Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks for FanDuel, DraftKings and DraftStreet 3/1/14

Be prepared to pay up today. The superstars are almost all in play and you'll need to pony up the dough to make them work. The Sixers are of course the worst defensive team in the league by a wide margin. Every single Wizard player is a guy to consider. I'm not going to spend too much time in the writeup explaining why to play these guys. It's fairly obvious. The bigger question is which of the Wizards guys to play, because you can't play them all.

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Point Guards

There are a few across the board plays at PG today and some site-specific as well.

John Wall - FanDuel $9,100 DraftKings $9,500 DraftStreet $19,412
By far the best point guard play today so you'll just need to sit and pray he sees the tail end of the fourth quarter. Wall could just shred the Sixers in all phases of the game.

Brandon Knight - FanDuel $7,100 DraftKings $6,600 DraftStreet $14,334
I hate everything about the Bucks. Everything. Except Knight. He's the one guy on the team who basically is guaranteed his minutes (as much as you can be on a Larry Drew team) and has been consistent and productive. The Nets are about league average against point guards (little worse of late) and Knight she see plenty of shots.

Isaiah Thomas - FanDuel $8,200 DraftKings $7,600 DraftStreet $16,151
I like the two guys above more, but Thomas is a super solid play against the T-Wolves and Rubio's lack of one-on-one defense.

Here's where we start getting into the different sites
Chris Paul - FanDuel $9,500
Price still isn't there, though it's getting close. Just need to fade the blowout and you could be golden at 5x.

Damian Lillard - FanDuel $7,900
Looks a lot better if Aldridge is out, and the price has gone a little steep on the other sites with his recent performance. But on FanDuel it hasn't caught up to his upside. Especially if he's taking all the shots he can handle against a Denver team that could be without Lawson again.

Brandon Jennings - DraftStreet $13,210
Can easily cause stress-induced health issues. But this salary is way too low for DraftStreet and you probably need to roll the dice against his basement for the chance at the upside.

 

Shooting Guards

Bradley Beal - FanDuel $6,500 DraftKings $6,500 DraftStreet $12,265
He'll get plenty of looks and if the shot is falling he should crush these prices. Sixers.

Wesley Matthews - FanDuel $5,700 DraftKings $5,900 DraftStreet $10,349
I like Matthews regardless of Aldridge being in the game or not, though I should say I like Wes a lot more if LaMarcus sits. But he's put up big games even with the big guy on the court and tonight draws a teams that's let up 15% more scoring to shooting guards than league average. That is just a crazy number meaning Matthews should have no issue getting his looks.

James Harden - FanDuel $9,500 DraftKings $10,000 DraftStreet $19,309
Of all the big money guys today, I think Harden is my least favorite. I just don't think I'll be paying up for him with guys like Lebron and Love in the mix. That being said, Detroit has been particularly bad of late against shooting guards. Part of this could be Singler playing as the starter and having to D up the opposing two. Harden could go off.

Dwyane Wade - DraftKings $7,500
Really like this price for him here today. I don't think he'll be a heavy play and could really outstrip this salary against the Magic who will be without Afflalo.

Lance Stephenson - DraftKings $6,900 DraftStreet $13,935
Very nice prices here, especially on DraftKings.

Jared Dudley - FanDuel $3,500 DraftKings $3,200 DraftStreet $4,647
With Jamal Crawford and JJ Redick both out of the lineup, someone will need to pick up the extra minutes. Last game the Clips ran out a CP3 and Darren Collison as their backcourt. I don't know if that's a long term solution and until Danny Granger is brought on fully, I think Dudley could be a decent cheap play on a night you need them.

 

Small Forwards

Trevor Ariza - FanDuel $6,700 DraftKings $6,600 DraftStreet $13,597
Sixers. Bad. Ariza. Good.

Rudy Gay - FanDuel $8,100 DraftKings $8,200 DraftStreet $16,572
From an expectation and $/point consideration Gay doesn't rank too far behind Ariza today. He gets a big bump in getting to play the pace of the T-Wolves combined with their inability to lock down the opposing three. And lockdown is really a gross overstatement. They can't guard the position even a little bit. They've been bad all year and especially bad lately. Gay is a great play. And if you choose a strategy that fades the big boys and grabs upper-middle value, he's the play.

