NBA DFS Picks: Tons of Centers Have Value (Feb. 11)

Saturday’s NBA action boasts an eight-game featured slate tipping off at 7 p.m. ET on both DraftKings and FanDuel. There are several options in the player pool worth analyzing to find the top NBA DFS building blocks and NBA DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel lineups, including LeBron James in a terrific matchup against the Golden State Warriors.

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NBA DFS Picks Today: Saturday, Feb. 11

Core Play of the Day — LeBron James: Los Angeles Lakers-Golden State Warriors

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 52.63 | FanDuel: 50.67
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 13.8% | FanDuel: 13.4%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,800 | FanDuel: $10,400

EDITOR’S NOTE: LeBron James was ruled out of Saturday’s Lakers-Warriors game at 2:25 p.m. ET.

LeBron James should enter Saturday’s contest relatively fresh. He last played on Tuesday, when he set the NBA’s all-time scoring record. Surprisingly, Thursday was just the third game he has missed in his last 18 opportunities. The Lakers will begin working in their new acquisitions such as D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt tonight, but make no mistake, James and Anthony Davis remain the primary options.

Russell will likely join the starting lineup at some point, but most of his minutes and usage will come from those vacated by Russell Westbrook and Patrick Beverley. Vanderbilt will slide into Thomas Bryant‘s minutes, and Beasley will feather in as needed. Mo Bamba still has two more games on his suspension, so things are not too crowded just yet.

Golden State is favored by a bucket as the home team, but Los Angeles can win this game. Golden State’s defense has struggled lately, and they have allowed 115.6 points per 100 possessions over the last three weeks. Neither team plays again until Monday, so we should see strong minutes from the key contributors in this ABC Saturday Night Game.

UPDATE: Davis is a strong option, particularly where he can be rostered as a center now that James has been ruled out. This development also should give Russell solid usage if he suits up and likely will land him in the starting lineup from the jump.

Centers of Attention

Tonight the center position is absolutely loaded with amazing plays. Of course, Nikola Jokic sits at the top with the highest median fantasy projection for both the position and the entire player pool. The back-to-back reigning NBA MVP has a phenomenal matchup against the Hornets in Charlotte and they are not likely to slow him down by any stretch of the imagination. Both Aaron Gordon (rib) and Jamal Murray (knee) have picked up injury tags, and if either sits, Jokic looks even better.

The Charlotte Hornets shipped Mason Plumlee off to the Clippers, opening up significant playing time for rookie Mark Williams and third-year center Nick Richards. Williams drew his first start last night and was solid in 31 minutes with a double-double, two assists and a block. He did have four fouls, so that will be a slight concern going forward, though at this salary it’s hard to avoid having him on most rosters.

Richards is the direct backup for Williams and it is unlikely that they share the court. The former Kentucky Wildcat is a solid point-per-minute producer and is a perfect leverage option away from Williams since any extra minutes he gets will be at the expense of the rookie.

San Antonio’s Zach Collins has power forward eligibility on FanDuel, but he remains a center on the other DFS sites. The Spurs traded Jakob Poeltl back to the Raptors, so Collins should see a steady 28-30 minutes going forward as the starter in San Antonio.

Coach Gregg Popovich doesn’t overwork his players, and on the season, only Keldon Johnson (32.6) and Devin Vassell (31.3) are averaging over 30 minutes. For perspective, Poeltl was averaging 26.1 in his 46 starts. Collins played 35 minutes in double-overtime last night, so keep tabs on any updates prior to lock. If he does start, then 27-28 minutes is an appropriate baseline expectation against the Hawks in Atlanta tonight.

Domantas Sabonis, Bam Adebayo, Myles Turner, Jarrett Allen, Nikola Vucevic and Davis are the other players who have center-only eligibility on most sites. That makes things very interesting from a strategy standpoint and the perfect time to employ the Stokastic Boom-Bust tool.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick – Sports Betting Opportunities

Tyrese Haliburton disappointed as the recommendation in this spot last night, but we should go right back to him with his 2.5 made 3-pointers prop. Ideally the shellacking last night was a wake-up call and Haliburton reverts back to looking for his own shot.

Over his last five games, the first-time All-Star has averaged 2.2 made 3-point pointers on 6.4 attempts. He is averaging a career-best 2.9 makes on 7.3 attempts from beyond the arc on the season.

NBA Bet Pro has Haliburton projected for 3.2 triples tonight, and while that leads to a 50-50 likelihood of surpassing his target, BetMGM currently has the over priced at +135, which gives this coinflip outcome a very healthy 13% expected ROI.

Did you know that you can get two free months of Stokastic+ Platinum for signing up and making your first bet at BetMGM? Claim here today!

Washington Wizards-Indiana Pacers

Tonight the Wizards will host the Pacers. Indiana just lost 117-110 at home to Phoenix. After being down 17 at the half and 22 at the end of the third quarter, most of Indiana’s starters barely played over 24 minutes. The Pacers have a middling defense that has allowed 116.4 points per 100 possessions over the last 10 games, and they play at a slightly above-average pace.

Washington won’t have Kyle Kuzma, which makes Kristaps Porzingis a highly intriguing play, particularly since he has power forward eligibility on most DFS sites. Bradley Beal has been dealing with a variety of injuries this season, but he is averaging 32.8 minutes with 22.2 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.5 combined blocks and steals this year. He is averaging just over 40 fantasy points per tilt over his last three games and won’t break the bank.

Deni Avdija also has value. With Kuzma out and Rui Hachimura traded to the Lakers a few weeks ago, Avdija has seen his minutes increase, Even with a more expensive salary, the matchup and his newfound workload make him a decent play — especially if you’re considering stacking options from this game with its total set all the way up at 234.

Stay away from Washington’s backcourt options behind Beal. They are plentiful — Monte Morris, Kendrick Nunn, Delon Wright and Jordan Goodwin all crowd each other out of significant playing time.

Tyrese Haliburton has been in a major slump and hasn’t reached the 40 fantasy point plateau in the last 10 days. Fortunately, his salary is subsiding, and this is the type of matchup where he should thrive. Considering his last three games were against Cleveland, Miami and Phoenix, the Washington defense is going to feel like a walk in the park on a pleasant spring afternoon.

Bennedict Mathurin has been all over the place with his playing time, but he sure looked good last night. He racked up 22 points with three rebounds. He has tallied 20 or more points in six of his last 10, with two of his poorer games coming against the aforementioned Heat and Cavaliers. His salary, which is set to less than $5,000 at both DraftKings and FanDuel, and his eligibility at both shooting guard and small forward make him an attractive option.

Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith are decent value placeholders, though better alternatives are likely to emerge prior to lock. Buddy Hield has tournament upside, but he can disappoint as well. Turner is solid, but one of many centers in the mix as detailed above.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Even 48 hours removed from the trade deadline, the impact of deals has not fully shaken out. In addition, nine teams played yesterday, which means we could see some injury management situations. Be sure to get all the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Live Before Lock show at 6:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, courtesy of No House Advantage.

Author

Eric MacPherson

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].