NBA DFS Picks: Will Jayson Tatum Roll The Competition? (February 27)

Monday’s NBA action launches a new week with a four-game featured slate tipping off at 7:00 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 Jayson Tatum, who is a strong option with Jaylen Brown away from the team tonight.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Monday, Feb. 27

Core Play of the Day — Jayson Tatum: Boston Celtics-New York Knicks

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 53.35 | FanDuel: 50.84
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 37.6% | FanDuel: 21.1%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $11,000

We will not be alone in the assessment of Jayson Tatum being today’s core building block. There are only eight teams in the player pool, and with Jaylen Brown away from the team attending to a personal matter, Tatum brings both a high floor as well as attainable 60-fantasy-point upside.

Tatum is having the best season of his career, averaging just over 50 fantasy points per game. This includes personal bests of 30.4 points, 8.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists, which translates to 1.37 fantasy points per minute. In nine games this season without Brown — all of which were Boston victories — Tatum averaged 37.1 minutes and 23.7 field goal attempts, resulting in 35.0 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.7 combined blocks and steals. Four of these efforts resulted in 60 or more fantasy points. Enjoy!

Detroit Pistons-Charlotte Hornets

Detroit is running shorthanded tonight, and they will be without Jalen Duren, Jaden Ivey and Nerlens Noel. Additionally, Bojan Bogdanovic is dealing with a knee issue and Isaiah Stewart is working through a sore hip, and both players are questionable.

Starting off with what we know, James Wiseman is likely to draw a second consecutive start, and he is very appealing on DraftKings ($3,700) with power forward eligibility. He also rates out as the second-best point-per-dollar option on FanDuel ($4,800), though there are quite a few center options, even with this being a short slate.

Killian Hayes is back in the starting lineup, and he should be in line for mid-30s minutes. He has been in a dreadful slump in his last five games, averaging 2.0 made field goals on 9.6 attempts for a 20.8% conversation rate. While the 21-year-old has a low 37.2% success rate from the field for his three seasons in the league, he is due for some positive regression.

Alec Burks and Marvin Bagley III should also be in line for additional minutes and fantasy opportunities. If Bogdanovic and Stewart are able to start, they are solid options as well. If Bogdanovic is out, Hamidou Diallo will be a direct beneficiary, and Isaiah Livers will see extra run if Stewart sits.

LaMelo Ball has a lofty five-figure salary on both DraftKings and FanDuel, but he is worth every penny. Mark Williams was tremendous on Saturday, with career highs of 18 points and 20 rebounds. He has been assigned an appropriate salary across the DFS sites for his new starting role; however, this matchup should provide ample opportunity to return value and make his backers happy.

P.J. Washington is doubtful after suffering a foot injury on Friday. JT Thor drew a spot start against Miami on Saturday, but he managed to contribute only 4.75 fantasy points in 26 minutes. Kelly Oubre Jr. returned after nearly two months off while recovering from surgery on his left (non-shooting) hand, and he is likely to see upper-20s for minutes and pick up some of the offensive responsibilities vacated by Washington.

Gordon Hayward had two strong games over the weekend, and he should be in line for 30 to 32 minutes. Of course, this will also be the third game in four days for Charlotte, and even with the soft minutes cap, Hayward is always at risk to pick up some random injury.

Terry Rozier, Dennis Smith Jr. and Nick Richards are appropriately priced for their current responsibilities, though they are viable tournament differentiators with their current single-digit projected popularity.

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Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick – Sports Betting Opportunities

Joel Embiid is back as the recommendation today, with an 11.5 over/under rebounds prop. This threshold is up from 10.5 on Saturday, though it is carrying more juice as a result. Running back the key metrics, Embiid is averaging 10.4 rebounds per game this season, which is his lowest mark in the last six years and also nearly a full rebound under his career average.

The Cameroonian also has a career-worst 10.7 rebounds per 36 minutes, which are nearly two fewer than last year’s 12.5 and well short of his 12.9 rate over the last six years. Over the last 15 games, Miami is playing at the third-slowest pace and Philadelphia at the fifth-slowest pace, which should help limit possessions and, of course, rebounding opportunities.

NBA Bet Pro has Embiid projected for 10.1 rebounds, which works out to a 62% likelihood that he falls short of tonight’s milestone. BetMGM currently has this wager available at -135, giving it a solid 5% expected ROI.

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Orlando Magic-New Orleans Pelicans

Normally the Magic would not be particularly exciting, but Monday’s options are limited with only four games on the docket. Aside from Jonathan Isaac (hamstring), everyone is available for Orlando, which keeps our interest focused on the top six players. Starters Paolo Banchero, Markelle Fultz, Franz Wagner and Wendell Carter Jr. are all worthy of our consideration. Cole Anthony has not been getting enough minutes to be much of a factor, though Jalen Suggs is an option off the bench.

Larry Nance Jr. (ankle) is expected to miss the next couple games and, of course, Zion Williamson remains out with his hamstring injury. Jonas Valanciunas should finally have a clear path to 30 minutes, and anything less than a double-double and 35 fantasy points tonight is going to be a disappointment. Guillermo “Willy” Hernangomez is a mess on defense, but he can pile up fantasy points in a hurry when he is on the court. FanDuel has granted him power forward eligibility, which makes him an excellent value option.

CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram are steady options who will carry most of the usage for the team. Orlando is a strong defensive presence, so we should not force the Pelicans stars into our lineups, but they should not be eschewed either.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Tonight is a compressed slate with all four games tipping off in a one-hour window. Be sure to get all the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Deeper Dive and Live Before Lock shows at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, including a bonus 30 minutes post-lock, 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].