Thursday brings a pair of Game 6 matchups where both home teams are facing elimination game. The NBA DFS main slate action tips off at 7 p.m. ET on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Below, we will examine the player pool and break down the best NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups on May 12.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Thursday, May 12
Yahoo Play of the Day — Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 55.54 | DraftKings: 59.85
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 37% | FanDuel 49.8% | DraftKings 41.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,700 | DraftKings $11,500
This could be the last game of the season for Luka Doncic. If he needs to play 40 minutes to stave off elimination, he most certainly will. The ball is in his hands on nearly every possession, and he is a triple-double threat every time he takes the court. The assists were down on Tuesday to a playoff-low two, but that was also a very lopsided game where only Luka and Jalen Brunson seemed capable of creating their own offense. Brunson is an intriguing option tonight, particularly as a pivot away from Jimmy Butler, as their salary differences will facilitate an entirely different roster construction.
Jimmy Butler: Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 44.98 | DraftKings: 44.72
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 44.4% | FanDuel 31.9% | DraftKings 28.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $41 | FanDuel $10,500 | DraftKings $9,800
The Yahoo salary algorithm is not recognizing the recent success of Jimmy Butler. In six of the last eight playoff games, he has 50 or more fantasy points while averaging a tick under 40 in the other two “poor” performances. The salary has inched up appropriately on the other DFS sites, but do not miss the boat on Yahoo.
Devin Booker: Phoenix Suns at Dallas Mavericks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 41.77 | DraftKings: 43.34
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 42.2% | FanDuel 36.7% | DraftKings 33.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $37 | FanDuel $9,300 | DraftKings $8,800
Clearly, the Mavericks are doing what they can to neutralize Chris Paul and challenging Devin Booker to do all of the heavy lifting. This worked well for Dallas in Games 3 and 4 at home, but it seems that the Suns have started to find ways to mitigate this strategy. Booker is still doing most of the scoring, but Paul finally saw double-digit assists for the first time this series on Tuesday. Keep pressing ahead with Booker; he should be on at least 60% of all rosters tonight, but it seems that the field is not catching on to this late-series development.
Yahoo Discount Dandies
Victor Oladipo: Miami Heat at Philadelphia 76ers ($11): In a twist, the Yahoo salary algorithm continues to keep Victor Oladipo at an $11 salary. Kyle Lowry has again been ruled out with his hamstring injury, and even if Oladipo continues to come off the bench, he is an excellent option tonight as the Heat try to close out this series on the road in Philadelphia. Gabe Vincent ($10) is at the Yahoo minimum salary, and he can be paired with Oladipo in lineups to create tremendous salary savings.
In this same game, we can look at Kevon Looney against the Grizzlies in the NBA player props market. Currently, he has a 4.5 over/under on his rebound prop, and the Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 5.7 rebounds, which gives him a 67% probability of surpassing the over.
Maximilian Kleber: Dallas Mavericks vs. Phoenix Suns ($11): Yes, the last game was a disappointment, but Dallas was so far behind that Maximilian Kleber did not see the floor in the final frame. Other than this blip, he had scored at least 20 fantasy points in every game this series, averaging nearly 25, which is a steal at his near-minimum salary. Davis Bertans ($10) is his only real threat to playing time, but all Bertans does is take 3-pointers — at least Kleber can rebound, pass and block the occasional shot.
