NBA Fantasy Picks Today: DraftKings & FanDuel Fantasy Basketball Rankings

There is another great mid-sized NBA slate tonight that features seven games. The point totals continue to rise for most of these games which may make for another high-scoring DFS slate. There are four eye-catching players that were driven by Awesemo’s Fantasy Basketball Rankings. There are several high-profile players questionable, so be sure to stay up to date with our Starting Lineups page to see who is in and out of the lineup. Awesemo’s popular daily projections are free tonight so make sure to check those out while building your tournament-winning lineup.

DraftKings & FanDuel NBA Fantasy Basketball Rankings

*Grades are ordered DraftKings, FanDuel. The initial grade indicates a player’s strength of output, with the value grade indicating their strength as a play in relation to their salary.

SF Jayson Tatum — Grades: A, A | Values: B, A

The Celtics are rolling right now, winning 12 of their last 14 games. However, Jaylen Brown left last game after playing three minutes due to an ankle injury. That means a big boost to Jayson Tatum. In 14 games without Brown this season, Tatum is averaging 29.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 22.4 field goal attempts per game. He also has a 34.5% usage rate and is averaging 50.3 DraftKings points per game. Tatum ranks in the top three in boom percentage on both DraftKings and FanDuel according to our Boom/Bust Tool.

Despite playing against the Grizzlies, who have the third-best record in the league, the Celtics are still one-point home favorites. This game total is the third-highest on the slate at 223.5 points. The Grizzlies rank eighth in both defensive rating and pace this season. They have allowed 109.1 points per game, which ranks in the middle of the pack. They present some defensive challenges, but nothing that Tatum cannot handle. According to our NBA DFS ownership projections, Tatum is coming in second on both sites for the highest owned option. He has a solid sample size of playing without Brown this season and will be very difficult to ignore. Tatum’s price came up, but not nearly enough.

C Clint Capela — Grades: B, B | Values: A, A

Trae Young did not go through shoot around this morning and John Collins has already been ruled out, however, the Hawks are still small underdogs at home against the Bulls tonight. They will need to rely on Clint Capela once again, especially guarding Bulls center Nikola Vucevic. In 11 games without Collins this season, Capela has averaged a double-double with 11.4 points and 13.5 rebounds per game. Hawks backup center Onyeka Okongwu is also out due to COVID protocols, which may help Capela get even more minutes tonight. Awesemo NBA projections have Capela slated to play 29.4 minutes and to be the best value option on DraftKings.

As Capela looks good in both the fantasy basketball projections and NBA rankings today, he is one of the top NBA picks today in the DraftKings NBA Cheat Sheet. Check out the rest of our free NBA optimizer picks in the FanDuel NBA Cheat Sheet and Yahoo Fantasy Basketball Cheat Sheet.

It is surprising that the Bulls rank 20th in defensive rating when they have the second-best record in the Eastern Conference. They have allowed the seventh-most points in the paint this season. The paint is where Capela lives. He leads the Hawks with 4.4 made field goals inside five feet and has just one field goal attempt outside of 10 feet all season. Regardless of Young playing at point guard or not, Capela should be able to dominate the paint. He leads the slate with the highest boom percentage on DraftKings in our Boom/Bust Tool.

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PF Pascal Siakam — Grades: A, A | Values: C, A

The Raptors are in such a great spot at home against the Pistons that someone on this team is going to pop. Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby are both listed as questionable to play tonight. VanVleet has missed the last two games, while Anunoby has missed the last four. Full disclosure, if Anunoby plays he is a fantastic play on FanDuel at $4,700. However, if both are out, it is Pascal Siakam who stands out. The last two games certainly have been disappointing. The Raptors won in a massive blowout in the first game and Siakam fouled out in this most recent game. He is second in the league to VanVleet in minutes played per game, so he has gotten unlucky.

In four games after the All-Star Break, Siakam has not hit 40 DraftKings points yet, but this is another great matchup where he can get there and then some. The Pistons rank 27th in defensive rating and last in rebounding percentage. Siakam has lost some rebounding work to Scottie Barnes, but he still leads the team averaging 8.4 rebounds per game. Siakam has an A Grade and A Value on FanDuel in our NBA Rankings. Going balanced seems like the way to go on this slate and Siakam is another great option tonight.

PF Al Horford — Grades: B, B | Values: A, A

When sticking with the mid-range, another player who is popping in our Awesemo NBA projections is Celtics forward Al Horford. He is rating out as the second-best value play on DraftKings and third-best on FanDuel. He also benefits from Jaylen Brown being out. In 12 games without Brown this season, Horford is averaging 13 points, 6.9 rebounds and four assists per game. He is attempting over two more shots per game as his usage rate increases by +3.2%. Horford has been a key part of this turnaround for the Celtics.

The Grizzlies lead the league in rebounding percentage this season, but Horford does not need to get a bunch of rebounds to succeed. Since the All-Star Break, Horford is averaging nine points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. During that time he has played 34.3 minutes per game and Awesemo projects him to play a modest 32.7 minutes tonight. Horford is popping as one of the best leverage plays on the slate right now. He has the third-highest boom percentage on DraftKings and fifth-highest on FanDuel in our Boom/Bust Tool, but he is outside of the top-10 in ownership for both sites. Pairing him with Tatum still provides plenty of upside.

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