Tuesday night brings a value-filled five-game slate, and below are some of the best NBA daily fantasy picks for both FanDuel and DraftKings based on Awesemo’s grades and values.
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NBA Daily Fantasy Picks: Awesemo Grades | April 20
Center: Enes Kanter
DraftKings Grades: B, Values: A
FanDuel Grades: B, Values: A
The Trail Blazers will be without both Damian Lillard (hamstring) and Jusuf Nurkic (rest) tonight against the Clippers. Kanter will replace Nurkic in the starting five, and he is an elite value with expanded workload. The last time Nurkic was inactive was just 10 days ago, and Kanter broke the DFS slate that night, scoring 24 points and collecting an absurd 30 rebounds in 37 minutes en route to a career-best 68 DraftKings points. In his previous start sans Nurkic, Kanter posted another double-double worth 36.5 DraftKings points against the Clippers, which is the same defense he will face this evening. In total, Kanter is producing 34.1 DraftKings points per game in 30.2 minutes in the 34 starts he has made in place of Nurkic this season.
Neither of his price tags reflect this role, and Kanter is grading out as a top-10 value for both DraftKings and FanDuel, based on Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections.
Projected NBA DFS Ownership: DraftKings 23.6%, FanDuel 21.4%
Point Guard: De’Aaron Fox
DraftKings Grades: A, Values: C
FanDuel Grades: A, Values: B
Sunday night, Fox tore the Mavs up for 58.5 DraftKings points, leading the Kings to their first win of the month. This snapped a nine-game losing streak for his club, and now Fox will be back at home in a near-perfect situation against the Timberwolves. This contest’s over/under game total is the highest of the night at 238 points and Sacramento’s 120.75-point implied team total is also the largest of the 10 NBA teams in action Tuesday. Fox has provided an outstanding 55 DraftKings points per game this when his team has been slated for 120 points or greater, and the Wolves are giving up DraftKings points per game to opposing point guards at the second-highest clip.
Fox just recorded 55 DraftKings points against Minnesota two weeks ago, and his usage should be elevated with Richaun Holmes (hamstring) and Marvin Bagley (hand) still on the shelf. Fox’s usage rises 2.2% with these two bigs off the court, and anything less than 50 fantasy points would be a disappointment tonight.
Projected NBA DFS Ownership: DraftKings 24.8%, FanDuel 25.8%
Center: Hassan Whiteside
DraftKings Grades: B, Values: A
FanDuel Grades: B, Values: A
Whiteside earned the start at center Sunday with Bagley and Holmes injured and scored 27.5 DraftKings points. He only finished with 18.4 minutes, but this was a result of the Kings mostly using small-ball lineups against this Dallas team that prefers to play small ball, with Kristaps Porzingis at the five. However, tonight is a different story against Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves. With Towns on the other side, Whiteside should be forced to handle a decent amount of playing time as the Kings’ top option to match up with him. Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections have Whiteside forecasted for 24.8 minutes tonight, which is more than enough time for him to put up a big fantasy score.
Whiteside has generated 1.34 DraftKings points per minute and 37.8 DraftKings points per game when he has logged at least 20 minutes this year. Towns may be one of the most skilled offensive big men in the NBA, but his defense has been amongst the worst at his position, ranking 80th of 85 qualifying centers in real defensive plus/minus this season. As a result, no team in the association is giving up more DraftKings points per game to opposing centers than the Wolves, and Whiteside is a risk worth taking in this beautiful spot. According to Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections, he is the No. 1 value on both DraftKings and FanDuel for this five-game slate.
Projected NBA DFS Ownership: DraftKings 19.2%, FanDuel 15.2%
Point Guard: Cole Anthony
DraftKings Grades: B, Values: B
FanDuel Grades: C, Values: A
Anthony has taken full advantage of Michael Carter-Williams (ankle) being out for back-to-back contests, amassing 37.4 DraftKings points per game in 31.3 minutes. Now, not only will Carter-Williams continue to be missing, but Otto Porter (foot), James Ennis (calf) and Terrence Ross (back) have all been ruled out. Whenever Anthony has been on the court without these four plus Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier, Anthony received a team-high 32.2% usage rate, which is a 9.3% uptick from his average rate for the season.
All in all, this equates to 1.11 DraftKings points per minute for Anthony, and Tuesday night delivers an above-average matchup against a Hawks defense that is allowing the 10th-most DraftKings points per game to opposing point guards. For the third straight start, Anthony should score over 30 fantasy points, and he is a strong mix of safety and upside for both cash games and GPPs, making him a solid NBA daily fantasy pick tonight.
Projected NBA DFS Ownership: DraftKings 19.8%, FanDuel 23.6%
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