NBA DFS action on Tuesday, April 20, locks at 7:30 p.m. ET with a five-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 Karl-Anthony Towns, De’Aaron Fox and more.
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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Tuesday, April 20th
Yahoo Play of the Day — Karl-Anthony Towns: Minnesota Timberwolves at Sacramento Kings
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 51.53 | DraftKings: 54.36
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 25.2% | FanDuel 23.4% | DraftKings 23.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $48 | FanDuel $10,800 | DraftKings $10,600
This is a phenomenal matchup for Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves against the Kings, who are without Richaun Holmes. This would still be a great matchup if Holmes were healthy, but that means it will be a combination of Hassan Whiteside, Damian Jones, Chimezie Metu and Chris Silva trying to slow down Towns.
On the season, Sacramento has the worst defensive efficiency rating in the league allowing 117 points per 100 possessions. Over the last 10 games, the Kings have also been the worst rebounding team in the league, corralling just 44.2% of the available opportunities. Towns played just 25.5 minutes against Miami before fouling out, and he played only 25 minutes in a blowout against the Clippers. This has kept his salary in check, and on Yahoo he is an absolute steal at $48. He checks in with the highest NBA daily fantasy point projection on Awesemo.com tonight.
De’Aaron Fox: Sacramento Kings vs. Minnesota Timberwolves
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 49.61 | DraftKings: 50.96
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 27.8% | FanDuel 24.8% | DraftKings 24.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $47 | FanDuel $9,900 | DraftKings $9,800
Phenomenal is one word to describe De’Aaron Fox this season. He has taken things to the next level, at least from a fantasy perspective, and he is regularly reaching 50 fantasy points. In his last five game, Fox has averaged a tick shy of 39 minutes and 24 field-goal attempts with a 52% success rate. This has culminated in 32.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, eight assists and 2.6 combined blocks/steals for 55 fantasy points. Over their last 10 games, the Timberwolves have the worst defense in the league, allowing 120 points per 100 possessions.
Julius Randle: New York Knicks vs. Charlotte Hornets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.49 | DraftKings: 48.31
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 23.4% | FanDuel 20.6% | DraftKings 20.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $46 | FanDuel $9,400 | DraftKings $10,100
The Yahoo and FanDuel salaries stand out for Julius Randle tonight, and he is also in the mix on DraftKings. Keep in mind, he is playing heavy minutes, having seen less than 37 only once in his last 14 games. In his last four games, he has taken at least 23-plus field-goal attempts, and over his last six he is averaging 8.5 trips to the charity stripe. Cody Zeller, Bismack Biyombo and P.J. Washington are simply no match for Randle.
Good Value
Cole Anthony: Orlando Magic at Atlanta Hawks
Tonight, Orlando will be even more short-handed than usual. Michael Carter-Williams, Terrence Ross, James Ennis and Otto Porter Jr. are all out of action. After missing two months in the middle of his rookie season, Anthony has now played in seven games with increasing minutes. The last two games he was back in the starting lineup and averaged 31.5 minutes, 13 field-goal attempts, 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, seven assists and 1.5 combined blocks/steals. Against the Hawks, he should see a similar stat line with this favorable matchup against a squad that is hit or miss with their defensive efforts.
Risky Value
Derrick Rose: New York Knicks vs. Charlotte Hornets
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 24.43 | DraftKings: 24.6
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 16% | FanDuel 16.4% | DraftKings 16.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $17 | FanDuel $5,800 | DraftKings $5,100
Tonight Derrick Rose is picking up a fair amount of traction for his marginal matchup against Charlotte. On one hand, coach Tom Thibodeau loves his veterans, though on the other hand, Rose has looked good by picking up a couple more assists than usual. The same can be said for his field-goal attempts, as he has gone 21 of 44 from the field, which is above his usual 45% success rate.
The Awesemo Boom/Bust tool gives Rose just a 9.9% chance of appearing in the DraftKings optimal lineup. When comparing this with his projected popularity of 16.5%, this gives him a -6.5 leverage score. While that is not egregious, there is just a 7.2% probability of Rose exceeding his boom score of 35.5 DraftKings points with a 54.8% likelihood of falling below his bust score of 25.5 DraftKings points.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Bruce Brown Jr.: BKN at NOP – $13
- Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid: MIN at SAC – $10
- Mohamed Bamba: ORL at ATL – $10
Final Thoughts on the Tuesday, April 20th NBA DFS Slate
Who knows what sort of chicanery and shenanigans the Clippers will pull, though at least there are two late games, meaning a larger player pool for pivots. 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.
