Saturday, the penultimate day of the NBA’s regular season, brings a three-game featured slate that locks at 3:30 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.
NBA DFS Picks Today: Saturday, April 8
Two of the three matchups today will have a direct impact on playoff seeding, which should make for some intriguing DFS decisions as well as a fun afternoon of watching things unfold on the television.
Core Play of the Day — Anthony Edwards: Minnesota Timberwolves-San Antonio Spurs
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 44.39 | FanDuel: 43.28
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 57.1% | FanDuel: 56.2%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $8,400 | FanDuel: $9,300
The Timberwolves have an interesting situation because they could possibly climb out of the play-in tournament. Currently, Minnesota has the tiebreaker over both Los Angeles teams, though in order for any movement to occur, the Lakers and Clippers need to lose out while the Wolves win out.
This afternoon, the Spurs are 14-point home dogs, but we just saw the Timberwolves get knocked off by the lowly Portland Trail Blazers last Sunday in Minnesota. Though San Antonio is all but assuredly going to lose, we could get a rousing game in front of their home crowd to keep things spicy.
Naz Reid is out with a broken wrist and Karl-Anthony Towns is dealing with a sore calf. That means Anthony Edwards will have to carry the load again. This has been a rollercoaster of a season for Minnesota with highs including Edwards making his first All-Star Game and lows including the inconsistent play of Rudy Gobert and Towns missing 53 games.
Tomorrow’s matchup is going to be even tougher. Although it is a home game, the New Orleans Pelicans will be looking to win and stay ahead of the Timberwolves, thus holding on to the second play-in tournament slot. Everything starts with a win this afternoon, so even if Minnesota is able to put this game in the bag early, Edwards will likely have 40-plus fantasy points at a minimum, and if this game is contested down to the wire, 50 fantasy points is in play.
Gobert, Towns and Kyle Anderson are the other viable options from this squad. If Towns is out, then there will be trickledown minutes and opportunities for Taurean Prince and Nickeil Alexander-Walker.
San Antonio will be without Devin Vassell, Jeremy Sochan, Devonte’ Graham and Doug McDermott. It remains to be seen if Keldon Johnson (foot) will play, but with this being San Antonio’s final home game, it makes sense for him to play here before getting the day off in Dallas on Sunday.
Zach Collins, Tre Jones and rookie Malaki Branham are viable options if they remain in the starting lineup. If Collins gets a day off, then Sandro Mamukelashvili would likely draw a start, or at the very least approach 30 minutes of playing time.
Kawhi Leonard: Los Angeles Clippers-Portland Trail Blazers
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Point Projections: DraftKings: 45.65 | FanDuel: 45.05
- Stokastic’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: DraftKings 21.0% | FanDuel: 48.7%
- DFS Salary: DraftKings: $10,400 | FanDuel: $10,600
The Clippers won the Battle for Los Angles on Wednesday, ending a two-game skid. Kawhi Leonard and company control their destiny and can stay out of the play-in tournament if they win this afternoon and again tomorrow in Phoenix. Though they are massive favorites, the Portland understudies have been plucky — they knocked off the Timberwolves as mentioned while keeping things close in Memphis and losing by a bucket in San Antonio on Thursday.
Leonard narrowly edges Edwards out for the top projected fantasy score, and his “raw” points total will be a desirable target in lineups this afternoon. Russell Westbrook, Norman Powell and Ivica Zubac are solid options with Eric Gordon and Nicolas Batum in play if they are tabbed as starters. Aside from Paul George and Marcus Morris Sr., the Clippers are at full strength, so we are likely to see a 10-deep rotation ahead of tomorrow’s matchup against the Suns.
Shaedon Sharpe is off the injury report, so he and Skylar Mays should see heavy minutes as the main Portland guards. Drew Eubanks and Trendon Watford are both questionable, but if either is a go, they can be employed in tournaments as well.
Shaquille Harrison and Jeenathan Williams are what-the-heck dart throws along with Kevin Knox. Jabari Walker would enter the mix if either of Eubanks or Watford are out.
Additional NBA DFS Building Blocks Pick — Sports Betting Opportunities
Zubac is a solid DFS option on today’s short slate, but with the Clippers playing again tomorrow in Phoenix, taking the under on his rebound prop of 10.5 looks like a savvy strategy.
It is always terrifying going against Zubac, as he often times comes off the floor after his first rotation with 10 combined points and rebounds. However, with the Clippers likely to have this game in the bag, and with capable backup Mason Plumlee at the ready, Los Angeles can take it easy with Zubac.
NBA Bet Pro has the six-year veteran projected for 27.1 minutes and 8.75 rebounds. This equates to a 59% chance that Zubac falls below the 11 rebounds needed to reach the over, and the current line of -120 at BetMGM provides a terrific 8% expected ROI.
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Denver Nuggets-Utah Jazz
Expect the Nuggets to sit Nikola Jokic, Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Michael Porter Jr. and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope today with the top seed in the Western Conference already in their hands. Bruce Brown Jr. may also get the balance of the weekend off, and if he does suit up, he is unlikely to play more than 26-28 minutes.
Once we have Denver’s starting lineup, we will have a better read on who to target. Reggie Jackson is certainly on the shortlist. This could also be a chance to get rookie Christian Braun some extra run. Ish Smith cannot be trusted unless he is in the starting lineup, but Peyton Watson and Zeke Nnaji should get plenty of minutes regardless. DeAndre Jordan is a wild card, but he did get 30 minutes starting in place of Jokic on Thursday.
Update:Â Denver is going with their regular starters, it is hard to envision more than mid-20s minutes from them in this meaningless game, perhaps they get one rotation in the third quarter. This makes most of the team unappealing – Brown is doubtful.
The Jazz have packed things in and will be without Lauri Markkanen, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kelly Olynyk, Walker Kessler, Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton and Rudy Gay. Said another way, their entire regular rotation is out.
Kris Dunn will play minutes in the high 30s to do Kris Dunn things, and while we should not expect another 9-for-10 performance, 40 fantasy points aren’t out of the question. He is the only serviceable point guard option, so there is always a risk the entire offense crumbles with a plethora of wings and bigs who cannot create their own shots.
Ochai Agbaji at least has an outside chance of scoring 20 points. We cannot say that about anyone else suiting up today. Johnny Juzang, Simone Fontecchio, Udoka Azubuike and Juan Toscano-Anderson can be sprinkled across lineups, but having more than one on a roster is just asking for heartbreak.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks Building Blocks Today
These are very early West Coast start times, but that makes sense considering every team is playing again tomorrow afternoon. Get ready for the slate with all of the latest analysis and information by tuning in to the Stokastic Live Before Lock show at 2:30 p.m. ET on YouTube, brought to you by Bet365.
