NBA DFS Picks Projections & Ownership DraftKings & FanDuel Lineups

Even though there are only seven games on tonight’s NBA DFS slate, there is no shortage of value. The majority of it comes from the Toronto Raptors since they continue to sit players down the stretch of the season. This is leading to a majority of the top NBA DFS picks for FanDuel and DraftKings coming from Toronto. All of my lineups tonight will have at least one Raptors in them, and many will have more than that.

Join AWESEMO+ today!

Use accurate data and advanced tools crafted by the #1 DFS player.

NBA DFS Deep Dive: DraftKings + FanDuel | May 8

Guards

Russell Westbrook ($11,100 DraftKings/$12,000 FanDuel) – I don’t have new things left to say about Westbrook. He crushed every single slate that the Wizards are playing, and blindly rostering him every night over the last two months was a plus EV approach to NBA DFS. His counting stats are so ridiculous at this point that sportsbooks have him with lines of 13.5 rebounds and assists for this game against the Pacers. Russ is going to have to play all the minutes he can handle since this game is massively important for playoff seeding.

Stephen Curry ($10,800 DraftKings/$10,200 FanDuel) – On DraftKings, Westbrook is an easy option to roster over Curry. On FanDuel, this becomes more debatable since there is a $1,800 price gap between them. While I still lean towards Russ, Curry is somebody to get exposure to because of his increased minutes and usage down the stretch of the season. With the Warriors fighting for a playoff spot, Curry has a 38.2% usage rate over the last month.

Caris LeVert ($9,100 DraftKings/$8,600 FanDuel) – The viability of LeVert depends on the status of Malcolm Brogdon. Brogdon is questionable to play after missing the last four games with a hamstring injury. If he’s out, I expect the Pacers to lean heavily on LeVert. Indiana has played in some lopsided games lately, which masks how large of a role LeVert is playing. LeVert played 41 minutes last game and played 38 minutes the last time the Pacers played against the Wizards. I actually think he’s more likely to play over 40 minutes tonight than under if Brogdon is out again.

Malachi Flynn ($4,700 DraftKings/$5,300 FanDuel) – Flynn appears to have a hit a bit of a rookie wall. He’s actually averaging under 10 fantasy points on FanDuel and DraftKings across his last three games, but tonight’s situation is different. With Fred VanVleet and Kyle Lowry both out, I expect Flynn to move back into the starting lineup and take on most of the on-ball duties for the Raptors. As a starter, he’s found a ton of success this season. Flynn is averaging 29.67 DraftKings points in nine starts.

Gary Trent ($5,500 DraftKings/$5,000 FanDuel) – It is difficult not to like pretty much everybody who the Raptors have active and starting today. As noted above, Lowry and VanVleet are both out. This comes in addition to Chris Boucher and OG Anunoby getting listed as out again while Yuta Watanabe and Aron Baynes are both questionable. There’s a ton of playing time and usage to fill on Toronto, and Trent’s price is still a bit depressed due to the time he missed with an injury. Trent returned and played 36 minutes last game, so I have no concerns about his workload moving forward.

Jordan Clarkson ($7,600 DraftKings/$7,300 FanDuel) – Clarkson is finally upping his efficiency a bit from the field. With Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell both out, we have seen Clarkson play extended minutes and with an uptick in usage. The issue is that this hasn’t mattered a ton when he was missing nearly everything additional shot he was getting from the situation. In the last couple of games, Clarkson made half his shots to average well over 40 fantasy points. He’s a good play at this salary as long as he can manage to make just 40% of his shots from the field when considering he has a 30.5% usage rate over the last two weeks.

Top DraftKings NBA DFS Picks: Russell Westbrook, Malachi Flynn

Top FanDuel NBA DFS Picks: Russell Westbrook, Gary Trent

Latest NBA DFS Content

Forwards

Tobias Harris ($7,100 DraftKings/$7,200 FanDuel) – Navigating the injury reports at this time of the season is no easy task. Playing on the tail end of a back-to-back against the Pistons, this seems like a prime spot for the 76ers to rest players. This becomes even more evident when Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid and Seth Curry are all listed as questionable on the injury report. I don’t think there’s a real need to play any of these guys today. When Simmons and Embiid are off the court this season, Harris has a 30.9% usage rate and scores 46.82 DraftKings points per 36 minutes.

