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FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Sunday, 5/23/21
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Point Guard
Ben Simmons FD - $7700 DK - $7100
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 43.46 DK - 43.15
The Sixers draw, by far, the best matchup on this slate against the Wizards who will likely want to get into a sprint for this one. Washington played the fastest pace in the league this season and was a bottom-third defense. They are the worst team to get into the playoffs and Philly draws them first. Simmons didn’t have a great statistical season though he’s not priced like a superstar at this point anyway. This is still a dude who put up 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while adding 2.2 blocks plus steals in fewer than 33 minutes. Those are set to really increase here if the game stays close and I think he has a high enough floor in this matchup.
Trae Young FD - $8700 DK - $8500
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 47.14 DK - 51.31
Point guard isn’t all that great a position on this slate with some of the other options either coming in as too expensive or in tough matchups. I don’t love him facing up against the very slow and defensively sound Knicks, but that’s something of a theme on this slate. Young should play a ton in this game and New York’s perimeter defense could be put to the test with what Trae brings to the court. Again, I don’t want to pay all the way up for Westbrook against the Sixers and Conley gets dinged with Mitchell coming back into the fold.
Derrick Rose (FD $5900 DK $5500) could end up playing a lot off the bench to give the Knicks more scoring options.
Shooting Guard
Devin Booker FD - $7800 DK - $8000
Opponent - LAL
Proj Pts FD - 44.9 DK - 46.9
Booker is in a bad matchup against the Lakers who will likely run Caruso a lot here to deal with him on the defensive end. But for a guy who is going to see his minutes really ramp up in this game, he’s coming a little underpriced for how much he can score. Booker had an up and down final month of the season, struggling at times to find his shot. But this is still one of the elite scorers in the game who could push towards 40 minutes in what will be a tough series for the Suns.
Seth Curry FD - $4900 DK - $5000
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 21.62 DK - 22.47
When the games were mattering for the Sixers, we were seeing Curry playing mid-30s minutes. That’s a great sign for him at this price point and in this matchup. Look, you are going to get all five of Philly’s starters in this writeup. Their matchup is just light years better than basically anyone else on the slate. So that’s where we are. That he helps fit in some more expensive guys is even better news and he should at least see some open threes in this game.
Small Forward
Danny Green FD - $4100 DK - $4200
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 27.2 DK - 27.1
There are a couple of chances to go on the cheaper side at small forward on this slate. Green will be used for his wing defense specifically against Bradley Beal in this matchup and I like his chances at playing minutes in the mid-30s. He’s obviously away down on the pecking order when it comes to usage on this team, but he’s also very cheap. With the ability to get some defensive stats in an up-and-down game plus the chance at hitting some open threes against a bad defense, this is a fine place to risk it on Green in this price tier.
De'Andre Hunter FD - $4200 DK - $4000
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 21.81 DK - 22
This one is more speculative than I’d usually like to go, but on these playoff slates with so many superstars lining up to play a lot of minutes, you have to take a couple of risks. It was a very good sign for Hunter that he played 24 minutes in the Hawk's last game of the season after coming back from an extended injury absence. There’s an outside chance he starts, but even if he doesn’t they’ll want his defensive prowess off the bench for sure.
RJ Barrett (FD $6800 DK $6400) is another candidate to play mid-40s minutes in this game.
Power Forward
Julius Randle FD - $9800 DK - $9200
Opponent - ATL
Proj Pts FD - 49.87 DK - 53.87
If there’s a candidate on this slate to play the entire game, Randle is the guy. Even in games that didn’t mean nearly as much Thibs and the Knicks were comfortable running him in the low-to-mid 40s. Now? With it all on the line? He might not come off the court. Randle destroyed the Hawks when they played this season and he’s been a fantasy dynamo basically season long because of the high workload and ability to contribute in a number of different ways.
Tobias Harris FD - $7200 DK - $7000
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 41.49 DK - 41.79
He’s just too cheap on this slate though you have to just decide which of the Sixers you plan on playing. Obviously, his usage goes down when he shares the court with Embiid and that’s going to be the case with all of these Philly guys. There’s no way around that. The bigger question is whether Washington can hang and not get blown out in this game. If it stays close, then Harris has high a minutes upside as anyone on the team which would make his DraftKings price especially attractive.
Center
Joel Embiid FD - $10100 DK - $9800
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 59.37 DK - 61.52
How many Sixers is too many? We are about to find out, aren’t we? You are going to see a lot of fouls thrown Embiid’s way in this matchup with the Wizards planning on rotating in minutes from Alex Len, Robin Lopez, and Daniel Gafford probably all game long. Let’s see how much it even really matters. Embiid is set to destroy this group and the Sixers likely want to make quick work of the Wizards. That’s going to mean a lot of Embiid early and often.
Deandre Ayton FD - $6200 DK - $6200
Opponent - LAL
Proj Pts FD - 33.48 DK - 34.73
I’m putting Ayton on here not because the matchup is good (it isn’t) but because he could be in for a ton of minutes in this series. The Lakers trend so big across their front line, and the Suns have very little size after Ayton in the lineup. That could mean significant run for him all series long. It would go a long way to make up for some of the fantasy numbers, but if you think he presses minutes in the high-30s then he for sure is a cash play even against the Lakers.
If you believe the late-season minutes then Nerlens Noel (FD $4500 DK $4100) could be the value of the slate.
Clint Capela (FD $8300 DK $7500) is looking like a very good DraftKings play on this slate.
