RADIO
It's the last week of the NBA regular season and the resting shenanigans seem to be worse, not better. Don't worry. It will all be better in the playoffs and us here at RotoBaller will be with you every step of the way until the NBA Finals. There's still money to be made in the playoffs. First we have to navigate this rather large 11-game slate.
No one trumps other shenanigans better than LeBron James. The team lists him as out, but he could still play. See what we're up against? We do know that His Beardness is out. So is De'Aaron Fox, Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, Kyle Lowry, OG Anunoby, Porzigis, and Jaylen Brown, just to name a few. The questionable list is even longer. The easy answer is to play Raptors with your favorite studs and hope for the best.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for FanDuel on 5/11/21. I’ll be providing multiple player suggestions for players at guard, forward, and center on FanDuel, aiming to highlight one option apiece at the high, middle, and lower end of the salary scale. You can also check out DraftKings lineup picks and injury news before lineups lock. Good luck, RotoBallers.
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FanDuel DFS Guards
Zach LaVine, SG – vs.Brooklyn ($8,600)
LaVine's scoring is back. However, until he starts getting some of the peripheral stats back, he is going to continue to underwhelm in DFS. It is encouraging that he has back-to-back games over 40 FanDuel points. The Bulls are still in the hunt for the playoffs and should be able to cause serious issues on the interior once again. LaVine is still going to put up good numbers, but we still don't really know what his ceiling is with Vucevic on board. For that reason, I view LaVine as more of a cash play right now.
LaMelo Ball, PG – vs. Denver ($7,700)
Denver's guard defense hasn't been all that good with Jamal Murray out. Meanwhile, Charlotte has not kept Ball on a strict minutes limit since his return. LaMelo has really only had one bad game (against the Bulls....the reason why I'm off Kyrie) since his return. The rest have topped 35 FanDuel points. Ball will likely play right around 30 minutes again, but that should be plenty enough to hit value in this matchup.
Terence Davis, SG – vs. Oklahoma City ($5,300)
FanDuel jacked the price on Delon Wright up to the point where he has no chance of hitting value. The same is not true of Davis. In fact, the inverse is true. Davis has topped 30 FanDuel points in each of the last two games and has been over 25 in four straight. Davis is getting good minutes with VanVleet and Lowry out. That trend will continue. Davis remains one of my favorite value plays on the slate.
Jalen Harris, PG – vs. Clippers ($4,200)
This isn't even about matchup. It's about playing time. Harris played 29 minutes over the weekend with both Lowry and VanVleet out and put up 31.2 FanDuel points. The Raptors have no reason not to give the rookie more run. Malachi Flynn is still going to play a lot and put up decent numbers, but the huge difference in price has me on Harris instead. The $800 could come in handy when building lineups.
Also consider: Stephen Curry ($10,300), D'Angelo Russell ($7,600), Donte Divincenzo ($5,300), Gary Trent ($4,900)
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FanDuel DFS Forwards
Domantas Sabonis, PF – vs. Philadelphia ($10,200)
Sabonis is on quite a tear right now. He has at least 67 FanDuel points in four of the last six games. The low mark in that span was still a strong 46.6 FanDuel points. That's the kind of floor I want when paying this kind of money. Sabonis's back-to-back 70+ FanDuel point outings show what the ceiling is as well. He's my one lock of the night. Everyone else is negotiable.
Michael Porter Jr., SF – at Charlotte ($7,100)
So the Lakers and the Knicks shut down Porter. Big deal. Both of those teams have strong defenses. Against Brooklyn and Utah it was back to business as usual, but the price hasn't followed just yet. Porter has at least 38 FanDuel points in every game but the two I already mentioned since Murray went down. Yeah, Jokic is still the big name and the guy that's going to be more heavily involved in the offense. You can't ignore Porter's ability to put up big numbers in a short amount of court time.
Evan Fournier, SF – vs. Miami ($6,200)
The absence of Jaylen Brown has opened up more opportunities for Fournier. Unlike in Orlando, he is actually taking advantage of them in Boston. Fournier has 153.8 FanDuel points in the last four games. He makes me nervous as hell because we've seen tons of inconsistency from Fournier throughout his career. As is usually the case, this streak of hot play looks sustainable. Fournier is going to flop spectacularly, likely sooner than later, but he's done enough to suck us in of late.
Bobby Portis, PF – vs. Orlando ($4,800)
Call this a preemptive strike. The Bucks have either been resting players or limiting their minutes when they are on the court. That has meant more minutes for backup guys like Portis and DiVincenzo. Those are the Bucks pieces I have my eyes on. Those are the ones with higher ceilings. At the very least, the starters likely wont play much over 30 minutes. These are two teams heading in drastically opposite directions. Portis can put up big numbers in just 25 minutes. That's what we'll be asking him to do here and the matchup is right.
Also consider: Jimmy Butler ($9,500), Isaiah Stewart ($6,200), Gabriel Deck ($4,300), Ignas Brazdeikis ($3,600)
FanDuel DFS Centers
Nikola Vucevic – vs. Brooklyn ($9,800)
Vucevic keeps on habitually clearing 50 FanDuel points even with LaVine back in the fold. Jokic has slowed down of late, mostly because of how the team is using him. I'll ride Vucevic since the Bulls have absolutely no chance of getting into the play-in playoffs without him. Vucevic has three straight games of at least 54 FanDuel points and has cleared that in four of the last five. He seems to be better with LaVine on the court, at least so far.
Jonas Valanciunas – vs. Dallas ($8,000)
Jonas is putting up almost the same amount of FanDuel points as Vucevic at a fraction of the cost and usually a fraction of the minutes. Valanciunas has cleared 50 FanDuel points in each of the last two games. Dallas is going to have problems with Kristaps Porzingis missing this game. How are the going to stop Jonas? The short answer is they wont. This is going to be another big game for Valanciunas.
Dwight Powell – at Memphis ($5,600)
None of the Dallas pieces pieces that fill in for Porzingis are consistent, so this is best used for GPP purposes only. Powell hast at least 33 FanDuel points in four of the last five games though, so I trust him a lot more than any other Dallas piece besides Luka. Powell is easy to want to use at this price, but fading the top two options on FanDuel tonight is a very scary proposition. I find it hard to believe punting center will be optimal.
Also consider: Nikola Jokic ($11,000), Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,500), Bam Adebayo ($7,900), Kevon Looney ($4,000)
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