Basketball Picks Daily Fantasy Expert Advice
FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Sunday, 4/25/21
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Point Guard
Stephen Curry FD - $9800 DK - $10500
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 54.18 DK - 57.92
Steph has been on another planet for most of this season, but especially of late. He’s shooting an unheard of 47% from three on almost 14 attempts per game over the last month. This is a stupid number and it has him averaging 38 points (38!) in that stretch. Now on Sunday, he’ll get to face the worst defense in the league, kind of by a lot, in the Sacramento Kings. The Warriors are still very much in win-now mode trying to secure a playoff berth and have been running Curry major minutes. That should continue to be the case on Sunday and he makes a high floor play on both sites and kind of just a bargain on FanDuel.
Darius Garland FD - $7300 DK - $7200
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 33.81 DK - 35.25
Collin Sexton has already been ruled out of this game which means we should see a usage and assist uptick for Garland against the Wizards. Garland’s had a real nice sophomore season for the Cavs, shooting 40% from beyond the arc while also getting the assists up to six a game. I love the matchup against a fast-paced Wizards team and considering he should see an uptick just in ball handling minutes, this is a perfect time to buy in the upper-middle tier on Garland.
Shooting Guard
Tyrese Haliburton FD - $5800 DK - $6200
Opponent - GS
Proj Pts FD - 31.59 DK - 32.23
De’Aaron Fox has already been ruled out of this game and the Kings have announced that Halliburton will take his place in the starting lineup. Halliburton gets major bumps across the board this season with Fox off the floor. The latter sees about a 9% uptick in his stage percentage and the assists climb a whopping 15%. His price hasn’t fully corrected for the starting point guard role for the Kings in this matchup so we are buying at a value. They were careful with his minutes earlier in the year, but that might not be the case anymore for the Kings.
Caris Levert FD - $8300 DK - $8400
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 44.44 DK - 44.87
Some of it has been with the Pacers playing without some guys, but Caris has been putting up some huge usage games over the short term. He’s taken 18 or more shots in seven of his last eight games and is averaging 24 points and six assists per game in that stretch. The Pacers might get Domantas Sabonis back on Sunday which would cut into the usage some, but not tons. I still think he’s a fine play at these prices.
Small Forward
Bogdan Bogdanovic FD - $7300 DK - $8100
Opponent - MIL
Proj Pts FD - 36.32 DK - 37.81
Trae Young is still slated to miss some time and Bogdan got the start at point guard the last time out. He put up a solid line in the role with 21 points, eight assists and three rebounds in a Hawks win over the Heat. Now he’ll get a matchup with the Bucks which won’t be any great shakes, but the minutes' floor should be very high as long as the game stays relatively close. His price hasn’t been boosted enough to meet this new opportunity and he’s a great small forward play on this evening slate.
Kelly Oubre Jr. FD - $7000 DK - $6500
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 33.23 DK - 33.14
Oubre came off the bench even with Kent Bazemore out of the lineup but still managed to play 33 minutes. In fact, over the last two Oubre has run 37 and 33 minutes off the bench and averaged 23 points and eight rebounds. Even if he’s still in that role, I think he’s mostly an okay play on Sunday against the Kings. Sacramento is terrible on defense and the plan is to clearly play Oubre minutes regardless of the situation.
If Domantas Sabonis were to sit again then Oshae Brissett (FD $5300 DK $4800) would need another look in the starting lineup.
Power Forward
Draymond Green FD - $7200 DK - $7500
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 33.13 DK - 32.75
Draymond is such a tough one from a fantasy perspective because he doesn’t really score actual points, but he does everything else. Over the last month or so he’s averaging eight points, 10 assists, seven rebounds, and 3.1 steals+blocks. It’s the defensive stats that actually keep his FanDuel floor high enough and he should be in line for a solid all-around line against a very bad Kings’ team.
Jaren Jackson Jr. FD - $6400 DK - $6400
Opponent - POR
Proj Pts FD - 45.66 DK - 43.2
The Grizzlies are clearly starting to ramp up Jackson’s minutes since coming back from the injury and he played 25 the last time out. He’s been awesome from a fantasy point-per-minute standpoint since returning, putting up a combined 38 points, 11 rebounds, and five blocks in his first 43 minutes back on the court. He’s not likely to keep up this pace, but he’s also going to start seeing more and more minutes so it should be okay in the end.
Center
When we write this early, center is a bit of an injury minefield. There a few situations to monitor here for Sunday evening, almost all of which should be sorted out prior to lineup lock.
For starters, if Wendell Carter Jr. sits out again then Mo Bamba (FD $5500 DK $5500) would ring in as one of the better plays of the day. He got the start last game and dropped a cool 17 points and 12 rebounds in 28 minutes against the Pelicans.
Also, if Clint Capela is out then I think you can consider Onyeka Okongwu (FD $3900 DK $3800) again. The price is still very cheap even if he’s not all that good. Last game, he got the start and played 28 minutes finishing with six points, seven rebounds a block and a steal. It won’t blow you away, but that line didn’t kill you at these prices.
If these guys don’t work out then I think Jusuf Nurkic (FD $7000 DK $6300) is a good option. The minutes have been climbing to around 30 and last time out was his best yet with an unreal 26 points and 17 rebounds in just 29 minutes. That’s almost as good as you’ll ever see in that amount of time.
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image sources
- Stephen Curry: AP Images