Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Picks Today: Free NBA DFS Rankings 2/15/22

The fantasy basketball slate today has seven games on it and a couple with monster point totals that will have everyone excited. Minnesota and Charlotte are two of the fastest-paced teams in the league and have a 244.0 point total for their over/under as of writing. Expect all the main players in that game to be popular topics of conversation in the NBA DFS strategy streets today. There is also a nice matchup in New Orleans, where the Pelicans take on the Grizzlies today. A 228.5 over/under there makes that game a nice pivot. There will be big injury news again to watch on Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo, who got ruled out mid-day yesterday. Both are set up as game-time decisions, so be sure to keep your ear to the ground before making your NBA picks today.

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 days’ 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 — Chris Paul $40

The NBA projections today on Awesemo have a dearth of point guards ranked highly. While Luka Doncic remains top-dog, there is not much gap today in slots 2-5. That has helped make the NBA DFS case for Chris Paul, who is quite affordable at $40 and sits third in the projections at his position. Paul takes on a Clippers team who remain quite short-handed and sit as massive +12.5 underdogs in this spot. Paul has produced over 40.0 Yahoo points in four of his last eight games and likely will come in with a lower rostership than many of his peers at this price range. It is a good time to take the safe floor but high-upside of Paul in what should be a beneficial match-up against the banged-up Clippers.

Guard — C.J. McCollum $30

Plenty of players have switched teams over the last few days and many have had instant fantasy impacts. CJ McCollum leads that list, as the former Blazer landed a season-high 11 rebounds in his first start as a Pelican and has averaged 29 points in his first two games with the new team. McCollum looks a little underpriced considering how well and quickly he has adapted and there is really no reason to think he will not continue to see high usage on a team that offers little depth behind him at the guard position. He ranks second in the Awesemo NBA projections at shooting guard but has a much stronger value score on Awesemo than any of the other top-five ranked players there.

Forward — Jimmy Butler $39

Jimmy Butler playing today is still up in the air, but his status as a GTD could help in big fields where his rostership will certainly be lower due to the red letters beside his name on Yahoo. Butler ranks out first in the Awesemo NBA projections today by over 2.0 points, despite having just the second-highest salary at his position. The Heat are small underdogs against Dallas today but the close point spread means there should be a boatload of minutes from Butler in this spot. Butler has gone off for over 50.0 Yahoo points four times in his last 10-starts. He is a pure GPP play but his projections on Awesemo suggest this could be a breakout spot if his health complies.

Butler was showing up well in our NBA projections today and 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.

Forward — Evan Mobley $29

If you are thinking of paying up at center and small forward, then you need to look to power forward for some decent value. Evan Mobley comes in under $30 today and ranks out with the best value score of anyone over $20 at that position for this slate. Mobley has had a couple of quiet games in a row where he has posted under 30.0 Yahoo points in NBA DFS but he will be in a nice breakout spot against Atlanta for Tuesday. Atlanta plays at one of the fastest paces in the league and has allowed the fifth-most points against this year. Bogdan Bogdanovic could also miss this game, which would really boost Mobley’s upside today as well.

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Center — Joel Embiid $54

Joel Embiid has now averaged over 65 Yahoo points over his last five games. He has been on an absolute tear with all of the injuries and player movement, like Seth Curry and Andre Drummond being gone, of late and we can expect his 40%+ usage rates to continue until we see James Harden join the Philly lineup. Embiid may not have the best match-up of the day but that may also work in our favor as it will likely keep rostership low. He is ranked out first in the Awesemo NBA Projections for the entire slate, with a 5.0+ point lead on the second and third-ranked players. With a couple of faster-paced matchups elsewhere it will not be hard to find value at other positions so spending up at center for Embiid rates out as a great way to begin rosters. Until Harden is ready, expect to be seeing Embiid a lot in these articles.

Yahoo NBA DFS Value Play — Nicolas Batum $10

Nicolas Batum is coming off a hot game and while it is sometimes risky to chase points with a streaky player like Batum, he does rate out as the absolute best value today on Awesemo. The Clippers come in as +12.5 underdogs and have a roster that is lacking depth right now. Luke Kennard is banged up and a GTD and Norm Powel remains out. If this does end up as a blowout, expect Batum to again see solid usage and minutes. He rates out as a good low priced punt on this medium-sized slate for NBA DFS.

Yahoo NBA DFS Value Play — Buddy Hield $16

One player who has popped up a bit in the player projections on Awesemo of late is the Pacers’ Buddy Hield. Like Batum, Hield is a streaky player who is very point-dependent, but he is in a solid spot right now to keep producing in the short-term, as the Pacers depth chart looks barren at best. Hield has played over 37 minutes in each of his last two games and is actually producing on the boards with 17 rebounds in his last two games. He may get an Antetokounmpo-less Bucks team today too, which would boost his value. Hield is a good value either way though, as there is no reason to think he will not get a ton of minutes again this Tuesday.

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