Pascal Siakam ($9,000 DraftKings/$8,900 FanDuel) – Siakam’s price is up, but it isn’t enough when considering all the players out for the Raptors. Siakam has scored over 70 DraftKings points in two of his last three games, and he’s going to have to carry heavy usage again today. With Anunoby, VanVleet, Lowry and Boucher off the court this season, Siakam has a 33.2% usage rate and scored just over 50 DraftKings points per 36 minutes. He’s also played at least 40 minutes in three of the last four games, so it’s not as if the Raptors are shy to play him heavy minutes.

Michael Porter Jr. ($8,700 DraftKings/$7,000 FanDuel) – MPJ is a vastly different play on FanDuel and DraftKings. With a $1,700 difference in salary, there’s no need to consider him on DraftKings. He becomes a much stronger play on FanDuel due to the position he plays and discounted price. His usage is up since the injury to Jamal Murray, and since both Monte Morris and Will Barton are doubtful to play, there’s no reason to think Porter’s usage or playing time will dip anytime soon.

K.J. Martin ($5,300 DraftKings/$6,400 FanDuel)

Anthony Lamb ($4,100 DraftKings/$4,300 FanDuel)

DaQuan Jeffries($3,900 DraftKings/$4,200 FanDuel) – I am listing all of the Rockets guys together because I am not sure what else to do with this situation at the moment. Like many teams, the Houston injury report is a disaster for today. Kelly Olynyk and Jae’Sean are currently questionable, while a number of guys have already gotten ruled out. The list of players officially out for the Rockets tonight is Kevin Porter, Christian Wood, Sterling Brown, D.J. Wilson, John Wall, Eric Gordon, Dante Exum, Avery Bradley and David Nwaba. Houston is a core part of lineup construction again, but we desperately need an injury report update.

Stanley Johnson ($3,700 DraftKings/$3,600 FanDuel) – Starting for the Raptors’ last game, Johnson didn’t produce desirable results. Well, at least he didn’t for me since I was on him. I am sure people that didn’t roster him were happy to see him fail. Johnson started for the Raptors and looked like a great value play, AND the game went to overtime. The problem was that he got into early foul trouble and fouled out before the overtime. With all the Raptors’ injuries, Johnson should play well over 30 minutes at a cheap salary if he can avoid fouling.

Top DraftKings NBA DFS Picks: Pascal Siakam, Whoever Plays For the Rockets

Top FanDuel NBA DFS Picks: Pascal Siakam, Whoever Plays For the Rockets, Michael Porter Jr.

Centers

Nikola Jokic ($10,900 DraftKings/$11,200 FanDuel) – With the number of players getting ruled out, this is likely going to wind up as an easy slate to pay up for multiple stars in the same lineup. This is going to make Jokic a priority play for me. Even though I have Curry and Westbrook projected for more fantasy points, they play the same position. There is also more value at guard than center at the moment, so from a lineup construction standpoint, it makes sense to pay up for Jokic.

Dwight Howard ($4,000 DraftKings/$5,300 FanDuel) – While there is uncertainty with the 76ers’ situation, my expectation is that Joel Embiid will not play tonight. If this is the case, Dwight becomes one of the top values on the slate and my favorite center option. He’s easy to fade if Embiid ends up playing through his questionable tag. In five starts this season, Howard is averaging 22.85 DraftKings points, although this doesn’t reflect what I expect from him tonight. During starts earlier in the season, Dwight competed with Tony Bradley for playing time, and he’s no longer on the roster.

Top DraftKings NBA DFS Picks: Nikola Jokic

Top FanDuel NBA DFS Picks: Nikola Jokic

Follow us on all of our social channels! Check out our Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube for more great Awesemo content.

Looking for more NBA DFS picks content? We have loads of articles, data, cheat sheets and more on the Awesemo NBA home page. Just click HERE.

Author

Greg Ehrenberg

Greg is a former stand up comedian who quit telling jokes to pursue a career in the world of DFS. He started playing fantasy sports in 6th grade when Greg and his friends would skip classes to meet in the bathroom for 20 team fantasy basketball drafts. Considering his current career path, it was the best education he could have asked for.