For Friday, June 11, we have a pair of series heading into Game 3 with a change in host venues. Let’s look at the four-team player pool and discuss the top NBA DFS picks for DraftKings, FanDuel and Yahoo lineups. Don’t forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS home page for more great written daily fantasy basketball content, including the FREE NBA Deep Dive — the most in-depth article in the industry.
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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Friday, June 11
Yahoo Play of the Day — Joel Embiid: Philadelphia 76ers at Atlanta Hawks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.07 | DraftKings: 54.87
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 39.2% | FanDuel 27.4% | DraftKings 39.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $47 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $10,300
Philadelphia roared back with a 16-point victory on Tuesday after a surprising Game 1 loss. Joel Embiid is questionable, though he is expected to play with his partially torn meniscus in his right knee. Through the first two games of this series, Embiid has played 38 and 35 minutes, averaging 23 field-goal attempts and 15.5 trips to the free-throw line. This has culminated in 39.5 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and 3.5 combined blocks/steals. Embiid is the clear top option on Yahoo tonight in all formats.
Chris Paul: Phoenix Suns at Denver Nuggets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 40.33 | DraftKings: 41.42
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 55.4% | FanDuel 44.4% | DraftKings 50.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $28 | FanDuel $8,200 | DraftKings $7,100
Tonight marks the 118th playoff game of Chris Paul’s career. He knows how to impact and influence the game while picking his spots when he calls his own number to go to the hoop. While it is not particularly flashy, the steady double-digit assists and mid-teens scoring with a handful of rebounds can add up to solid fantasy production. The salary on Yahoo and DraftKings is quite appealing and on FanDuel, Paul makes for a nice pivot away from Trae Young and Ben Simmons.
Good Value
Kevin Huerter: Atlanta Hawks vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 52.73 | DraftKings: 55.2
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 37.8% | FanDuel 47.2% | DraftKings 40%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $48 | FanDuel $10,700 | DraftKings $10,600
Although Kevin Huerter is more point-dependent for his fantasy production than one would typically look for, things change in the postseason. John Collins and Clint Capela can disappear on the offensive end for long stretches, and the Hawks backcourt is going to be key in keeping the scoreboard humming along. Huerter is seeing time during the first three quarters while filling in for Bogdan Bogdanovic, and also when Bogdanovic slides over to run the offense for the short stretches that Young is on the bench. Additionally, Huerter has played every minute of the final frame in the first two games of this series. With Lou Williams finally looking two steps slow and De’Andre Hunter out for the remainder of the playoffs, Huerter has a secure 33 to 35 minutes in the rotation.
Risky Value
Trae Young: Atlanta Hawks vs. Philadelphia 76ers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.83 | DraftKings: 49.25
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 38.8% | FanDuel 50.2% | DraftKings 37.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $41 | FanDuel $9,700 | DraftKings $9,300
Once again, for those that have a hard time reading the actual analysis, Young is not a bad play. However, when looking at overall roster construction, risk/reward tolerance and finding leverage against the field, then yes it is worth looking for lineups that have upside if Young has a subpar performance.
Looking at the Awesemo Boom/Bust tool, we can see that Young has a 38.0% probability of being in the FanDuel optimal lineup. When compared against his projected popularity of 50.2%, that gives him a leverage score of negative 12.2%. Yes, there is definitely attainable upside against this nearly five-figure salary, as Young has a 21.3% likelihood of surpassing his boom score of 58.6 FanDuel points. However, when weighing that against the 41.2% chance of him falling below his bust of 48.6 FanDuel points, there is inherent risk.
One way to counter this is to play Paul and Simmons as the two FanDuel point guards. The theory would be that by taking the second- and third-best projected options at the position, that would top at least half the field if Young has a bad game. If pushing further for maximum leverage in this scenario, play Bogdanovic and potentially double down with Huerter under the assumption that, if Young is playing poorly, in foul trouble or even dinged up, they will be the most likely beneficiaries.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Danilo Gallinari: ATL vs. PHI – $13
- JaMychal Green: DEN vs. PHX – $10
- Matisse Thybulle: PHI at ATL – $10
Final Thoughts on the Friday, June 11 NBA DFS Slate
The two games tonight are projected for just shy of 450 total points, which should provide plenty of fantasy goodness and several viable roster-construction strategies. 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.
