NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today: Double Down with Doncic AND Jokic! (March 19)

Wednesday has a GIGANTIC 11-game featured slate locking at 7:00 p.m. ET on FanDuel and DraftKings. Let’s get into the top NBA DFS picks and building blocks, including Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic squaring off in Los Angeles, with the Wizards, Thunder and Pacers looking like value sources, potentially joined by the Grizzlies, Mavericks and Pelicans.

These picks are based on the latest available data. For real-time lineup updates, check out our NBA DFS Starting Lineups Page!

NBA DFS Picks Today – Building Blocks: Wednesday, March 19

NBA DFS Picks Today: Building Blocks

This year, Jokic is averaging career highs with 36.5 minutes and 19.4 field goal attempts, including a 41.3% success rate on 4.6 3’s per outing, accompanied by 29.1 points, 10.3 assists and 1.8 steals. His 12.8 rebounds, trailing only Domantas Sabonis (13.9) and Karl-Anthony Towns (13.0), and 0.7 steals per game are the only categories where he is not producing at a personal-best rate.

Luka Doncic will be leading his new team without LeBron James for the third time since leaving Dallas. In this trio of tilts, Doncic averaged 36.7 minutes, 33.0 points, 10.3 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 2.7 steals and 0.7 blocks, including a pair of triple-doubles. For those who want to live large, PointsBet and Fanatics are offering just over +800 odds for both Doncic and Jokic to triple-double tonight. Check out the current odds, courtesy of Portfolio EV.

Currently, the Nuggets have Jokic (elbow/ankle), Jamal Murray (ankle) and Christian Braun (foot) listed as questionable. If either of the latter two are out, then Russell Westbrook, Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. will become more appealing.

Los Angeles will be without Rui Hachimura (knee) for an 11th game, while backup center Trey Jemison III (illness) is questionable after missing the last three games. Jaxson Hayes was out for last Friday’s meeting in Denver when the Nuggets barely escaped with a win against the Doncic-less Lakers. To his credit, Hayes was solid over his last seven games, with 10.9 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.9 “stocks” (combined blocks and steals), though the player pool is far too expansive tonight to consider him, outside of the single-game contests.

Austin Reaves continues to be a featured option when James or Doncic is out, so continue looking to him, even with the increasing salary.

For those wondering, the current “optimal” lineup on DraftKings is just over 300 fantasy points, and the lineup includes Doncic. The best Jokic combination is a bucket behind, while the top lineup with both superstars is projected for just over 295 DraftKings points, using the early projections run. Turning our attention to FanDuel, the top lineup has Doncic with just over 330 fantasy points as the median projection. Again, the best Jokic lineup is only a field goal behind, while the top lineup featuring the dynamic duo is barely a point below that. Enjoy!

Stokastic’s NBA DFS Single Lineup Simulator is a groundbreaking tool that revolutionizes lineup building by providing data-driven simulations, making it a must-have for serious players. Check out how the Simulator evaluates this single lineup for today’s slate:

Update: Kessler is available and Lauri Markkanen is out for Utah, while Washington has Poole and Smart available, with Thor in the G-League. Tune into the Stokastic NBA Live Before Lock Show at 5:00 p.m. ET on YouTube for the up to date analysis.

Without DFS or sports wagering, this game would be watchable only for comedy’s sake to see which team actually wants the win less. The Jazz are 5.5-point home favorites, and, of course, they are tied with the Wizards for the fewest victories in the league (15), with Washington having played two fewer games. Keep in mind that the teams with the three worst records receive the same lottery odds, and Charlotte is only 1.5 games “better” than Washington and New Orleans half a game “above” the Hornets.

Per the F-R-E-E Stokastic Starting Lineups page and the intentions of the Wizards, rookie AJ Johnson is expected to get his second-career start for Washington. He came over from Milwaukee as part of the Kyle Kuzma trade at the deadline. Johnson was the 23rd overall selection in the most recent NBA Draft, having played in the Australian NBL with the Illawarra Hawks for a year. While he averaged just 7.7 minutes per appearance in his 26 games, he showed enough there and as a top high school recruit to be appealing to the Bucks. He had been projected as a second-round “developmental project” pick, so some NBA insiders were surprised.

