NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Luka Doncic Top Pay-Up Stud (March 8)

Wednesday’s NBA action brings us to the middle of the work week with a seven-game main slate locking at 7:00 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 Luka Doncic and a high-value Thunder-Suns game.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Wednesday, March 8

Core Play of the Day — Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks-New Orleans Pelicans

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 58.83 | FanDuel: 56.57
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 13.7% | FanDuel: 18.8%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,800 | FanDuel: $11,800

First the caveat: This is a back-to-back as well as the third game in four days for Dallas. Last night Luka Doncic played 34 minutes against the Jazz, leading the Mavericks to a 120-116 victory on their home court. Tonight Dallas is in New Orleans; however, the next game is not until Saturday. One other thing to keep in mind, even though the Mavericks have the fifth-best record in the Western Conference, they are basically a three-game losing streak away from falling out of Play-In Tournament contention. This is a winnable game for the Mavs, though if they are well behind in the final frame, we could see coach Jason Kidd rest Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

Doncic and Irving have now played 211 minutes and 439 possessions together. This is still a small sample size, but Doncic continues to be elite with 1.72 fantasy points per minute, and Irving is acclimating quickly to his new team, with 1.28 fantasy points per minute alongside Doncic.

Maximilian Kleber and JaVale McGee are out with injuries tonight, and Reggie Bullock is doubtful with a bruised quad. If things play out how DFS gamers are hoping, we should see 35 or more minutes from the Mavericks’ new superstar duo in a fantasy-friendly matchup.

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Oklahoma City Thunder-Phoenix Suns

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams are both out for this matchup. Last night the Thunder rolled over the visiting Warriors 137-128. Though this is a back-to-back, Oklahoma City does not take the court again until Saturday. Unfortunately, the Thunder are 13.5-point road dogs in Phoenix, and we run the risk of key players like Josh Giddey and Luguentz Dort not getting their full complement of minutes if this game unfolds according to the spread.

Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Ousmane Dieng, Dario Saric and Jaylin Williams can be sprinkled into tournament lineups, as their collective roles in the rotation should not be diminished by any actual on-court outcome.

In turn it is tough to trust the key Phoenix players, though we should get a strong three quarters from Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, Deandre Ayton and Chris Paul as the team continues to coalesce and gel with the post-trade rotation. Any of this quartet could pop off for a 40-fantasy-point performance, it is just a stretch to think they will reach their ceiling potential in this matchup. Josh Okogie is the best bet for the discount player most likely to outproduce his salary tonight.

Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick – Sports Betting Opportunities

Okogie also looks good as a player to target in the betting market, with a rebounding prop set at 3.5. In his nine games with Phoenix, Okogie has a 7.3 rebounds per 36 minutes rate. Of course a fair amount of that time came while Durant was still getting his sea legs, however, Okogie has a decent 5.4 rebounds per 36 minutes rate for his career.

In three games with Durant, Okogie has averaged 2.7 rebounds, however, if this game is as lopsided as the oddsmakers think it will be, Okogie could get ample fourth quarter run while Durant is watching from the bench.

NBA Bet Pro has Okogie projected 21.8 minutes and 5.0. This gives the 24-year-old a 64% win probability. Even with the hefty -148 line at BetMGM, this still works out to a respectable 8% expected ROI.

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Portland Trail Blazers-Boston Celtics

Damian Lillard has been on a torrid streak with some eye-popping numbers, even by his lofty standards. Jusuf Nurkic is close to a return, which should help provide another player for defenses to worry about, but Anfernee Simons (ankle) is still out. This is far from an easy matchup, but Lillard makes for a strong tournament option with his ridiculous volume and coming off a triple-double. Matisse Thybulle and Cam Reddish are still viable discount dandies, though other upgrades are likely to appear, with additional news and injury reports being released throughout the day.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are top tournament options who can pile up fantasy production in a hurry, particularly when they are facing a lackadaisical defense such as the Trail Blazers, who are allowing 122.9 points per 100 possessions over their last 10 games.

Portland is coming into this game as a double-digit underdog, and this is the fourth game of a six-game road trip and its third tilt in the last four days. Tatum and Brown are still strong plays, though if you are looking for some differentiation, Sam Hauser is an intriguing option. Payton Pritchard (ankle) is doubtful, and Robert Williams is out once again. That should free up Hauser for a baseline of 15 minutes in the rotation, with potential mop up duty bringing him up to the low-20s.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Tonight Washington is on a back-to-back in addition to the aforementioned Dallas and Oklahoma City squads; that could be the next source of value, along with any teams in lopsided matchups looking to rest a key player or two.

Be sure to get all 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].