NBA DFS Picks DraftKings + FanDuel Expert Lineup Building Strategy 4/27

Despite the Mavericks’ slow start and Daniel Gafford‘s brutal outing, Monday was another successful night. Late swap continues to be a weapon when utilized correctly, so it will continue to be a major emphasis of this article the same way it has been over the past four months. Anyways, we have lots to get to, so let’s jump right into finding some more NBA DFS picks and strategies to utilize on today’s slate for DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s get into it for Tuesday, April 27.

Be sure to check out the Slate Starter podcast, featuring yours truly and Rynpak, to get the first look at the slate and make NBA DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel!

NBA DFS Slate Starter: Picks & Strategy | April 27

The Kinetics of the Celtics

Tuesday’s six-game slate seems to be taking form already, as a number of important pieces from multiple teams have already been ruled out. It will be Goga Bitadze watch once more, as Domantas Sabonis and Myles Turner will be absent from the Pacers’ frontcourt for the fourth-consecutive game. Bruce Brown will be out to allow us to take shots on ancillary Nets pieces. But without question, Kemba Walker and Jayson Tatum being ruled out well ahead of time allows for strategizing the handling of this undermanned Celtics team.

The conversation has to begin with Jaylen Brown, who sticks out like a sore thumb. A 1.18 DraftKings points per minute producer on the season, Brown sees that number catapult to 1.33 in 392 minutes with Walker and Tatum off the floor. Perhaps it has something to do with his outrageous 37.3% usage or team-leading 26.9% assist rate with them absent, so he sticks out as a priority heading into lock. Be sure to utilize Awesemo’s Boom/Bust tool and ownership projections to make sure he’s not going crazy over-owned leading up to lock, but he’s certainly the go-to Celtic to roster should his popularity stay somewhat in check.

Next up is Robert Williams, who was upgraded to questionable on Monday evening. We’ll see how news falls throughout the day, but should he return from his six-game absence tonight, he’s going to pop off the page at only $5,500 on both sites. That is because the man does work even in limited minutes, evidenced by his 1.30 DraftKings points per minute rate on the year. Should he see even 24 minutes, he’s more than viable on a mere six-game slate (pending other value, of course).

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Marcus Smart sticks out as a FanDuel-specific play at $6,600. as his identical tag on DraftKings will be more of a contrarian spend-up as it sits right now. Evan Fournier and Jabari Parker, however, could be semi-popular on DraftKings at $5,000 and $3,300, respectively. Both should shake you to your core rostering them, as Fournier has been downright abysmal since joining Boston, and Parker is Parker. Seeing Fournier’s 0.67 DraftKings points per minute so far in his Celtic tenure feels like a misprint, but now is the time to take some shots on that course reversing. Same goes for Parker, who 10 days into his time with the team has produced nearly a fantasy point per minute.

Lastly, there is really no other roster-able play on this team besides Payton Pritchard. He spiked an upside on his $3,700 salary as recently as two games ago, putting up 33.75 DraftKings points in just 24 minutes versus the Nets. And considering the fantastic matchup versus a bad Thunder team, it’s certainly in the range of outcomes that the Oregon product puts up a repeat performance, especially if he were to receive any sort of blowout run. Don’t expect him to start (he’s only done so two previous times this year), but he’s the sort of play that can catapult you to the top of a GPP in the second unit if he’s knocking down shots.

Why Did Monday Have to be Trey Burke Night?

Monday was supposed to be an incredible spot for the likes of Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Jalen Brunson against the league’s worst defense in the Sacramento Kings. After Kristaps Porzingis and Josh Richardson were listed as doubtful well before lock, there was no question most of the remaining Mavericks were going to see more usage and opportunity in their stead. Unfortunately, it was a brutal fantasy evening for everyone on the team with the exception of Trey Burke.

Let’s take a look at last night’s rotations, courtesy of PopcornMachine.net:

NBA DFS daily fantasy basketball lineups for DraftKings & FanDuel today Tuesday April 27

Burke was inserted at the beginning of the second quarter in an attempt to salvage the early hole created by the Mavericks starters and boy, did he produce. His 28-minute, 34.5 DraftKings point performance was the only useable box score on the team at approximately 0.01% ownership. Should he somehow start after this dynamite outing, he would certainly stand out at $3,200 on DraftKings and the minimum on FanDuel. But don’t get your hopes up, as that’s something he hasn’t done once all season long.

As far as the frontcourt goes, there is no way of knowing whether or not Porzingis will give it a go against the Warriors in their TNT matchup. If he does, sign yourself up for as much of him as possible and we won’t have to remotely consider anyone else. But should he sit once more — and Maxi Kleber misses after only being able to play 10 minutes — we’ll have no choice but to take a shot or two on whomever starts in the middle (please be Boban Marjanovic). That being said, even the starters don’t have locked-in minutes; Dwight Powell started and still took a backseat to Willie Cauley-Stein‘s 27 minutes. Let’s just pray for Porzingis, but should he sit, be prepared to throw some uncomfortable darts all of these other center options.

And of course, Doncic will once again be under strong consideration despite a second-straight sub-50 fantasy point outing. He surprisingly sees a tiny decrease to his production on this season with Porzingis off the floor, falling from a 1.53 DraftKings points per minute player to a 1.51 one. But that’s really splitting hairs, as 1.51 is still an elite rate you want in your lineups when that player is seeing high-30s minutes on the daily. Despite burning many of us Monday, go right back to well Tuesday so long as he’s active.

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Final Thoughts for Your NBA DFS Lineups

There is no way around it: Damian Lillard has been real, real bad of late. But if we’re going to reinvest in an upside, now is the time at $8,400 on FanDuel.
While Lillard is a FanDuel priority play, Jusuf Nurkic really pops on DraftKings at the bargain rate of $6,800. He has averaged a ridiculous 56.75 DraftKings points in his past two games despite just 29 minutes of run in both. He’ll most likely be super popular over there tonight — and for good reason.
Just play Jaden McDaniels.

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Author

Eric Lindquist

Eric Lindquist hails from Sioux Falls, South Dakota (yes, that’s the one with Mount Rushmore). A steady diet of three SportsCenters a day at an early age led to his obsession with sports, one that 30 years later is paying dividends for him as a successful DFS player and sports bettor. Despite over half a million dollars in net career earnings, he’s most passionate about helping others achieve their financial goals, an energy you can witness on the daily in his current role as a host and analyst at Stokastic. He’s a former Division I golfer at Iowa State, wishes he was a former Minnesota sports fan, and is a proud father to a 100-pound Bernese Mountain dog named Duke that wishes he could just eat people food instead of the crap he and his wife feed him on the daily.