Johnson spent most of this year with the Wisconsin Herd (15 games, 13 starts) and made five starts for the Capital City Go-Gos. In these five outings, Johnson averaged a respectable 16.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals in 29.8 minutes per game. These averages were similar to what he produced in 28.1 minutes per game with the Herd.

It is important to note that Washington does not have to force playing time on anyone, despite the lengthy injury report, so the 34.8 minutes bestowed on Johnson as a starter in Portland is probably a high-water mark. Something in the upper-20s is reasonable, which still has the rookie as the punt du jour for Wednesday’s action.

If George is out, then Justin Champagnie should see more secure playing time and potentially another spot start. Alexandre Sarr continues to be solid, though the 19-year-old played 23 or fewer minutes in two of his last four starts, with 30 and nearly 32 in the other pair of performances. Colby Jones, Tristan Vukcevic and Jaylen Martin are other youngsters who could be getting auditions down the stretch, though Washington has not been open with its strategy. Veterans like Richaun Holmes and cannon fodder like JT Thor and Anthony Gill could easily ride the pine, ceding minutes to the youngsters who need on-court experience.

That still leaves 19-year-old rookie Carlton Carrington III, though it would appear that Washington is content to not run him into the ground, having employed him in a reserve role in 11 of the last 13 games. He should still see minutes in the mid-20s with a chance for 4 to 5 more if he starts or plays his way into them.

Utah is too much of a mess right now to recommend any players, as the team has taken the strategy of dispersing minutes across a 10-man rotation, even with key players in street clothes.

Per the first run of the Stokastic NBA Boom/Bust Tool, Kenrich Williams looks appealing with Oklahoma City sitting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Luguentz Dort, Ousmane Dieng and injured Jalen Williams. It would not be a shock to see both Isaiah Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren or even Cason Wallace rest as well against Philadelphia tonight with the Thunder double-digit home favorites. That could help out Aaron Wiggins and whoever else suits up for OKC.

Jose Alvarado looks good on FanDuel ($5,000, 34.5%) with Trey Murphy III out for the remainder of the season. This also means more usage and opportunities for Zion Williamson, CJ McCollum, Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Hawkins. Scotty Pippen Jr. (off-hand wrist) is intriguing if he is able to go after missing the last game, with Ja Morant (hamstring) out again. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane move from tertiary tournament targets on the featured slate to priorities on the late slate, bringing differentiation and upside.

Indiana may elect to rest key players against the short-handed Dallas Mavericks, who are double-digit road dogs. Depending on who is available for the Mavs, they could be a source of value as well. Just know that Jaden Hardy (ankle) is close to a return and Brandon Williams has seven games remaining before his two-way contract converts with Dallas. If Williams starts, he is safe, but if he is coming off the bench, then we could see a situation like with Pippen where he does not actually get into the game, preserving his status.

Today’s Top Sports Betting Pick

For those clamoring to see an over in this section, we have one tonight with veteran Fred VanVleet’s 2.5 made 3-pointers prop on BetRivers, Unibet and SugarHouse at +150.

The screenshot of Portfolio EV show that with the combination of today’s matchup variables and the +150 odds, there is an extraordinary 8.2% expected value when factoring in the +131 “True Odds” and 9.0% historical ROI.

We can see that sharp book Pinnacle has this wager down at only +103, which is barely better than a coinflip. Be a savvy shopper!

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Stokastic’s Advanced NBA Statistical Projections have VanVleet projected for 33.7 minutes and 2.82 made 3-pointers. That is just above the 2.5 target and indicates that there is a decent chance he will get the trio of troikas needed for this wager to succeed.

This has been a rough season for VanVleet, who has dealt with a myriad of injuries. His role in Houston is far different than what he had in Toronto, with the Rockets valuing his veteran leadership and, of course, his long-range efforts. The former Wichita Shocker is averaging a career-worst 34% success rate from beyond the arc, but he is still getting 7.7 looks per game.

He now has four games under his belt since his most recent injury absence, averaging 36.5 minutes in the most recent two with six triples on 19 (31.6%) attempts.

Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks & Building Blocks Today

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