Daily Fantasy DraftKings and FanDuel NBA Picks - Friday, March 28, 2024

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Point Guard/ Shooting Guard

Jalen Brunson FD - $9300 DK - $9200
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 50.44 DK - 54.2

When it comes to minutes, few (if any) other teams have the kind of insane floor as the Knicks guys on a night-to-night basis. Thibs just runs these guys into the ground, and from a fantasy perspective, that’s great news for us. Jalen Brunson is at the center of that.

Now, that being said, they’ve managed his minutes to some degree, sitting him in the mid-30s over the last week. Though some of that was circumstance more than plan. I’m still on him for having one of the highest floors around and he gets a great matchup against the Spurs on Friday.

Josh Giddey FD - $7400 DK - $6300
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 37.07 DK - 40.29

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is going to sit out again here on Friday which means another great spot for Josh Giddey and some other Oklahoma City Thunder guys on this slate. He played 32 minutes in the overtime loss against Houston on Wednesday, finishing with 31 points, seven rebounds, and four assists when it was all said and done.

The minutes (or lack thereof) are a little concerning, but the production was elite. On DraftKings, this is an easy call where the price hasn’t corrected. On FanDuel, it’s a bit closer though I think we can run him in cash there again.

Rayan Rupert FD - $4300 DK - $3400
Opponent - MIA
Proj Pts FD - 23.99 DK - 27.41

Rayan Rupert isn’t all that good of a fantasy player, but he’s in line for major minutes on Friday with the Trailblazers still dealing with all manner of injuries (tanking and otherwise). Rupert played 39 minutes on Wednesday in the loss to Atlanta. He finished with an uninsprigin seven points, six rebounds, and five assists in that game.

Crushing it? No. But the price and minutes might win out here. If we need a cheap play who should be on the court a ton, it’s hard to argue with Rupert. That being said, we likely need to temper expectations just a tad.

Dalano Banton (FD 6900 DK 6100) is one of the most interesting fantasy plays right now. He’s coming off the bench, but completely crushing when he actually gets on the court. Over his last two games, he’s averaging 30 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Yeah, you read that correctly.

Small Forward

Jalen Williams FD - $8300 DK - $7400
Opponent - PHO
Proj Pts FD - 45.09 DK - 47.22

Things started slowly for Jalen Williams last game, but by the end he had easily crushed his price as a chalk play on both sites. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out, Williams took 23 shots, finishing with 23 points, 10 assists, and five rebounds in the overtime loss to the Rockets. He’ll be in line for similar production here and the minutes are ultra-safe with SGA out of the lineup. We are likely looking at high ownership once again, but at these prices fading him in cash doesn’t make a ton of sense.

Deni Avdija FD - $7600 DK - $7300
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 36.47 DK - 39.19

Corey Kispert FD - $5300 DK - $5400
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 26.05 DK - 28.83

The Wizards draw a great matchup against the Pistons here on Friday evening, facing off against one of the worst defensive teams in basketball (the Pistons can claim the same things going against the Wiz). Both Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert should be in line for big minutes with Washington actually trying to stay in games of late. Do they win many of them? No, of course not, they stink. But it’s a welcome sign that they are at least incentivized to run these dudes.

Both of their price points are in line with cash game value considering the matchup with Deni obviously having the higher upside. But it’s worth mentioning that Kispert’s usage has been there recently, taking 15, 18 and 12 shots over the last three games respectively. He needs to hit threes to stay competitive, but that’s in his wheelhouse for sure.

Power Forward/ Center

Marvin Bagley III FD - $6100 DK - $4800
Opponent - DET
Proj Pts FD - 32.08 DK - 33.68

We are going to get some value at power forward and center on this slate because of some injury stuff happening around the league. Marvin Bagley should get the start here, and we’ve seen him be able to easily fill the stat sheet up enough to pay off these prices on both sites. He went for 18 points and six rebounds in 25 minutes last game.

This is right in line with where he’s been per minute since joining the Wizards around the trade deadline. It’s a little closer on FanDuel than DraftKings, but either way he stands as one of the better cash plays especially considering the Wiz don’t have much in the way of size behind him.

Jabari Walker FD - $4700 DK - $4300
Opponent - MIA
Proj Pts FD - 27.61 DK - 29.94

With Toumani Camara out this game and Jerami Grant still on the shelf, we should see Jabari Walker get the start at the four for the Blazers in this game against the Heat. The matchup is bad, and Portland could get blown out, but it’s still hard to avoid playing Walker in cash games if he’s running with the starting five. The fantasy production can come and go for Walker, tailing off a bit of late for sure. But his price point on both DraftKings and FanDuel is just too low if he’s running with the starters.

Chimezie Metu FD - $5000 DK - $4600
Opponent - WAS
Proj Pts FD - 32 DK - 33.6

Chimezie Metu will likely be in the starting lineup again for the Detroit Pistons and the price has moved enough to reflect this new role. If he’s the starting power forward with Jalen Duren in, the numbers aren’t likely to blow it out of the box, though he’s able to do enough across the box score to warrant a cash play here. Over the last five games, he’s averaging 26 minutes, 8.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 2.0 blocks+steals. None of them wow you, but they add up to more than enough production.