Daily Fantasy NBA Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and Draftster 3/17/15

NBA! Post trade deadline. This is hard. But fun! Enjoy.

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Point Guards

Alexey Shved - FD 6000 DK 6200 DFSTR
Who would have thought, earlier in the year, that we'd do multiple write ups on Alexey Shved. I mean this is his third team just this season. But as it is in the NBA, you need only find yourself on a team of players worse than you to all of a sudden stand out. The Knicks everyone, where Alexey Shved becomes a viable NBA option. Considering his minutes and ability to pick up points across the stat line, I'm not even really worried about the impending blowout. The Knicks have no reason to rest starters when they're getting blitzed. And this could be a night we see the Spurs rest some starters (because the Knicks and all).

Beno Udrih - FD 3700 DK 3800 DFSTR 3300
It gets a little weird at point guard after Shved so here's to hoping* Conley sits again giving Udrih the start at rock bottom prices. He's been a serviceable replacement with Conley on the shelf. Keep an ear out for news on this as we get closer to game time.

Bucks Point Guards
I think I would consider playing Michael Carter-Williams, Tyler Ennis or Jerryd Bayless at their respective prices if I had a clear grasp over the starter situation leading into game time. MCW was a disaster for me the other night, but that was simply an information void, not a skill thing. This is another situation to monitor.
*I say this only from a DFS standpoint. I don't really root for injuries. Bad juju

Shooting Guards

Victor Oladipo - FD 7700 DK 7700 DFSTR 6500
He logs so many minutes it's ridiculous. If the game stays close (and Orlando has been feistier of late) then expect him to push close to 40 minutes as they will want him out there guarding Harden. He gets an added bonus too because James isn't exactly a glove on defense. On a slate with some tougher defenses going I love getting Oladipo in at shooting guard and I'll be hard pressed to get away from him tonight.

Giannis Antetokounmpo - FD 6800 DK 6900 DFSTR 5600
He can be another minutes beast in that there will be games in which he pushes in the high 30s. This is a little variable so I wouldn't necessarily count on him getting every minutes, but this should be a competitive game with the Pelicans and I expect Giannis to see his share of minutes. I'm actually kind of excited to watch this game which I never would have thought earlier in the season (Anthony Davis aside).

James Harden - FD 10800 DK 10800 DFSTR 9400
I have him a little further down the list for a couple of reasons. I don't love, love his matchup against the Magic who struggle more with interior defense than opposing backcourts. Additionally, because there is other shooting guard value today, I think there is a better case for playing some bigger money in other spots considering you will find it tough to fit a bunch of high end salary into your lineups. But if you play Harden I don't hate the idea.

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Small Forwards

Tobias Harris - FD 6700 DK 6900 DFSTR 5800
He's been super consistent over the last couple of weeks and we've been playing him through this stretch. His minutes and rotations are locked up right now because of a new coaching situation combined with injuries to the Magic. This is a good spot for him. He can pull disappearing acts especially if the shot isn't falling, but the rebounding is there just enough to keep the floor respectable. Our projection system has him coming at a very high multiplier considering the price.

Khris Middleton - FD 6800 DK 6800 DFSTR 5100
You will notice that a lot of the value tonight is coming from two games. That isn't a mistake. With teams like the Spurs, Grizzlies and even the Hornets (pace) playing our plays are going to be somewhat clustered. That's fine. Middleton is another minute's hound as he's been averaging more than 40 minutes of run over the last five or so games. I don't know if that is totally sustainable, but while Jason Kidd is trusting him, so will we. The price has climbed a bit over that term too, and two rough games against the Pacers and Grizz took a dent out of his game logs. But this is a solid matchup for Khris.

Trevor Ariza - FD 5700 DK 5800 DFSTR
He's a step below the two guys above, and is more a tournament play for me because he really needs to go bananas from the floor to crush his price. He picks up other stats, but they aren't consistent enough and neither is the scoring. This has kept the price in check but he's deviated substantially from the mean over the last month or so. He's for sure a risk, but the big games have been there.

Strongly consider Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Power Forwards

This position is a disaster. There are some potential plays, but I am very worried about many of the minutes.

Terrence Jones - FD 6700 DK 7000 DFSTR 5800
I probably hate him the least of many of the guys near the top of our projection system. Which I know isn't saying a lot, but I suppose it's something. He draws a fine enough matchup against the Magic who allow about 5% more scoring than league average to opposing power forwards. Jones is all about scoring and rebounding. He won't give you much else though the blocks are there every once in a while.

Zach Randolph - FD 7800 DK 7200 DFSTR 6500
He gets a great matchup against the Pistons who really get slaughtered by power forwards. I'm a little worried about what the Grizzlies have in store for minutes coming on the back-to-back especially with their willingness to rest starters in the push for the playoffs. But if he's a full go then ZBo could go to work like he did last night against the Nuggets.

Blake Griffin - FD 9300 DK 9000 DFSTR 8200
Blake jumped right back into the fold after coming back from the staph infection that sidelined him for quite some time. He played a bunch of minutes, crashing the boards and dishing out eight assists. He took less shots than before the injury, but the sample size is too small to know exactly what he'll be like now. I suspect he saw how the Clippers played with him out and may want to adjust his game to follow suit.

Andrea Bargnani - FD 5400 DK 6100 DFSTR 5100
Ersan Ilyasova - FD 4700 DK 5000 DFSTR 4300
Two guys who definitely have strong performances in them, but I don't trust that they play near their full allotment of minutes. That being said, I don't mind taking a chance on either one as the prices are somewhat advantageous.

Center

Marc Gasol - FD 7600 DK 7400 DFSTR 7700
Detroit, for all of its size, gets destroyed by opposing centers and power forwards. They've allowed 10% more scoring than league average to opposing fives and are below average just about everywhere else as well. Gasol doesn't typically put together super high end performances (as evidenced by last night) but I still like the matchup here. Gasol has been consistent this season and this is a great place for him to turn on some offense.

Nikola Vucevic - FD 8400 DK 8300 DFSTR 7500
A little more expensive and not as juicy a matchup, but there's a decent amount to like about Vuce in this matchup against the Rockets. Houston is lacking a big interior defensive presence to control opposing bigs with offensive tools. That's the name of Vucevic's game.

After these guys there's a major drop off at this position. I will almost definitely be playing one of these two dudes. But you can consider Omer Asik as a cheaper option.
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