NBA DFS action on Friday, March 12, locks at 8:00 p.m. EST with a seven-game main slate on Yahoo, DraftKings, FanDuel and SuperDraft. Before you lock in your lineups on Yahoo, DraftKings, FanDuel and SuperDraft, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball picks, rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some daily fantasy basketball picks, including Tobias Harris, Jimmy Butler, Russell Westbrook and more.
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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Friday, March 12th
Yahoo Play of the Day – Tobias Harris: Philadelphia 76ers at Washington Wizards
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 39.57 | DraftKings: 40.73
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 48.4% | FanDuel 54.5% | DraftKings 33.7%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $33 | FanDuel $7,800 | DraftKings $8,300
While Tobias Harris was a bit of a disappointment last night against Chicago, he still had 24 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists. Tonight’s matchup is even better against a Washington team that considers defense to be optional. The Wizards are playing at the fastest pace in the league both over their last 10 games and on the season. Their defense is getting a little better, but they are allowing 113.1 points per 100 possessions over their last 10 games, which is still in the bottom third of the league. With his less-than-stellar performance as a popular option last night and being priced just outside the “stars” tier, I expect Harris to come in below the current levels of popularity predicted in Awesemo’s preliminary run.
Jimmy Butler: Miami Heat at Chicago Bulls
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 46.97 | DraftKings: 46.99
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 26.0% | FanDuel 34.4% | DraftKings 24.3%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $43 | FanDuel $9,600 | DraftKings $9,200
Last night Jimmy Butler had a sublime performance against the Magic, with over 60 fantasy points. That marked his fourth straight game with 50-plus fantasy points. Bam Adebayo (knee) is still out, so do not let the increasing price tag keep you away from Butler. In these four games he is averaging 34.7 minutes and 17.5 field-goal attempts. This has culminated in 29.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 9.5 assists and 3.0 combined blocks/steals. Both teams are on a back-to-back, though since we just had the All-Star Break, that does not concern me at this time.
Russell Westbrook: Washington Wizards vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 48.14 | DraftKings: 51.01
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 23.4% | FanDuel 23.0% | DraftKings 19.5%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $45 | FanDuel $10,100 | DraftKings $10,200
This is the first of a back-to-back for Washington, and it sounds like there is a chance that Bradley Beal could miss tonight with a sore knee. Regardless of his status, we can definitely give Russell Westbrook strong consideration in all formats. Westbrook is averaging 1.35 fantasy points per minute this season. This stays relatively the same when Bradley Beal is on the court according to NBA WOWY. With Beal off the court, Westbrook sees around a 5% increase in his fantasy production. On the season Beal has only missed one game — though if he is out, that will be even more field-goal attempts for Westbrook.
Good Value
Orlando Magic at San Antonio Spurs
Both of these squads are missing some key players, which is going to open up minutes and hinder already sketchy defenses. Orlando will be without Evan Fournier (groin), James Ennis (calf) and potentially (knee) Terrence Ross, who missed last night’s game. Rookie Cole Anthony and point guard Markelle Fultz are out as well. Aaron Gordon (ankle) returned after a six-week absence, with 14 minutes last night and may be limited or even rest tonight.
That gives some excellent opportunities to Nikola Vucevic as the key frontcourt and main offensive option. Michael Carter-Williams is the lone true point guard, and he should see heavy minutes once again. Dwayne Bacon, Khem Birch, Chasson Randle, Mo Bamba, Gary Clark and Al-Farouq Aminu are comparable NBA DFS pick pivots away from some of the popular Rockets, who are discussed below.
San Antonio has parted ways with LaMarcus Aldridge, who is away from the team awaiting a trade or buy-out. DeMar DeRozan is also not available. This puts Dejounte Murray in an excellent spot as the primary scoring option and facilitator. Derrick White is back, and while he did see 27 minutes, he was a little rusty from his layoff. Rudy Gay, Jakob Poeltl and Patty Mills are all viable discount dandies, along with Keldon Johnson. I would take it easy with Devin Vassell, who may be returning from the health-and-safety protocol. Finally, I would not be willing to trust Trey Lyles or Lonnie Walker’s minutes unless they are announced as starters.
Risky Value
Houston Rockets at Utah Jazz
Victor Oladipo (quad) is unlikely to play on Friday after seeing close to 34 minutes yesterday. In a bit of a surprise, John Wall did not play last night due to knee soreness. That is a little concerning considering he had the All-Star Break to recover. We will have to see if there are any updates, but as of now he is considered doubtful to play.
Eric Gordon left last night’s game early with groin injury and has been ruled out for this tilt. David Nwaba (wrist) will be out of for at least another month recovering from surgery. Last night Danuel House (knee) and Rodions Kurucs (oblique) were also sidelined. Finally, P.J. Tucker is also no longer with the Rockets while he is waiting for a trade (unlikely) or buy-out.
Tonight’s matchup is in Utah where the hometown team is favored by 17.0 points. While there are going to be a lot of minutes to go around for any of the ambulatory Rockets, the tricky part is that they are going against a tough opponent that boasts one of the best defenses in the league. There is a very real chance that Houston is not able to effectively execute on offense, with their available players incredibly inexperienced or NBA vagabonds who would be fringe rotation players on most competent teams in the league.
Last night Anthony Lamb made his NBA debut and Kevin Porter Jr. made his first appearance for Houston. Yesterday’s starters Jae’Sean Tate and Justin Patton have played in 51 combined NBA games. That leaves journeymen Ben McLemore and Sterling Brown as the most accomplished players available.
Houston is on a 14-game losing streak, and that is unlikely to end tonight. We have seen them get blown out by Sacramento, Brooklyn, Memphis, Cleveland and Chicago in their last seven games, and it is not like the twin 11-point losses to Toronto and Cleveland were particularly close.
Definitely look to some of the Houston youngsters as NBA DFS pick value options, but be very aware that they may not have a functional offense tonight. Our hope is that the Jazz take a commanding lead and coach Quin Snyder turns to the understudies early.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Alex Caruso and Markieff Morris: LAL vs. IND – $10
- Larry Nance Jr.: CLE at NOP – $10
- Shake Milton: PHI at WAS – $11
SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks
- Nikola Vucevic: ORL at SAS – 1.25x multiplier
- Collin Sexton: CLE at NOP – 1.55x multiplier
- Michael Carter-Williams: ORL at SAS – 1.80x multiplier
Final Thoughts on the Friday, Mar. 12 NBA DFS Slate
Even with the later tip-off, we may not have news regarding the Houston starting lineup. 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.
