NBA DFS action on Saturday, April 10, locks at 7:30 p.m. ET with a seven-game main slate on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Before locking in lineups, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball picks, rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some NBA DFS picks and daily fantasy basketball, including Donovan Mitchell, Enes Kanter and more.
Don’t forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS HOME PAGE for more great written daily fantasy basketball content, including the FREE Deep Dive — the most in-depth article in the industry.
***Get a SNEAK PEEK with our free premium content of the day, the Awesemo Premium NBA Player Projections.***
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Saturday, April 10th
Yahoo Play of the Day — Enes Kanter: Portland Trail Blazers vs. Detroit Pistons
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 36.11 | DraftKings: 36.1
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 28.6% | FanDuel 33.2% | DraftKings 22.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $21 | FanDuel $5,000 | DraftKings $5,900
Portland has lost three of their last four games by lopsided scores. They desperately need to start banking wins if they want to have any hope of hosting a first-round playoff series and to stay out of the play-in tournament. Fortunately for them, they have a nice matchup against a Detroit squad that has a host of injured players. Mason Plumlee is questionable as he works through the concussion protocol. Jerami Grant is out with a sore knee, Rodney McGruder is out with an elbow injury, and Wayne Ellington is out for workload maintenance. This bodes well for Enes Kanter, as his frontcourt mate Jusuf Nurkic is out tonight as well.
Kanter is fourth in the NBA with 11.6 rebounds per game. His uneven minutes over the last four games — which also have coincided with the return of Nurkic — have helped push Kanter’s salary down across the board. The only thing between him and a double-double tonight is going to be Pistons rookie Isaiah Stewart. At $21 on Yahoo, Kanter is a steal with his 40-fantasy-point potential.
Donovan Mitchell: Utah Jazz vs. Sacramento Kings
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 42.34 | DraftKings: 45.1
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 28.0% | FanDuel 39.6% | DraftKings 26.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $40 | FanDuel $8,500 | DraftKings $8,800
While the Jazz are double-digit favorites against the Kings, Donovan Mitchell is likely to have a strong hand in contributing to any blowout scenarios. Jordan Clarkson is doubtful with a sprained ankle, which may give a few more minutes to the face of the Utah franchise. Mitchell has 604 minutes alongside Clarkston and 1,039 minutes without him on the court, and he sees a 7 to 10% increase in his per-minute fantasy production depending on the DFS site of choice.
The Kings have the worst defensive efficiency in the league, and they also play at a fast pace. That makes this a cherry matchup for the Jazz. There will be plenty of value options available tonight, and Mitchell is likely to get somewhat lost in the shuffle when gamers employ the coveted stars-and-scrubs roster construction.
Christian Wood: Houston Rockets at Golden State Warriors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 40.2 | DraftKings: 41.48
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 27.2% | FanDuel 35.6% | DraftKings 10.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $30 | FanDuel $7,800 | DraftKings $8,300
The Rockets lost last night to the Clippers in Los Angeles, and the Warriors went down to the wire against the visiting Wizards. Both of these teams have allowed over 117 points per 100 possessions in their last 10 games, which has them essentially tied with the Thunder and Timberwolves for the worst defensive efficiency in the league during this span. John Wall is expected to play tonight, which will give a nice boost to the Houston offense. As long as he starts, Christian Wood should approach 32 to 35 minutes, and he will be in the mix for 40 fantasy points. Similar to Mitchell, Wood will likely be overlooked by most gamers going for the stars-and-scrubs strategy.
Good Value
Toronto Raptors at Cleveland Cavaliers
There will be a plethora of fantasy goodness available in this matchup. Toronto will be without Fred VanVleet, and Kyle Lowry is likely to miss a sixth straight game with a foot infection. In an interesting twist, Pascal Siakam is slated to get the night off for load management as the Raptors are playing again tomorrow in New York. This should lead to heavy minutes for DeAndre’ Bembry, Chris Boucher, O.G. Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr. and Malachi Flynn.
Cleveland is in a similar boat, as they will be without key frontcourt players Larry Nance Jr. and Jarrett Allen. Kevin Love has been playing 23 to 25 minutes since returning from the calf injury that has limited him all season. In this matchup he should be a double-double threat even in limited minutes, but he does have capped upside. Collin Sexton, Darius Garland, Isiah Hartenstein and Taurean Prince are the players gamers can target liberally.
Risky Value
Cory Joseph: Detroit Pistons at Portland Trail Blazers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 19.22 | DraftKings: 19.81
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 10.6% | FanDuel 6.0% | DraftKings 19.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $12 | FanDuel $5,100 | DraftKings $4,000
Cory Joseph is gaining traction on DraftKings, and the Awesemo Boom/Bust tool shows that is likely going to be a trap. There is just a 3.7% probability of Joseph ending up in the DraftKings optimal lineup. When compared with his popularity of nearly 20%, this gives him a leverage score of -16.1 which is the worst on the slate.
There is only a 6.1% chance of Joseph exceeding his boom score (5x salary +10) of 30.0 DraftKings points. Conversely, there is a 51.1% likelihood of him falling below his bust threshold (5x salary) of 20 DraftKings points. While the Pistons are banged up, they have no shortage of guards. Even with Wayne Ellington out, Joseph will be competing for minutes with Dennis Smith Jr. and rookies Saben Lee and Killian Hayes. Plus, Frank Jackson and Josh Jackson (no relation) are still somehow in the rotation. Let other gamers assume the risk of a poor performance by Joseph tonight.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- DeAndre’ Bembry: TOR at CLE – $13
- Ty Jerome: OKC vs. PHI – $10
- Tony Bradley: OKC vs. PHI – $10
Final Thoughts on the Saturday, April 10th NBA DFS Slate
Tonight there are just two games in the first hour and five on the backend. Be on the lookout for unexpected news after lock. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.
