NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Saturday, April 3rd

NBA DFS action on Saturday, April 3, locks at 7 p.m. ET with an eight-game main slate on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Before you lock in your lineups, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball picks, rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS and daily fantasy basketball picks, including Luka Doncic, Damian Lillard and more.

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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Saturday, April 3rd

Yahoo Play of the Day — Theo Maledon: Oklahoma City Thunder at Portland Trail Blazers

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 22.3 | DraftKings: 24.15

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 11.2% | FanDuel 1.3% | DraftKings 1.1%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $15 | FanDuel $5,900 | DraftKings $6,000

The Yahoo salary algorithm is not giving any respect to rookie Theo Maledon. The 19-year-old Frenchman has seen an increased role in the absence of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Al Horford, Darius Bazley and recently Luguentz Dort. Maledon has started the last seven games and he has averaged 32.5 minutes. He has had at least 16 field-goal attempts in three of his last four appearances. In these seven games, he has averaged 15.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, three assists and 1.6 combined blocks/steals. At just $15 on Yahoo, he is the NBA DFS pick of the day and very well could top 30 Yahoo fantasy points for the fourth time in his last five games.

Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks at Washington Wizards

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 50.87 | DraftKings: 54.38

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 16.0% | FanDuel 34.4% | DraftKings 26.2%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $54 | FanDuel $10,400 | DraftKings $10,600

We need to be aware that Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis have not played in either of the two back-to-back sets the Mavericks have had since the All-Star break. Fortunately, this is the first game of the night, so we will know their status prior to tipoff. The only concern here with Doncic is that in his last five games, he has played less than 30 minutes three times. Now, those were all Dallas blowout victories, but it does seem that coach Rick Carlisle is looking to keep Doncic as fresh as possible.

Story continues

While we do not know the status of Bradley Beal who has missed the last three games with a hip injury, Davis Bertans and Ish Smith are planning to return to action tonight. That at least will help Russell Westbrook and Rui Hachimura try to keep this game close if Beal is out.

Although Dallas played last night in New York, they are still favored by 6 points over Washington. Doncic is leading the league in usage rate and he has been an amazing fantasy performer. Currently, he is fifth in the league with 28.6 points per game and fourth with 8.9 assists, while also averaging 8.1 rebounds. The Wizards are playing at the fastest pace in the league this season with a bottom-five defense, which is why Doncic has one of the highest raw-points numbers in the Awesemo NBA DFS projections. In the event Doncic is out, we can easily pivot to Giannis Antetokounmpo as our luxury NBA DFS pick.

Damian Lillard: Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 43.83 | DraftKings: 46.12

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 6.4% | FanDuel 18% | DraftKings 6.1%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $46 | FanDuel $9,400 | DraftKings $9,900

Last night the Bucks worked over the Trail Blazers on their way to a 127-109 victory. One upside for fantasy gamers is that Damian Lillard was limited to just four minutes in the final frame. Portland is favored by double digits tonight against the short-handed Thunder, but do not let that dissuade you from rolling with Lillard, who has a 10-20% discount to the other superstars tonight depending on your DFS site of choice. Not to mention, per the Awesemo projections, Lillard isn’t even crossing the 10% rostered threshold, making for an enticing tournament option.

Even though Oklahoma City is a hefty underdog, they have been playing teams close and are actually 3-4 in its last seven games. Portland needs to keep winning in order to avoid the play-in tournament. Looking at the schedule the Trail Blazers next game is not until Tuesday, so I have no fear turning to Lillard tonight as a core option, who should score 40 to 45 fantasy points with 5-10 more in attainable upside.

Good Value

Jalen Brunson: Dallas Mavericks at Washington Wizards

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 22.25 | DraftKings: 23.26

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 0.1% | FanDuel 2.7% | DraftKings 10.6%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $18 | FanDuel $5,100 | DraftKings $4,800

With half of our 16 teams taking the court tonight having played last night, there should be no shortage of value options. If Doncic is out, Jalen Brunson is an obvious beneficiary. However, he is going to be a mainstay of my lineups even if Doncic plays, particularly on DraftKings. Since the All-Star break, Brunson is averaging nearly a fantasy point per minute and he is behind only the Dallas dynamic duo and Tim Hardaway Jr. for usage in that timeframe. This up-tempo matchup should do wonders for the Mavericks’ fantasy prospects and they are projected for 117.5 points, which is five more than their season average.

Risky Value

Buddy Hield: Sacramento Kings vs. Milwaukee Bucks

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 26.85 | DraftKings: 28.6

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 14.2% | FanDuel 18.9% | DraftKings 18.3%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $21 | FanDuel $5,800 | DraftKings $5,800

Currently, Buddy Hield is projected as the 10th-most popular play on DraftKings tonight, according to Awesemo projections. While some currently unknown value options are likely to surpass him, he will still be on nearly one in five rosters Saturday. Looking at the Awesemo Boom/Bust Tool, we can see that there is a 13.0% chance that Hield is in the optimal DraftKings lineup tonight. That gives him a negative 5.3 leverage score. There is only an 8.6% probability that Hield surpasses his “boom” score of 5x salary + 10 or 39.0 DraftKings points. Conversely, there is a 52.1% likelihood that he falls below his “bust” threshold of 5x salary or 29.0 DraftKings points.

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

1. Dean Wade: CLE at MIA – $10

2. Isaiah Hartenstein: CLE at MIA – $11

3. Dorian Finney-Smith: DAL at WAS – $10

Final Thoughts on the Saturday, April 3rd NBA DFS Slate

Saturday has just one game in the first hour before getting into the heart of the schedule. Additionally, eight teams are on a back-to-back after playing last night. That means we are unlikely to have all of the news when the slate locks. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.

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