NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Kawhi Leonard a Strong Option (March 15)

Wednesday’s NBA action brings a tightly packed seven-game main slate that locks at 7:30 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 Kawhi Leonard, who is on an extreme island game.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Wednesday, March 15

Core Play of the Day — Kawhi Leonard: Golden State Warriors-Los Angeles Clippers

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 47.19 | FanDuel: 46.77
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 25.6% | FanDuel: 16.0%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $9,000 | FanDuel: $9,900

Welcome to March Madness! We are at that point in the NBA season where pretty much anything goes, and everything is up for change at any moment. The Lakers and Spurs each played on Tuesday and are resting key players, plus the Mavericks and Grizzlies are missing several key contributors, so this in turn is opening up additional opportunities deeper into the rotation.

In an odd scheduling twist, the Clippers last played on Saturday and do not play again until this Saturday. Talk about an extreme Island Game! Los Angeles and Golden State are tied with identical 36-33 records, with the Warriors holding the tiebreaker and thus technically holding fifth place in the Western Conference standings.

The Golden State defense has been suspect over the last five games, allowing an average of 120.8 points per game in regulation. Currently, the Clippers are 2.5-point home favorites in a game with 237.0 projected points.

Over his last seven games, Kawhi Leonard has been sublime from a fantasy perspective, averaging 38.5 minutes and 18.4 field goal attempts with a 57.4% conversion rate. This has culminated in 31.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.4 combined blocks and steals. Leonard is the core building block of the day, with teammate Paul George very much in contention as a wingman or as a standalone option, if playing multiple entries tonight.

Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets

Anthony Davis is out on the back-to-back, so that means D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura each get a boost in minutes as well as offensive and rebounding opportunities. Dennis Schroder and Wenyen Gabriel are extreme lottery options at best, but in this match against Houston, anything goes.

Alperen Sengun (groin) is questionable, but the rest of the Houston roster should be available. The Rockets have won three of their last six games, with two of the three losses being close — one by single digits and another in overtime. Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green are above-average options on both FanDuel and DraftKings, with KJ Martin Jr., Jae’Sean Tate and Tari Eason all standing out on the latter DFS site.

Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick — Sports Betting Opportunities

Jordan Poole has seen inconsistent results this season, which makes him an interesting option in the betting market. The books have set the total for his points + rebounds + assists (PRA) prop to 26.5. Over his last 11 games he has averaged 25.9 PRA, with six games under 26.5 and two more that ended with 27 PRA.

NBA Bet Pro has Poole projected for 31.8 minutes 19.48 points, 2.86 rebounds and 3.87 assists for 26.21 PRA. While this projection is right on the line, the -110 line at BetMGM, along with a 56% probability of him falling under this threshold, leads to a strong 7% expected ROI.

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Dallas Mavericks-San Antonio Spurs

Dallas will once again be without Luka Doncic (thigh), and Kyrie Irving (foot) is listed as doubtful. Now Tim Hardaway Jr. (calf) is questionable and Christian Wood (ankle/doghouse) is carrying the same designation.

Normally, missing this many key offensive options would cause issues; however, the Mavericks are up against the Spurs, who are just playing out the string on this season.

Even if Wood plays, he can be ignored by DFS gamers, with only one game of more than 30 fantasy points in his last nine outings. A dinged-up Hardaway is not particularly appealing either, but having one or both of these players ambulatory tonight would help improve the overall offense.

Jaden Hardy has seen his salary boosted after two strong performances, and he should again be in line for 36 or more minutes and 20-plus field goal attempts. Josh Green can be hit or miss; however, the matchup and likely path to 30 minutes and field goal attempts in the mid-teens make those uncertainties less troublesome.

McKinley Wright IV and Maxi Kleber are extreme punt options, though there will likely be more appealing choices as the day unfurls.

This is the second consecutive game for the Spurs, who will be without Zach Collins, Devin Vassell and Jeremy Sochan. Finally, Charles Bassey (knee) is out for the remainder of the season. In turn, Keldon Johnson, Tre Jones, Doug McDermott and Romeo Langford will all be available. Rookie Malaki Branham is questionable with a shoulder issue.

Johnson and Jones are solid point-per-dollar options tonight, particularly with Dallas playing at a faster pace without Doncic dominating the ball, which further exposes a vulnerable defense. The absence of Collins and Bassey means that Sandro Mamukelashvili and Gorgui Dieng are suddenly in the tournament mix at near-minimum salaries. The starter would, of course, be the “safer” options, but that is not a total guarantee of having more playing time than the backup.

Devonte’ Graham and Keita Bates-Diop are fine as tournament differentiators, and they are on the short list for the evening sub-slate.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Get ready for the slate with all of 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, brought to you by PrizePicks.

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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].