NBA DFS Picks: Value, Stud & Fade for 9/4

NBA playoff action is underway, and there is NBA DFS on DraftKings, FanDuel and SuperDraft. Greg Ehrenberg looks at some NBA DFS Picks to build around and fade for the Friday, Sept. 4 slate.

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NBA DFS Picks: Values + Fades for 9/4

Value Pick: Eric Bledsoe

DraftKings $5,700, FanDuel $5,600, Yahoo $20

Even though Bledsoe isn’t a traditional value play in terms of cheap salary, this is less expensive than he normally is. After sitting Game 1 against the Heat, Bledsoe returned on Wednesday and played reasonably well. He scored 26.75 DraftKings points in 31 minutes. The playing time is what really stands out since Budenholzer rarely plays Bledsoe more than 30 minutes. He’s actually only played 35 minutes twice all season, but it’s a number I think he could reach since the Bucks trail in the series 2-0. Surely, this is the game Budenholzer will finally coach with some sense of urgency. I am hopeful that Bledsoe, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Brook Lopez will all play bigger minutes today. It’s pretty crazy that these four have only shared the court for 20 minutes in the playoffs.

Stud Pick: Russell Westbrook

DraftKings $8,600, FanDuel $8,500, Yahoo $38

Listen, all of us had our Westbrook jokes off during the first round. If the Rockets didn’t hold on to win in Game 7, we all would have torched Westbrook on social media and for good reason. He was bad in the series against the Thunder and was thoroughly outplayed by Chris Paul, who he was traded for. But I think we have to cut Westbrook a bit of slack since he was coming back from a quad injury. At less than full health and on a minutes restriction, his NBA DFS production suffered.

Going forward, Westbrook will play better than he did against the Thunder. This is an easy prediction to make because he can only go up from where he was last round. There is also fantasy optimism here since it stands to reason that his minutes restriction is coming off against the Lakers. Westbrook played 33 minutes last game and should play full or close to full minutes against Los Angeles. If this is the case, he’s woefully underpriced. We almost never get to roster Westbrook at a sub-$9,000 salary. Despite his recent struggles, Westbrook is still one of the top fantasy producers in the league.

Fade Pick: Alex Caruso

DraftKings $3,600, FanDuel $4,100, Yahoo $10

This is a sad day for us at Awesemo. With Rajon Rondo expected to return to action tonight, Caruso is no longer a viable salary-saving play. Rondo is yet to play in the bubble but is probable to play tonight. In Orlando, he injured his thumb which was the first of his injuries. Then when the Lakers expected Rondo to return against the Blazers, he hurt his back warming up for the game. I doubt Rondo will play a ton since he hasn’t appeared in an NBA game in nearly six months, although he should play enough to eat into Caruso’s minutes. The situation leaves both of them as weak NBA DFS options.

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Author

Greg Ehrenberg

Greg is a former stand up comedian who quit telling jokes to pursue a career in the world of DFS. He started playing fantasy sports in 6th grade when Greg and his friends would skip classes to meet in the bathroom for 20 team fantasy basketball drafts. Considering his current career path, it was the best education he could have asked for.