Need a jump start on your lineups before Awesemo’s NBA DFS rankings or projections? No worries, Damien Mathews has you covered with his Pick 5! favorite NBA DFS Picks on DraftKings and FanDuel for Friday, Feb. 21 (2/21). With nine games on tap, we have a myriad of options to choose from. Damien has some takes on Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and more!
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Point Guard: Kyle Lowry $7,400 FanDuel $7,700 DraftKings
Kyle Lowry is playing big minutes this year for the Raptors, averaging 36.5 per game. Lowry has been consistent all year with 1.13 fantasy points per minute with a 22.4 usage percentage and 30.7 assist percentage for 38.8 fantasy points per game. He is getting you 19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists and two combined steals/blocks. Lowry has a massive ceiling and has shown he can fill up the stat sheet rather quickly.
*Honorable Mention: Markelle Fultz $5,900 FanDuel $6,200 DraftKings
**Honorable Mention: Dejounte Murray $5,700 FanDuel $5,400 DraftKings
***Honorable Mention: Chris Paul $7,600 FanDuel $7,200 DraftKings
Shooting Guard: DeMar DeRozan $7,200 FanDuel $6,800 DraftKings
DeMar DeRozan is averaging 1.19 fantasy points per minute with a 27.4 usage percentage and 24.7 assist percentage. Playing 34-plus minutes a night, DeRozan is recording 23.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.2 assists while shooting 53.4% from the field on 16 attempts. The matchup isn’t great against Utah, but I’m expecting his ownership to reflect that and if that’s the case, he becomes a core play with 50-point upside.
*Honorable Mention: Malik Beasley $5,100 FanDuel $5,400 DraftKings
**Honorable Mention: Jordan Clarkson $5,300 FanDuel $5,400 DraftKings
***Honorable Mention: C.J. McCollum $6,900 FanDuel $6,600 DraftKings
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NBA DFS Small Forward: T.J. Warren $6,200 FanDuel $6,100 DraftKings
T.J. Warren has been a solid contributor all season for the Pacers, averaging 0.89 fantasy points per minute with a 22.4 usage percentage. For the season, Warren is posting 18.5 points per game on 14 attempts and shooting 53% from the field and 37.3% from 3 for an average of 28.9 fantasy points per game. He is also getting you two combined steals/blocks while playing 32-plus minutes per game.
*UPDATE: Warren is Questionable; Pivot to Jaylen Brown if out.
*Honorable Mention: Trevor Ariza $4,700 FanDuel $4,500 DraftKings
**Honorable Mention: Juancho Hernangomez $4,700 FanDuel $4,700 DraftKings
***Honorable Mention: Gordon Hayward $7,000 FanDuel $7,000 DraftKings
Power Forward: Aaron Gordon $6,900 FanDuel $7,300 DraftKings
For his skill set and upside, Aaron Gordon is underpriced yet again in a game against the Mavericks in Orlando. Gordon is averaging 0.96 fantasy points per minute with a 20.8 usage percentage and 14.9 assist rate. Over the last 30 days, Gordon is up to 1.03 fantasy points per minute, and playing 32.2 minutes on average makes him more appealing. I love him in this spot.
*Honorable Mention: Serge Ibaka $6,600 FanDuel $6,500 DraftKings
**Honorable Mention: Zion Williamson $7,500 FanDuel $8,000 DraftKings
***Honorable Mention: Jayson Tatum $8,700 FanDuel $7,800 DraftKings
Center: Steven Adams $6,000 FanDuel $5,500 DraftKings
There are two quick things that immediately caught my attention when digging into why Steven Adams was grading so highly in my model. First, his minutes are back up, and second, his salary is way down. We know that teams start to buckle down after the All-Star break, especially those trying to get in and stay in the postseason hunt. If the playoffs started tomorrow, the Thunder would be the sixth seed, meaning a lot of significant basketball is left and their starters are going to play huge minutes down the stretch. That brings me back to Adams, who has been splitting minutes with Nerlens Noel, but over his last two, he has played most of the minutes at the center position. Adams is averaging 1.03 fantasy points per minute with a 17.5 usage percentage and 21.1 defensive rebounding rate, good for 29.7 fantasy points per game.
*Honorable Mention: Nikola Vucevic $9,600 FanDuel $8,800 DraftKings
**Honorable Mention: Nikola Jokic $10,100 FanDuel $9,800 DraftKings
***Honorable Mention: Myles Turner $5,700 FanDuel $5,000 DraftKings
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