Monday brings a new week with a scintillating seven-game featured slate, tipping off at 7:00 p.m. ET on FanDuel and DraftKings. Let’s get into the top NBA DFS picks and building blocks, including Cade Cunningham, Kyrie Irving, and value options such as Jonas Valanciunas, Naji Marshall, and Malik Beasley!
These picks are based on the latest available information. For the most up-to-date lineup details, visit our NBA DFS Starting Lineups Page!
NBA DFS Picks Today – Building Blocks: Monday, March 3
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NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Jonas Valanciunas: Kings at Mavericks
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 35.63 | FanDuel: 34.55
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 66.5% | FanDuel: 56.8%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $5,400 | FanDuel: $5,700
Tonight there are plenty of centers who are commanding strong fantasy point-per-dollar ratios, though none have the salary relief and upside of Jonas Valanciunas.
Domantas Sabonis is out for at least the next fortnight with a strained hamstring, leaving the Kings thin at the pivot. Trey Lyles should see 15 or so minutes, and Jake LaRavia is also a potential frontcourt fill-in. If things get truly dire, Jae Crowder is also lurking, though he has seen action only twice since mid-December.
Valanciunas is a 12-year veteran of the NBA who started 235 games over the preceding three campaigns for New Orleans. This year he ended up with Washington to serve as a mentor for rookie Alexandre Sarr and ultimately a mid-season trade chip. JoVal is still a point-per-minute fantasy player, though a liability on defense. He dropped a 50-burger on Saturday against Houston as the replacement for Sabonis, and in his last three games, he averaged 19.3 minutes, 12.0 points. 9.77 rebounds, 1.3 assists and a trio of “stocks” (steals and blocks).
The Mavericks have been ravaged across their entire frontcourt, losing Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington to various injuries, Maximilian Kleber to trade and, due to salary cap constraints, Dallas was not able to sign Moses Brown to a second 10-day contract. That means it will be veteran Dwight Powell, youngster Olivier-Maxence Prosper and out-of-position Kessler Edwards manning the post against Valanciunas. Enjoy!
Naji Marshall should see at least 30 minutes tonight, gaining additional opportunities with Washington ailing yet again. He is a solid value option on DraftKings ($5,400, 34.8%) and FanDuel ($5,100, 63.6%). Kyrie Irving continues to chug along, and he is in the sweet spot just below the superstars but not providing enough salary relief to be noticed by the optimizers.
Malik Monk, Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan will be tasked with keeping the offense moving and putting points on the board. Each is an above-average option across the various NBA DFS sites, though far from a must-play.
NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks
Cade Cunningham: Pistons at Jazz
NBA DFS Projections
DraftKings: 49.75 | FanDuel: 47.12
NBA DFS Ownership Projections
DraftKings: 15.9% | FanDuel: 12.9%
DFS Salary
DraftKings: $10,100 | FanDuel: $10,600
Tobias Harris is away from the team tending to a personal matter, so that means 32 minutes and a dozen field goal attempts are up for grabs. That combined with a delightful matchup in Utah against the Jazz has a few Pistons players popping in the projections.
Cade Cunningham has similar per-minute fantasy production with or without Harris on the court, though he does have more of the offensive onus on him without the steady veteran.
Cunningham is third overall in assists this season, averaging 9.4 per game, and is also producing personal highs with 25.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and a 51.2% effective field goal rate. Seeing him in this article series has been a common theme this year, so there is no reason to go into more depth regarding his bona fides.
Malik Beasley has taken to his role as outside offense, attempting a career-high 9.4 triples per game with a strong 44.3% conversion rate. In his last 18 games, he had one spot start, averaging 25.5 minutes, 9.8 3-point attempts and 4.8 made 3-pointers. This worked out to 18.0 points, 2.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.2 stocks. Utah has not been particularly effective at defending long-range shots, though the Jazz have tried so many player combinations this season that it may not be an accurate read, but it is reality.
On Sunday, Utah sat what is essentially a starting lineup with Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Walker Kessler, John Collins and Jordan Clarkson becoming spectators. This quintet is all questionable, though whichever plays is a decent DFS selection. Detroit has been installed as an 8.5-point road favorite, which is just wild to think about.
Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick
Tonight we can look to the under for Jalen William’s 21.5 points prop on BetRivers, SugarHouse and Unibet, where this wager is available at -125.
The screenshot of Portfolio EV shows that this wager has a historical 2.8% ROI. The combination of today’s variables, along with the -125 odds, results in a strong 6.0% expected value when factoring in the -143 “True Odds.”
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Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have Williams projected for 31.7 minutes and 20.04 points. We can see towards the bottom of the screenshot that most books have set this threshold at 19.5 points, which is 2 below this opportunity.
Williams is coming off a career-high 41 points on Sunday, though that was against a disheveled San Antonio squad. Tonight he is going against Houston, which has been a top-10 defense over the last three weeks (111.1 points per 100 possessions), ranking fourth (109.4) for the full season.
Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein are both expected to play, which should siphon a few offensive opportunities away from Williams.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today
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