Wednesday, March 16, brings a monster 12-game main slate beginning at 7 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. As always, you can head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Wednesday, March 16
Yahoo Play of the Day — Dejounte Murray: San Antonio Spurs vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 52.94 | DraftKings: 54.11
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 8.6% | FanDuel 14.5% | DraftKings 13.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $50 | FanDuel $10700 | DraftKings $10700
There are two dozen teams in action tonight, which should provide an abundance of value options. That means most lineup will be able to be created with two top-shelf stars. Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, Joel Embiid and LeBron James are the easily identifiable top options. The next layer of players may be overlooked, which also means they are likely to be underrepresented in tournaments.
Dejounte Murray has rattled off six consecutive games of at least 53 fantasy points. He is posting career bests in nearly every statistical category and is second in the league in triple-doubles with 12. The Thunder do not seem to be bothering with defense over their last seven games, as they are allowing 125.2 points per 100 possessions.
Kevin Durant: Brooklyn Nets vs. Dallas Mavericks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 50.17 | DraftKings: 52.35
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 1.2% | FanDuel 2.3% | DraftKings 6.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $52 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $10,900
On Sunday Kevin Durant put up 53 points in overtime against the Knicks. Last night Kyrie Irving one-upped him by dropping 60 on the Magic in Orlando — in just 35 minutes. Because tonight’s game is in Brooklyn, Irving will not be available and Durant will be the primary offensive option. Fortunately, Durant was only needed for 30 low-key minutes last night, so he should be ready to carry the load tonight against Dallas. Without Irving and James Harden on the floor this season, Durant is averaging an elite 1.53 fantasy points per minute. Dallas has a league-average defense on its best nights, so anything less than 50 fantasy points from Durant tonight is going to be a disappointment.
R.J. Barrett: New York Knicks vs. Portland Trail Blazers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 37.76 | DraftKings: 39.76
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 34.6% | FanDuel 29.7% | DraftKings 21.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $29 | FanDuel $7,200 | DraftKings $7,700
Across his last nine games, R.J. Barrett has been stellar while logging 38.7 minutes and 21.6 field goal attempts per game. This has resulted in 26.4 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 0.7 steals for a tick shy of 40 fantasy points. Portland has been a disaster on defense, and over their its 10 games it is allowing 120.1 points per 100 possessions while playing at the seventh-fastest pace. The Knicks are projected for 117 points tonight, which is nearly 11 more than their season average. Julius Randle is also worth a look tonight as a mid-tier option who is likely to be overlooked by the field.
Los Angeles Lakers at Minnesota Timberwolves
Just when it seems like the Lakers are in a situation to win, they end up losing again and again. They have now lost 11 of their last 14 games and seem to be relegated to one of the bottom seeds in the play-in games. Despite being double-digit underdogs, there should be plenty of fantasy goodness available for Los Angeles in this matchup. LeBron James, Russell Westbrook and Talen Horton-Tucker are the primary targets on the main slate, and Malik Monk and rookie Austin Reaves join them for the evening slate.
Look to Westbrook in this matchup against Minnesota in the NBA player prop market. Currently he has a 6.5 over/under on his rebound prop, and Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 8.5, which gives him a 73% probability of surpassing the over. In nine of his last 13 games, Westbrook has logged at least six rebounds.
The Timberwolves have several questionable players in Anthony Edwards, Patrick Beverley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Naz Reid. Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell are solid options regardless, while the rest of the Minnesota options are in flux until we have the next injury update. Depending on who is in or out, there could be several potential value targets. If everyone is available, then only Towns and Russell are targets on the main slate.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Wednesday, March 16 Fantasy Basketball Slate
Tonight there are games tipping off at seven different start times, which likely will lead to post-lock news. In the late games, Andrew Wiggins, Fred VanVleet and Gary Trent Jr. are all listed as questionable, so be sure to have contingency plans in place when rostering someone from that trio.
