NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks: Nikola Jokic Leads the Way (March 25)

Saturday’s NBA action takes a bit of a backseat to the Elite 8 with a five-game featured slate tipping off at 8 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 Nikola Jokic, who continues to perform at an MVP level.

NBA DFS Picks Today: Saturday, March 25

Core Play of the Day — Nikola Jokic: Denver Nuggets-Milwaukee Bucks

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 62.69 | FanDuel: 59.51
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 27.8% | FanDuel: 12.6%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $11,300 | FanDuel: $11,900

The top teams in the Western and Eastern Conferences will square off in NBA TV’s featured Saturday game. Milwaukee won in a laugher last night, cruising to a 144-118 victory over the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Most of the key players saw just 24-26 minutes of action, and with Khris Middleton getting the night off, the Bucks are just 2.5-point underdogs in Denver tonight.

Nikola Jokic continues to impress. He is averaging nearly a triple-double in just 33.9 minutes of action. Currently, Jokic is averaging 24.8 points, 11.9 rebounds, 9.9 assists and 1.9 combined blocks and steals per game. He is second in rebounds, fourth in assists and leads the league with 28 triple-doubles — the same number as the next three players combined. There should be ample value with five teams on the second leg of a back-to-back and two other teams playing again on Sunday.

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Brandon Ingram: New Orleans Pelicans-Los Angeles Clippers

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 41.62 | FanDuel: 40.03
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 9.0% | FanDuel: 16.9%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $8,900 | FanDuel: $8,700

Brandon Ingram has been in the zone over the last five games. He is averaging 36 minutes per game and 20 field goal attempts with a stellar 50% conversion rate. This has culminated in 28.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, 7.6 assists and 1.2 combined blocks and steals. Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard are coming in with significantly more projected popularity, which makes Ingram an excellent pivot in large-field tournaments due to his comparable production and upside.

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Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick — Sports Betting Opportunities

Russell Westbrook is an interesting option in the sports wagering market tonight. His points prop sits at 16.5. Though he should see a few extra field goal attempts with Paul George out of commission, Westbrook has a poor track record of converting from pretty much anywhere outside of five feet.

In his last eight games, Westbrook has topped 15 points only once, and while George was available in most of those tilts, there is a long track record of Westbrook just not getting it done in the scoring column. In 13 games with the Clippers, all of which he started, Westbrook is averaging 14.1 points per game.

NBA Bet Pro has the 34-year-old projected for 32.2 minutes and 16.09 points. There is a 58% likelihood that the well-traveled veteran falls under tonight’s milestone, and the current line at BetMGM provides a solid 4% expected ROI.

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Domantas Sabonis: Sacramento Kings-Utah Jazz

Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 54.31 | FanDuel: 51.29
Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 27.9% | FanDuel: 25.6%
DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $10,500

On Friday, the Kings topped the Suns 135-127 in Sacramento, though they did lose De’Aaron Fox (hamstring). There is a strong probability that he sits tonight. Domantas Sabonis should be the main offensive facilitator, which boosts his fantasy prospects. He also leads the league with 12.5 rebounds per game with a dozen triple-doubles.

This is a back-to-back game for the Jazz, who are mailing things in at this point. They have the fourth-worst defensive efficiency over the last 10 games. Fantasy gamers are thrilled to note that they are also failing fast with the second-fastest pace in this timeframe. It looks like a two-center build is going to be a savvy strategy on DraftKings, and fortunately, FanDuel has granted power-forward eligibility to Sabonis.

Davion Mitchell is likely to draw the start for Fox, and while he is not a particularly fantasy-friendly option, he is at a near-minimum salary on most DFS sites. Malik Monk and Kevin Huerter are likely to be the secondary facilitators helping out Sabonis, and they look like strong fantasy point-per-dollar options across the board.

Harrison Barnes, Keegan Murray and Trey Lyles will also see a trickledown impact from Fox’s absence, with this trio standing out on DraftKings, though on FanDuel, only Barnes projects as a main slate target.

Utah is running thin in the backcourt with Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson likely out once again and Lauri Markkanen a game-time decision. If Markkanen plays, he is a fine fantasy option and will likely go underrepresented in tournaments if his status remains unknown until closer to this 10 p.m. tip-off.

Walker Kessler is yet another center option on Saturday. Kelly Olynyk would go from a neutral option if Markkanen is available to a strong secondary option if the Finnisher is out of commission. Talen Horton-Tucker still has a little potential upside on FanDuel, but his DraftKings salary is at a level that will need him to post another highly efficient fantasy game, which is a dicey proposition at best. Kris Dunn and Ochai Agbaji are best left to the two-game late slate.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today

Tonight is a staggered slate with the five games tipping off at four different start times. Get ready for the slate with all of the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Live Before Lock show at 7:00 p.m. ET on YouTube, brought to you by Bet365.

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].