this player. Noah will be in a few of my GPP lineups as a contrarian low owned play.

DK Salary: $3,800 / FD Salary: $4,700

Another great GPP play is Phoenix Suns small forward Mikal Bridges. The Phoenix Suns will be visiting the New Orleans Pelicans in a game with a massive 232.5 point over/under and a 1 point spread. This will be my favorite game to stack as it has two of the top 11 teams in terms of pace. As we all know, more possessions equal more points! I love finding the contrarian players and fit them into my lineups, and that is exactly what Bridges is on this slate. People will look at Memphis Grizzles small forward C.J. Miles and roster him because he scored 34.6 fantasy points last game. They may also want to roster Miles because of the $300 discount. Bridges has the better matchup between the two players as the Pelicans rank 30th vs the small forward position. In this awesome matchup we are expecting Bridges to play 27 minutes and score 19.46 fantasy points. He gives you a solid floor with a decent ceiling. The Suns are dealing with few injures, specifically to point guard Tyler Johnson. On Friday Bridges played 37 minutes, I expect more of the same if point guard Tyler Johnson is ruled out again on Saturday.

DK Salary: $8,100 / FD Salary: $8,500

As I said above, the Phoenix Suns vs the New Orleans Pelicans will be my favorite game to stack. My favorite play on the Pelicans is power forward Julius Randle. He will be chalky as he has been on a tear, scoring 30 or more points in all of his games but two since coming back from injury on February 6th. I will fade him in some of my lineups because of his high ownership, but I will have plenty of exposure to him. Randle has an awesome matchup as the Suns rank 29th in terms of defensive rating. Anthony Davis was held out of the game on Friday which helped Randle crush his value because of an increase in usage rate. Even if Davis is back in the lineup, he will be restricted to about 20 minutes. Randle has a massive 28.81 percent usage rate and in this fast pace, tightly contested, high scoring game, Randle could be the top scorer on the slate and score 75.2 fantasy points, like he did on Friday.

I gave you some of my favorite plays at different positions today, some value plays and a lower and higher owned stud. Keep an eye on Durant; if he is out that makes Steph Curry and Klay Thompson awesome plays, but remember to be weary of your exposure to that game, as it will be highly owned. There are many studs to pay up for. Who are your favorites to roster? Let's win big…together!