The first Game 5 action of the second round tips off on Tuesday, May 10, with both series tied up at 2. The featured contests lock at 7:30 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.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Tuesday, May 10
Yahoo Play of the Day — Luka Doncic: Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 54.08 | DraftKings: 58.36
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 33.2% | FanDuel 53.8% | DraftKings 36.7%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $56 | FanDuel $11,200 | DraftKings $11,400
It should be no surprise to learn that only Joel Embiid has a median fantasy projection that is within 10 points of Luka Doncic. It is hard to trust Embiid, who has clearly been impacted by his thumb injury and is now playing with a face mask. In his last five games, he has surpassed 40 fantasy points only once, and while that was a 60-point masterpiece closing out the Raptors in Toronto, that is also when he ended up suffering a concussion and orbital fracture.
Doncic is going to have the ball in his hands on nearly every possession tonight, and he has 55 or more fantasy points in three of the last four games. He has converted just 3-of-17 attempts from beyond the arc, but positive regression should be close at hand, as he has a combined regular season and playoff conversion rate of nearly 36%.
Devin Booker: Phoenix Suns vs. Dallas Mavericks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 43.06 | DraftKings: 44.85
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 46.2% | FanDuel 33.6% | DraftKings 38.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $37 | FanDuel $9,600 | DraftKings $8,600
Based on the style of play in this series, Devin Booker has been a much better fantasy option than Chris Paul. It is clear that Booker should see between 15 and 20 field goal attempts each game, and with the pace slowing down and fewer possessions for both teams, that is an easier way achieve fantasy points than via assists. While Paul could absolutely roll off double-digit assists in any game, he is averaging just 7.5 dimes in the second round after averaging almost 11 in the first round as well as leading the league in the category for the fifth time in his career.
Booker, on the other hand, is still getting nearly as many assists as Paul while also scoring another 15 points per game. Once again, he will have the attention of Dorian Finney-Smith and the Dallas defense, but he has prevailed so far.
Yahoo Discount Dandies
Victor Oladipo: Miami Heat vs. Philadelphia 76ers ($12): Regardless of his starting status, Victor Oladipo is an outstanding value option with Kyle Lowry (hamstring) unavailable. On Sunday, Oladipo’s supporters lucked into a fortuitous game where he went to the foul line 10 times while also contributing five combined blocks and steals. Neither of those things is likely to happen again anytime soon, but there should easily be enough minutes and opportunities for Oladipo to contribute around 25 fantasy points in most scoring systems tonight.
Maximilian Kleber: Dallas Mavericks at Phoenix Suns ($11): Once again, Maximilian Kleber is gracing this section as a tremendous salary saver on Yahoo. Dwight Powell ($10) continues to start each half, but it is clear he is going to cap out at around 10 minutes. Kleber is better on offense, and since neither player is going to be of any hinderance to Deandre Ayton, it makes sense for Dallas to put the better offensive player on the floor. Kleber has a solid floor of around 15 fantasy points if he continues to see 30 minutes, and if things go his way, he could produce another 8- to 10-fantasy-point of upside.
We should be looking at Kleber against the Suns in the NBA player props market. Currently, he has a 5.5 over/under on his rebound prop, and the Awesemo NBA player projections have him for 7.4 rebounds, which gives him a 72% probability of surpassing the over. Kleber had seven rebounds through the first three games of this series, but with his increased playing time, he had a seven-rebound effort in Game 4. Half a dozen should be within his grasp, which would be enough to cash out for this wager.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS Picks for the Tuesday, May 10 Fantasy Basketball Slate
Just when we thought things were semi-predictable last night, Steven Adams received a surprise start and Golden State head coach Steve Kerr was placed in the health and safety protocol. Kyle Lowry (hamstring) has already been ruled out, but be wary of any unexpected developments.
