RADIO
The only game tonight is Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals between the Clippers and Suns. The Clippers are trying to fend off elimination in Phoenix without Kawhi Leonard, who is still being evaluated (allegedly) on a game-by-game basis. He'll join Serge Ibaka in street clothes. Everyone else seems to be a go right now with the possible exception of Abdel Nader, but we wouldn't be using him anyway.
We will stay in Showdown mode for DFS on DraftKings tonight. To build our rosters for this particular format, we need to identify a Captain and five utility players. It's just like the analytics nerds dreamt it up: positionless basketball. The Captain will earn 1.5 times the amount of points he regularly tallies, but it also drives up the price for your more prominent players.
This article will provide you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 6/28/21. You can also check out today's FanDuel lineup picks. With COVID-19 a significant factor, remember to monitor injury news as the slate can completely change before lineups lock.
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Phoenix Suns (-5.5, 214.5 total)
Chris Paul - PG (Captain: $15,900, Utility: $10,6o0)
Paul again played a big minutes load, but was a dismal 6-22 from the floor. Paul is just 11-41 from the floor in his two games back from COVID. In his defense, shooting has been damned awful for both teams, so it's not all on him. It just makes me not want to chase points at all in this series. That makes me gravitate towards Paul more. The poor shooting has led to a bit lower assist totals, but in a series where no one really hits value, I'm going after the higher floors and letting others chase the ceilings that just aren't there right now.
Deandre Ayton - C (Captain: $13,800, Utility: $9,200)
Another byproduct of the awful shooting is the outlandish rebounding totals for a guy like Ayton. He is the only true center on the court most of the time for either team. Ayton not only scored a strong 19 points (on 8 of 14 shooting, no less), but he hauled in a career-best 22 rebounds. Ayton has been the most consistent Suns player in this series, and if the atrocious shooting continues, he definitely has the highest floor on this side of the ball.
Cameron Johnson - SF/PF ($4,000)
Johnson played just 17 minutes against the Clippers in Game 4, but he still played well when he was in there. Phoenix's other pieces were matching up better with the Clippers in that game, but Johnson should still see good run off the bench. He is 16-24 from the field in this series. In a series where both teams have gone cold from the field, that could end up being an ace on the Phoenix bench.
Other options: Mikal Bridges ($7,600), Cameron Payne ($6,200)
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Los Angeles Clippers (+5.5, 214.5 total)
Paul George - SG (Captain: $17,700, Utility: $11,8o0)
This series will only go as long as George can carry the team on his shoulders. He has 211.75 DraftKings points through the first four games of the series. George was a horrid 5-20 from the floor in Game 4, but still put up 55 DraftKings points before fouling out late in the game. When the shots start falling for George again, and they will, he will have slate-breaking potential if you run him in your captain slot. He's the only one on either team that is a threat for triple digits at captain.
Reggie Jackson - PG/SG ($8,6o0)
Jackson didn't shoot well either, but at 33%, he was one of the best on the team from the floor in Game 4. Jackson is playing huge minutes and is a nice compliment to George on the offensive end. His assists are almost non-existent in this series, but Jackson is still scoring enough to make sure he hits value. The six steals in the series don't hurt either.
Ivica Zubac - C ($6,800)
Well, the value on Zubac was fun while it lasted. He's still too cheap though. Zubac has 108.75 DraftKings points over 107 minutes in the last three games of this series. He's the only one that can partially handle Ayton on the team and he has posted three consecutive double-doubles. Those of you savvy players can try to captain Zubac in GPP's since the floor is higher than anyone but George on the team. I could argue that his floor is better than anyone but Ayton on the Phoenix side as well.
Other options: Terrence Mann ($5,800), Marcus Morris ($4,400)
