Saturday brings a six-game featured slate tipping off at 7 p.m. ET on 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. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS picks and core plays like Alex Caruso, DeMar DeRozan and Anthony Davis, plus plenty of Wizards and other recommended options.
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NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Saturday, March 16
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks
Alex Caruso: Bulls vs. Wizards
Stokastic’s Fantasy Point Projections
DraftKings: 34.18 | FanDuel: 35.27
Stokastic’s Rostership Projections
DraftKings: 48.9% | FanDuel: 59.6%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $5,800 | FanDuel: $6,100
Tonight’s slate lacks high-end superstars, but there are plenty of fantasy point-per-dollar options that should lead to some pinball scoring on the tournament leaderboards.
Coby White (hip) is likely to miss a second consecutive game and both Zach LaVine and Patrick Williams remain on the shelf as well. That means plenty of opportunities for the remaining ambulatory Chicago players.
Alex Caruso is projecting to be on of the most popular option across the DFS sites tonight, which makes sense. He has a reasonable salary, should see around 35 minutes and is going against an inexperienced point guard, which in turn will likely lead to extra steal opportunities. That pedestrian point guard being thrust into the spotlight is Jared Butler, who is on his third team in three seasons and has made just two starts and appeared in only 72 games. Tyus Jones is doubtful, and it sounds like Butler may land in the first five as the team keeps Jordan Poole in a reserve role.
Butler is also going to be popular, but gives us plenty of salary relief, as he costs a reasonable amount on DraftKings ($3,000) and FanDuel ($3,600). If he can play 30 minutes and average around 0.8 fantasy points per minute, he will make his supporters happy.
DeMar DeRozan should approach 50 fantasy points tonight with a floor of around 40, which makes him a priority play at the small forward position.
Nikola Vucevic should thrive on the boards since Washington is without Marvin Bagley III, so he will be “battling” Richaun Holmes, who is a turnstile on defense, or Kyle Kuzma and Bilal Coulibaly, who each masquerade as the de-facto center in Washington.
But wait, there’s more! Ayo Dosunmu will be the primary offensive facilitator with help from Caruso and DeRozan. Though he does not post eye-popping numbers, he is consistently right around 30 fantasy points, which is still great on a per-dollar basis. Torrey Craig is the discount dandy, who received a spot start in the last game. If he maintains that role, he should see enough court time to produce 20 to 25 fantasy points.
Turning our attention back to Washington, Kuzma, Poole, Butler and Holmes are joined by Deni Avdija and Corey Kispert as favorable tournament options. The nine most popular projected plays on FanDuel are from this game and eight of the top 10 can say the same on DraftKings.
Anthony Davis: Lakers vs. Warriors
Stokastic’s Fantasy Point Projections
DraftKings: 53.94 | FanDuel: 54.65
Stokastic’s Rostership Projections
DraftKings: 23.3% | FanDuel: 14.3%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $10,200 | FanDuel: $11,500
Tonight, the Lakers are only favored by a bucket against the visiting Golden State Warriors. Stephen Curry has missed the last three games with an ankle injury, but coach Steve Kerr has indicated that he is likely to play tonight, as is Draymond Green (back) who missed the last game.
Anthony Davis has performed well against the ‘Dubs and Green specifically, with an average of nearly 58 fantasy points in each of the last three matchups.
LeBron James is questionable, though we all know the drill by now with the 39-year-old. Both teams need this win as they are just one game apart for the final two spots in the play-in tournament. Not that these veteran-laden teams need any extra motivation, but this game is also being featured on ABC. Plus who can forget the double-overtime thriller at the end of January in which the Lakers edged out the Warriors 145-144 in San Francisco.
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NBA DFS Picks: Key Games
Memphis Grizzlies vs. Oklahoma City Thunder
There are a lot of moving parts for the Grizzlies tonight, and while they are double-digit home dogs in Memphis, Desmond Bane (ankle) is expected to return after a two-month absence. It remains to be seen how many minutes he will play, and he’ll probably be rusty after the long layoff, but at least the Grizzlies are getting positive news.
Jaren Jackson Jr. has missed the last two games and five of the last eight while managing a quad issue. If he remains out, then Santi Aldama (elbow) would see a boost. Lamar Stevens is out and Vince Williams Jr. is tracking to miss his fourth straight game, so there will be minutes up for grabs once again.
Scotty Pippen Jr. is questionable, but if he or Jordan Goodwin are in the starting lineup, they would be priority plays. Depending on how many Grizzlies are out, John Konchar, Luke Kennard, GG Jackson and Jake LaRavia could see their fantasy fortunes improving tonight.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is amazing and still in the MVP race, but if Oklahoma City can take care of business early, he could see some in-game rest during the final frame. Josh Giddey has seen his minutes and usage increase, which is a surprise after he had a long stretch of barely getting 20 minutes per appearance, even though he was a starter.
Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren are tournament differentiators, with Luguentz Dort being a lottery ticket as always.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick
John Collins looks like someone to pick on in the sports wagering market. The under for his 10.5 rebounds prop is currently available at odds of -130 on bet365, which is a massive difference from the other books offering a 10.5 number and nearly as good as those hanging a 9.5 prop.
By using OddsShopper to do the heavy lifting when researching favorable bets, we can easily take advantage of outliers in a situation such as this since getting the best number can bring a 6-8% difference for this wager. Be a savvy shopper!
Per the true odds of -145 (how OddsShopper measures the potential expected ROI of a given wager), this opportunity has an excellent 4.7% positive expected ROI as a function of the inefficient line.
NBA Bet Pro currently has Collins projected for 30.6 minutes and 9.82 rebounds. While this is below the 10.5 threshold, keep in mind a range of outcomes is far different than one specific projection. This is also demonstrated in the 59% projected win probability.
In three of his last five games, Collins has 11 or more rebounds, but that falls to three of nine if we reach back a little further. It is worth noting that two of those games were with 10 boards, but in turn, Walker Kessler is back in the mix now as well. Collins will also be battling Rudy Gobert, Naz Reid and Kyle Anderson for errant caroms, which is a lot of little factors working in concert against him.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
Check out the Stokastic NBA Live Before Lock Show starting at 6 p.m. ET on YouTube, breaking down all of the key elements for today’s slate. Brought to you by PrizePicks – new users, use this link to receive a $100 first deposit match AND – ONE FREE MONTH of OddsShopper Premium! Full details here.
