NBA Pulse: Friday, March 27

The NBA Pulse is constructed to give daily fantasy enthusiasts insight to the most popular picks in a game slate, assessing their viability along the way. In other words, this column is designed to gauge the daily fantasy world's opinion as a whole. We will then take it a step further, telling you when to “join the herd" and when to pivot elsewhere.

Buzz is calculated on a 1-10 scale by considering numerous daily fantasy media outlets picks and general conversation on forums/twitter.

POINT GUARD

Point guard is stacked with value plays tonight, and that is evident by a very spread out “buzzmeter".

Now that Greg Monroe is out, we can safely target Reggie Jackson despite the increasing price point. He's not a bad play, but the ascending salary limits profit potential.

Greivis Vasquez will step in for the injured Kyle Lowry in a dream matchup against the Lakers. He's a fine pick for all formats, especially if he's hovering around minimum salary.

For cash games though, it may make sense to pay a little extra for Dennis Schroeder, who will take over the starting PG duties for Atlanta. I'll have him locked in majority of my lineups with the best floor/upside/price combination in my opinion.

Ordinarily, Goran Dragic would be a great play with Wade and Whiteside out. He's still worth considering, but there's better relative value on the board – Schroeder/Vasquez/Lin. The same can be said of Damian Lillard, who has turned into more of a tournament option.

As mentioned in today's Market Advantage column, Jeremy Lin is playable in all formats for a non-prohibitive salary.

UNDER THE RADAR: If Kevin Martin misses this game, Lorenzo Brown will see heavy minutes for a near-minimum salary. I wouldn't hesitate to roster him. Also, Elfrid Payton will have an extremely low ownership percentage, but he's always a triple-double threat. His salary is more appealing on FanDuel.

SHOOTING GUARD

The SG rankings tonight go like this: DeMar DeRozan, DeMar DeRozan, DeMar DeRozan. He's a great play tonight, and due to positional scarcity, I'm guessing he'll have the highest ownership %. Take note of that for tournaments, where you want to take chances in fading him (for Eric Bledsoe, Monta Ellis).

James Harden is generating buzz because…well, he's James Harden. Still, I'd only target Harden as a tournament diversifier due to the prohibitive salary and blowout factor.

Speaking of blowout factor, it has me concerned with Kyle Korver, despite the low price point. On top of that, ATL likes to rest their starters whenever they get an opportunity. Buyer beware.

Now that Greg Monroe has been ruled out, we can safely target Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in all formats. A DeRozan/KCP combination on FanDuel looks like a great cash game strategy.

UNDER THE RADAR: I already mentioned them above: Eric Bledsoe and Monta Ellis. Ellis is your classic boom or bust pick vs San Antonio. Bledsoe burned several people last time around, but he has a fantastic game environment and a nice matchup to exploit. I love him in tournaments.

SMALL FORWARD

Okay…I take it back. Kawhi Leonard will most definitely be the highest owned player this evening, and it's 100% justified. He has the best floor/ceiling combination of any mid-range to upper-middle tier SF.

If Kevin Martin sits, Andrew Wiggins may challenge Kawhi as the best SF value play. He'll see plenty more shot volume, and should be in majority of your lineups. The same can be said for Chase Budinger's playing time.

UNDER THE RADAR: Suns SF PJ Tucker is in a high-scoring game environment, while Atlanta's DeMarre Carroll could see an extended run with Jeff Teague out of the lineup.

POWER FORWARD

Anthony Davis is particularly enticing on DraftKings. On FanDuel, I think it's better to weigh your options.

One of those options includes Derrick Favors against the weak Denver frontcourt. This is one of the best matchups in basketball, as Favors will try to amass 40+ FP for the fourth straight time.

Paul Millsap is similarly priced to Favors, but I'm viewing him as more of a risk/reward proposition. Atlanta likes to spread the ball around, and there's some blowout potential in this game.

Josh Smith may be filling in for the injured Donatas Motiejunas, which would force him into heavy playing time in a great matchup. His price is now low enough that you can consider him with confidence, despite the potential blowout.

UNDER THE RADAR: Markieff Morris is an excellent tournament pick, with a great price point on DraftKings. Even though he has a tough defensive assignment (vs Aldridge); this game environment should give him enough opportunities for upside.

CENTER

The Center position mirrors that of PG in terms of the “buzzmeter". There aren't any obvious must-plays, which will make things pretty interesting. I suggest working through your other positions, seeing what you have left over at Center.

Rudy Gobert is my personal favorite of the bunch, and it appears that some people may shy away due to a few down games. I wouldn't worry about that though, as a draw vs Denver sets up the perfect matchup for a high-upside outing.

Nikola Vucevic and Marc Gasol are very safe picks tonight, but I'm not sure either has reasonable profit potential. A tournament spin-off from those two would be Brook Lopez. However, due to his recent performances, I'm thinking he may have a higher ownership % than those two.

UNDER THE RADAR: Nobody is talking about Gorgui Dieng. He was underwhelming in 33 minutes vs the Lakers, but that doesn't mean he should be written off completely. Dieng still has reasonable upside in an expanded role with Garnett and Pekovic out.