Monday, Feb. 14, kicks off a short week of fantasy basketball heading into the All-Star Break with a nine-game main slate beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content.
NBA DFS Picks: DraftKings, FanDuel & Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Monday, Feb. 14
Yahoo Play of the Day — Julius Randle: New York Knicks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 43.16 | DraftKings: 46.02
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 43.8% | FanDuel 11.7% | DraftKings 21.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $35 | FanDuel $10,000 | DraftKings $9,600
Once again the Yahoo salary algorithm has been slow to recognize that Julius Randle is coming out of his mid-winter slump in style. New York has lost five of its last six games, though, to be fair, it did have a Western Conference road trip of five games in eight days. Tonight the Knicks are back at home and get a nice matchup against an Oklahoma City squad that is in the midst of a multi-season rebuild.
During the five-game road trip, Randle averaged 38.1 minutes and 21.4 field goal attempts, posting 29.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.4 combined blocks and steals. Four of these outings resulted in 50 or more fantasy points, with three being above 57 fantasy points. The salary on Yahoo is just too good to pass up, and gamers can differentiate lineups at other positions.
Tonight the NBA player props market for Tre Mann against New York is one to consider, as Awesemo has him projected for just over 15.1 points. Currently his points prop is over/under 11.5, and while this is not an easy matchup, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luguentz Dort are out with injuries, and rookie Josh Giddey now has a soft minutes cap in the 26 to 30 range so he does not get burned out. That means Mann and Ty Jerome are likely to be the main point guards, and each should approach 30 minutes of court time, and their various props have not yet accounted for this increased workload.
DeMar DeRozan: Chicago Bulls vs. San Antonio Spurs
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 49.03 | DraftKings: 50.12
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 32.6% | FanDuel 24.4% | DraftKings 22.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $45 | FanDuel $10,400 | DraftKings $10,200
Zach LaVine will likely be out through the All-Star Break with a knee injury. Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso are sidelined as well, and Javonte Green (foot) is questionable after missing the last game. DeMar DeRozan is having his best all-around year, with a career-high 27.7 points per game and top-three career marks in field goal percentage (51.2%), rebounds (5.2) and assists (5.1) per game. This works out to 42.9 fantasy points, his highest average in his 13 seasons.
Over his last 10 games, DeRozan is averaging 38.4 minutes and 22 field goals at a 56.8% success rate. All told, during this stretch he is averaging 33.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 1.4 blocks and steals. San Antonio is not the same defensive team of recent seasons, and this is a nice matchup for Chicago. Nikola Vucevic should also perform well against Jakob Poeltl and Zach Collins.
Kyle Kuzma: Washington Wizards vs. Detroit Pistons
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 39.13 | DraftKings: 41.41
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 33.0% | FanDuel 41.8% | DraftKings 19%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $33 | FanDuel $7,700 | DraftKings $8,600
Until Kristaps Porzingis makes his Wizards debut, Kyle Kuzma is going to be the primary NBA fantasy option to target for the Wizards. In his last two games, he has averaged just over 36 minutes, 18.5 points, 10.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and one combined blocks and steals, and he also recorded his first career triple-double. Thomas Bryant is an intriguing option as a discount center, and Corey Kispert has flashed some fantasy upside since, unlike Deni Avdija, he is willing to shoot the ball. Kispert is risky, but as long as he is in the starting lineup he can be employed with or without Kuzma in all formats. Sadly, the Pistons do not really have anyone intriguing now that they are mostly healthy; their rotation is running 10 deep, which curbs the fantasy upside for everyone across the board.
Brooklyn Nets vs Sacramento Kings
Currently Brooklyn has the longest losing streak in the NBA at 11 games. It is still two games above .500 and eighth in the Eastern Conference, but Kevin Durant is out for another two weeks and Kyrie Irving still cannot play games in the state of New York. The official completion of the James Harden and Ben Simmons trade is still yet to come, so the statuses of Seth Curry and Andre Drummond are up in the air. If Drummond starts, he is a bargain on DraftKings ($5,500) and FanDuel ($6,000), while his $30 Yahoo salary is a tall order. Curry is a viable option across the various DFS sites, though he is far from a core option. If this duo is not available, then Cameron Thomas, Patty Mills and Nicolas Claxton are above-average options — if everyone is in — along with LaMarcus Aldridge. Then whoever lands in the starting lineup has the edge, though coach Steve Nash can be fickle with his rotation.
Domantas Sabonis and De’Aaron Fox are outstanding options for Sacramento, who is currently a 4-point road favorite. Harrison Barnes is a neutral option, and everyone else is below average now that Justin Holiday and Donte DiVincenzo have joined the squad.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Monday, Feb. 14 Fantasy Basketball Slate
Tonight there is an extended slate with games starting at five different times and a lone late-night hammer tipping off 90 minutes after everyone else. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.
