Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Picks Today: Free NBA DFS Rankings 3/3/22

Tonight has its usual rash of injury-related issues to watch for in Yahoo daily fantasy basketball. The report starts with Lebron James, who is likely to play but still listed as questionable. The bigger names to watch though are Trae Young and Fred VanVleet, whose absences would have big impacts on this slate. Jaylen Brown, of the Celtics, has also already been ruled out which obviously bumps up the prospects of Jayson Tatum today. The seven-game NBA slate has lots of moving pieces and tops out with a game between Sacramento and San Antonio that has an over/under of 238.0 points.

This column will use the Awesemo NBA DFS Projections, daily fantasy basketball rankings and NBA DFS tools to build lineups and help wade through the day’s data and news. Make sure to read to the end for a couple of extreme value plays for Yahoo fantasy basketball lineups today.

Yahoo Fantasy Basketball & NBA DFS Value Picks Today

Guard — Trae Young $42

The Hawks’ Trae Young will be a game-time decision today, so remember to check injury updates before firing him in your lineups. Delon Wright could be a great stream if Young sits. That said, Young is in a great spot today against the Bulls in a game that has a close point spread and a 233.0 over/under. Young has been terrific of late, going for over 31-points in three of his last four games, and should come in with extremely low rostership numbers given the game-time call situation. It looked like a mild ankle tweak for Young, so the main issue is likely swelling. If he does play, expect big minutes as the Hawks are also without John Collins at the moment. Young rates out with the fifth-best points projection of any player on this slate and comes with the best value score in the Awesemo NBA projections among the top names at Point Guard today as well.

The Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks article features one of Young’s teammates as one of the best options to build NBA DFS lineups around. Plus, see who EMac has locked in on as his Yahoo NBA DFS Play of the Day.

Guard — Cade Cunningham $29

The Pistons’ Cade Cunningham has posted 35 or more Yahoo points in three of his four starts since the All-Star break. The rookie can be inefficient at times and still gets into foul trouble but has looked more consistent since grabbing the Young Stars MVP award at the All-Star game. Cunningham has averaged over 1.1 fantasy points per minute on Yahoo over his last four starts. Cunningham takes on a Raptors team who is banged up at multiple positions and has been blown out twice in their last four games. Shooting Guard is a bit of a wasteland today and Cunningham rates out easily inside the top-five in what is a very condensed grouping at the top. His solid minutes and improved recent form make him a solid target at under $30.

Forward — Keldon Johnson $21

If you are looking to pay for a stud at Guard and Forward, throwing another value target in the mix for lineup construction is likely a good idea. The Spurs’ Keldon Johnson is a nice secondary option in San Antonio that brings good minutes and a solid match-up against the Kings today, who are playing the tail-end of a back-to-back. This game has the highest projected point total on the slate and has now risen to 241.0, so using a player like Johnson is an easy and effective way to grab a piece of a Spurs offense that is projected a 125.0 implied team total, the largest on the slate. Johnson rarely plays less than 30 minutes these days and has shown better usage numbers lately as well, which has pushed him upwards of 40.0 fantasy points on Yahoo twice in his last 10 games. He is rated top-five in the Awesemo NBA projections at Power Forward and has the best value score of anyone over $20 today as well.

Forward — Lebron James $54

As mentioned above, there is a questionable tag on James today, but it is likely not one fans have to worry about much. James has stated he has no desire to rest and seems hell-bent right now on dragging this poor-performing Lakers team into the playoffs. It is a close spread today between the Lakers and Clippers and James should play well over 35 minutes in this spot. The Clippers are also a poor rebounding team, ranking third-worst in the league in terms of rebounds allowed. James grabbed 12 defensive rebounds in the last game and now has double-doubles in two of his last four starts. While there are strong plays at Small Forward today, James is still ranked first by more than 3.0 points in the projections at his position and should be a top pay-up target for Yahoo NBA lineups today.

One of James’ teammates was showing up well in Awesemo’s NBA DFS projections today. Russell Westbrook is popping as one of the best Yahoo Fantasy Basketball plays on the entire DFS slate. Check out who else is one of the best NBA picks today in the Yahoo NBA DFS Cheat Sheet.

Latest NBA DFS Content

Center — Ivica Zubac $20

The Clippers Ivica Zubac has been giving some great fantasy returns of late. He has now gone for 28.0 or more Yahoo points in six of his last seven games, all while maintaining a salary under $20. His increase today is well warranted though, as he has produced 43.4 and 53.5 Yahoo points over his last two games. Zubac’s minutes can be a little hit or miss but he should be able to dominate against the Lakers today, a team that sits fourth-last in rebounds allowed. There are multiple cheap Centers in play on this slate but Zubac rates out with the best value score on Awesemo under $25 and has easily flashed the most short-term upside. A close point spread and good match-up mean Zubac should push for bigger minutes and another ceiling game.

Yahoo NBA DFS Value Play — Danilo Gallinari $13

Danilo Gallinari has the highest NBA point projection on Awesemo today of anyone under $15 on Yahoo. The forward has been getting deeper rotational minutes over the last couple of weeks with four of his last games seeing him break the 30-minute mark in time on the court. He has been a solid contributor in multiple areas and takes on a Bulls team who is one of the worst at defending 3-pointers, and sits fifth-last in opposing 3-point field goal percentage. The 233.0 over/under and close 1.0 point spread are super attractive for a scorer like Gallinari, who remains ultra-cheap and has been shooting well lately.

With Fred VanVleet questionable, do not hesitate to look at Malachi Flynn ($13) today, who has been very effective for fantasy purposes of late and averaged over 35 minutes in his last two games. There is more information on Flynn in the NBA DFS Slate Starter article.

Thanks for reading to the end of this article! If you appreciate this free content and want to see more of it every day, you can help us out by sharing this article on social media!