Monday, May 2, brings our second pair of Round 2 NBA Playoff action, tipping off at 7:30 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. As always, you can head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for all the fantasy basketball content you need for any given slate.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Monday, May 2
Yahoo Play of the Day — James Harden: Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 47.14 | DraftKings: 50.6
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 50.8% | FanDuel 57.8% | DraftKings 50.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $44 | FanDuel $9,800 | DraftKings $9,800
James Harden will not be sneaking up on any one in the fantasy world with Joel Embiid on track to miss the first two games of this series. Despite a lot of handwringing in the DFS community, Harden was solid in the first round, with 48 or more fantasy points in three of the six games against Toronto. There is not a long track record of how coach Doc Rivers will restructure the offense with Embiid out and Harden in, but we should expect Harden to touch the ball on almost every possession tonight. It would not be a surprise to see him flirt with a triple-double despite being the entire focus of the Miami defense.
Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.56 | DraftKings: 58.09
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 39.8% | FanDuel 60.9% | DraftKings 40.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $55 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $11,200
Last year the detractors of Luka Doncic — also known as Hawks fans — were loudly pointing out that Trae Young took his team further in the playoffs. Oops. Though Doncic is the only player with a median projection above 50 fantasy points, there are still half a dozen players who could achieve that milestone tonight with realistic certainty. That means this is a potential leverage spot, as building lineups without Doncic leads to a very different group of players.
Jimmy Butler: Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 42.38 | DraftKings: 42.18
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 43% | FanDuel 20% | DraftKings 25.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $39 | FanDuel $10,700 | DraftKings $9,200
Kyle Lowry is out once again, and that means Jimmy Butler will take on additional responsibilities as a facilitator. According to NBA WOWY, Butler sees an increase in his assist rate from 20% to 28% when Lowry is off the court. In 570 minutes this season without Lowry, Butler averages 1.22 fantasy points per minute, which is a reasonable expectation for this matchup tonight.
Bam Adebayo: Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 40.22 | DraftKings: 40.59
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 47.0% | FanDuel 67.3% | DraftKings 50.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $30 | FanDuel $7,400 | DraftKings $7,300
The center options are thin tonight, with only Bam Adebayo and Deandre Ayton projecting for more than 25 fantasy points. Similar to Butler, Adebayo sees an uptick in his assist rate from 16.2% to 19% without Lowry on the court. Now that Embiid is out, Adebayo should also have an edge on the rebounding front, giving him a solid fantasy foundation. Lineups using both Adebayo and Ayton are also interesting, particularly when skipping over Doncic.
Chris Paul: Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.03 | DraftKings: 46.31
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 39.4% | FanDuel 34.0% | DraftKings 30.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $39 | FanDuel $10,100 | DraftKings $9,100
Even with the return of Devin Booker, Chris Paul still rolled up yet another 50-fantasy-point performance. For the first time this postseason, he failed to record double-digit assists. However, all is forgiven considering he was a perfect 14 of 14 from the field and 4 of 4 from the line. Paul has been very steady this postseason with 36.8 minutes per game and 15 field goal attempts. This has culminated in 22.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 11.3 assists and 1.8 steals. The soon-to-be 37-year-old continues to produce with metronome-like consistency, and we should expect something in the 45- to 50-fantasy-point range in the series opener.
Yahoo Discount Dandies
Paul Reed: Philadelphia 76ers at Miami Heat ($10): The punt play du jour will be Paul Reed, who is inexplicably still at the Yahoo minimum salary. The hidden cost is two-fold, as he is only available as a center and his upside is likely capped around 20-ish fantasy points. Reed also has a per-36-minutes foul rate of 6.5 in 64 career games. Caveat Emptor!
Gabe Vincent: Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers ($10): The absence of Lowry will likely keep Gabe Vincent in the starting lineup, and he has been reasonably productive in this role over the last two games. Vincent does not have the upside potential of Reed. However, he is far safer to approach 30 minutes and has a similar median fantasy projection.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks for the Monday, May 2 Fantasy Basketball Slate
The early game between the Heat and 76ers has the best value plays. The Suns and Mavericks do not have any injuries at this time, so until something unexpected happens, we know what we should get. It will be fun seeing these four teams squaring off tonight in new matchups.