LeBron James - FanDuel $11,200 DraftKings $10,600
Don't think I'm getting into it on DraftStreet with Love around, but on the other two you can consider it. I'm worried about the blowout, and again, if money is the consideration then I think Love is the play. But King James still rates in our system and if the game is close for some reason Lebron should be all over the stat line. Who's going to guard him here?

Nicolas Batum - FanDuel $6,600 DraftKings $7,000 DraftStreet $13,678
Again, a guy I like a lot more if Aldridge isn't around, but regardless, Denver is below league average against small forwards and Batum has really been turning it back on of late. This could mean his hand is healing and he's feeling more comfortable. Or it could be a blip. I'm going with the former.

Kyle Singler - FanDuel $4,500 DraftKings $4,200 DraftStreet $9,332
If you're looking for cheap and safe, Singler has the minutes locked down in Detroit as the starter. He plays the two, but is listed as a SF. Which really helps. He gets more than 30 minutes a night and has been hovering around 5x (on FanDuel) value even with the price climbing. In an effort to get in some other salaries, Singler will be in a lot of my lineups.

Josh Smith - DraftStreet $14,969
Running off at a pretty nice discount here today against the Rockets.

 

Power Forwards

Kevin Love - FanDuel $11,500 DraftKings $11,200 DraftStreet $24,138
What is there to say at this point about K-Love? He's going to another level since everyone on his team has gone down with injury. This is some next level stuff, sort of like the run Durant was on a few weeks ago. The price almost can't climb high enough as long as he's playing at this level. The Kings will have no answer for him on defense. The DraftStreet price is climbing and without some real punt options will be very tough to manage. On the other two sites though I think you can make it work. It's going to be interesting because from a $/point view, he remains one of the top options.

Greg Monroe - FanDuel $7,000 DraftKings $7,400 DraftStreet $14,482
I'd almost guarantee no one is thinking about Greg Monroe on a night like tonight. That's decent news for you as he could make for a midrange value that exceeds his price. In fact, he's one of our top plays in the system. Houston can't defend power forwards at all and Terrence Jones will have a real difficult time handling him. I really like Monroe as a play because he will be a low percentage start with a high ceiling.

Blake Griffin - FanDuel $9,900 DraftKings $10,200 DraftStreet $20,018
I have Blake below K-Love mostly because I think the Clips will just crush the Pelicans, rendering Blake useless for the fourth quarter. When choosing between the big money guys, this is a real consideration. I probably won't play Blake in cash games, but he's a solid tourney option and could be fairly contrarian with the other superstars in the mix.

Thaddeus Young - FanDuel $8,600 DraftKings $7,800 DraftStreet $16,672
Have to put him in here because he's the only good player left on the Sixers and will see his share of minutes no matter the outcome.

 

Centers

Marcin Gortat - FanDuel $7,200 DraftKings $7,000 DraftStreet $15,766
Gortat is the runaway leader in the clubhouse for best matchup today. It's getting old saying it at this point how bad the Sixers are in defending, well, anyone. But it is worth it to mention that, though every Wizard has an insane multiplier, Gortat has the best of them all. The Sixers are a crime against humanity in defending centers. If I had to choose one Wizard today above them all, Gortat would be the guy.

Dwight Howard - FanDuel $9,200 DraftKings $9,500 DraftStreet $18,533
Have to love Dwight in this matchup tonight. Detroit has struggled all year with centers scoring, letting up about 10% more than league average. The Pistons also get blocked a ton. Howard will square up against Andre Drummond could be in for a monster game. If I don't play Gortat, this could be where I'm going. The problem today is money. As stated before, many of the best options are also the most expensive.

Robin Lopez - FanDuel $6,300 DraftKings $6,100 DraftStreet $14,111
This is contingent on Aldridge sitting again (he could play) and I don't think I'm going to be getting too far away from Marcin tonight, but if you think the Wizard game goes blowout, then you should start looking at RoLo. He has a bit of a tough time against the Nets, but they defend the center position fairly well. Denver does not. Granted some of this is different with Mozgov working the interior rather than Hickson, who can't guard anyone. But Timofey isn't a monster upgrade. Again, check on Aldridge.

Roy Hibbert - DraftStreet $10,982
Hibbert makes a solid, cheap option here today and is coming off a big game against the Bucks. It looks like he'll be facing Kris Humphries inside. So, advantage Roy.