Wednesday, March 9, brings some NBA madness with a 12-game slate beginning at 7 p.m. ET. Let’s look at the player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks today for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Do not forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS & Fantasy Basketball home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content.
NBA DFS Picks: Fantasy Basketball Building Blocks Today | Wednesday, March 9
Yahoo Play of the Day — Marvin Bagley III: Detroit Pistons vs. Chicago Bulls
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 28.41 | DraftKings: 29.44
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 31% | FanDuel 1.9% | DraftKings 29.1%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $16 | FanDuel $5,700 | DraftKings $5,000
Former Sacramento King Marvin Bagley III is shaping up to be quite popular tonight for his reasonable salary. This is an island game for the Pistons, who have a full dozen games before seeing their next back-to-back set. Additionally, Isaiah Stewart is slated to miss the next week with a knee injury, and it is likely that the Pistons will want to see what they have with Bagley, who spent most of his time in Sacramento in and out of the doghouse when he was healthy. Though Bagley is not particularly notable on defense, he is a solid rebounder and scorer, and that is all that matters in the fantasy world. In his last two games, Bagley has come off the bench to average 28.9 minutes and 16 field goal attempts with a 56.3% conversion rate. This playing time led to 18.5 points, nine rebounds, 1.5 assists and two combined blocks and steals. This is a solid matchup against the Chicago frontcourt, regardless of the status of Nikola Vucevic.
Reggie Jackson: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Washington Wizards
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 35.95 | DraftKings: 38.32
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 8.6% | FanDuel 11.7% | DraftKings 0.1%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $29 | FanDuel $7,100 | DraftKings $8,800
Game log watchers are going to run screaming when they take a look at the last two outings for Reggie Jackson. In these games he has completely lost his shooting touch, going 6-for-32 (19%) from the field and 1-for-13 (8%) from beyond the arc. The minutes continue to be there, and he is still rebounding and dishing assists at an above-average rate. Take a chance on him tonight in tournament on Yahoo with his palatable $29 salary.
Look to Jackson against the Wizards tonight in the NBA player prop market. Currently he has a 5.5 over/under on his assists, and Awesemo is projecting him for 6.9, which gives him a 70% probability of surpassing the over. Jackson has six or more assists in nine of his last 10 games, making this an appealing wager.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 55.58 | DraftKings: 57.09
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 2.4% | FanDuel 8.3% | DraftKings 10.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $57 | FanDuel $11,900 | DraftKings $12,000
Last night Giannis Antetokounmpo was phenomenal with 39 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and four combined blocks and steals in just 28 minutes against the hapless Thunder. Tonight is a matchup with the Hawks, and while Milwaukee is back at home, they are just 5-point favorites. Things are starting to tighten up in the standing, and most teams have between 16 and 18 games remaining in the season. The Bucks and 76ers are each three games behind the Heat in the race for the best record in the Eastern Conference. Milwaukee is off until Saturday night when they travel to the West Coast to take on the Warriors in the ABC Saturday featured game. Antetokounmpo has been wildly productive over his last 13 games, averaging 33.1 minutes and 17.7 field goal attempts per game with an astounding 59.6% conversion rate. This works out to 31.5 points, and he is also averaging 12.5 rebounds, 6.6 assists and 2.7 combined blocks and steals over this time.
New York Knicks at Dallas Mavericks
The Knicks are running thin with Derrick Rose, Obi Toppin, Kemba Walker, Nerlens Noel, Quentin Grimes and Cam Reddish all ruled out. Mitchell Robinson is questionable with an illness after playing less than two minutes in his last start. This is going to give even more scoring opportunities to Julius Randle, R.J. Barrett, Alec Burks, Evan Fournier and Immanuel Quickly. The first three are viable in all formats across the DFS sites; the latter two are more salary dependent, but still viable options in tournaments.
Dallas has their own injury woes with Tim Hardaway Jr., Marquese Chriss, Frank Ntilikina and Theo Pinson all out. Jalen Brunson is expected to return after missing the last game with a foot issue. Luka Doncic is a top-shelf option and a core play in all formats tonight, with Brunson, Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith solid differentiation plays in the large-field tournaments and moving into prominence on the mid-evening slate. Over their last 21 games, New York has four victories while allowing the sixth-worst defensive efficiency in the league. This is no longer a top defensive unit, and with all of their injuries they have been playing at close to a league-average pace instead of slowing things down.
Toronto Raptors at San Antonio Spurs
After missing the last five games with a sore knee, Fred VanVleet is expected to return to action tonight. It would be insane for coach Nick Nurse to immediately push him back up to his league-leading 37 minutes per game, so projecting him for 30 to 32 in the absence of any other news seems appropriate. Malachi Flynn and O.G. Anunoby are still on the shelf, so the other Raptors in the starting five are core options tonight. Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes and Gary Trent Jr. are the most desirable trio, and the matchup against the Spurs will help offset the return of VanVleet, as they are projected to score 117 points.
Dejounte Murray continues to put up eye-popping numbers, and he is a triple-double threat every time he takes the court. Jakob Poeltl continues to be a solid option night in and night out, though at his current salary he is better on the late slate with the smaller player pool.
Final Thoughts on NBA DFS picks for the Wednesday, March 9 Fantasy Basketball Slate
Tonight games are tipping off at six different times, and there are three late-night West Coast matchups between 10 and 10:30 p.m. ET.
