NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Wednesday, April 7th | Karl-Anthony Towns

NBA DFS action on Wednesday, April 7, locks at 7 p.m. ET with a robust nine-game main slate on Yahoo, DraftKings and FanDuel. Before you lock in your 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, Russell Westbrook, Miles Bridges and more.

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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Wednesday, April 7th

Yahoo Play of the Day — Miles Bridges: Charlotte Hornets at Oklahoma City Thunder

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 30.52 | DraftKings: 31.24
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 46.4% | FanDuel 20.4% | DraftKings 33.4%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $14 | FanDuel $5,800 | DraftKings $5,000

Today there are 18 teams in action, and value players are already plentiful. Miles Bridges is standing out as one of the best so far, and he is easily the top NBA DFS pick on Yahoo with his $14 salary. Gordon Hayward is out until at least May with his sprained right foot, which has opened up a starting slot for Bridges. Depending on the opponent, he will see heavy minutes at both forward positions.

Though he had a paltry 15 Yahoo fantasy points in 31 minutes in his first spot start, do not let that dissuade you from rostering him tonight. NBA WOWY shows that Bridges is averaging 0.83 Yahoo fantasy points per minute. Tonight’s matchup against the short-handed Thunder is a good one, as they are rolling out understudies at nearly every position. Charlotte is actually favored by 5 on the road, and Bridges’ success will be directly correlated with the Hornets’ success.

Karl-Anthony Towns: Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Indiana Pacers

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 51.98 | DraftKings: 54.88
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 18.8% | FanDuel 5.2% | DraftKings 14.2%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $50 | FanDuel $11,400 | DraftKings $10,700

This is a back-to-back for the Pacers, as well as their fourth game in six nights. On Tuesday they lost Myles Turner to a sprained ankle, and he is going to miss at least four games. Domantas Sabonis is also dealing with an ankle injury, and he is doubtful for tonight’s game after missing the last two games.

Karl-Anthony Towns has been outstanding in his return from COVID-19 after missing most of January and early February. In his last 14 games, he has topped 50 fantasy points 11 times and is averaging 35 fantasy points in the other three games. In this stretch, he has averaged 36.7 minutes and 19.7 field-goal attempts, including seven per game from beyond the arc with a 41.8% success rate. This has culminated in 28.1 points, 11.5 rebounds, five assists and two combined blocks/steals. Yes, the salary is at an apex level, but there are plenty of discount dandies at the ready on Wednesday.

Russell Westbrook: Washington Wizards at Orlando Magic

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 53.5 | DraftKings: 56.98
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 12.2% | FanDuel 19.2% | DraftKings 15.2%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $55 | FanDuel $11,000 | DraftKings $11,100

There is a very good chance that Bradley Beal will miss a sixth straight game tonight with his hip injury. Even if he returns, Rui Hachimura and Robin Lopez are also at risk of being unavailable, so that should still leave plenty of room for Russell Westbrook to thrive.

In his last 13 games, seven with Beal and six without, Westbrook has been sublime. In this timeframe, he is averaging 37.5 minutes and 21 field-goal attempts. This works out to 24.9 points, 12.77 rebounds, 12.2 assists and two combined blocks/steals. That stat line is worth 58.8 Yahoo fantasy points and 64.8 DraftKings points. Westbrook has 19 triple-doubles in 42 games, leading the league by seven. Plus, the Wizards are 3-point road favorites in Orlando tonight.

Good Value

Goga Bitadze: Indiana Pacers vs. Minnesota Timberwolves

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 29.14 | DraftKings: 27.76
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 16.4% | FanDuel 20.6% | DraftKings 41.2%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $10 | FanDuel $3,900 | DraftKings $3,000

Tonight will mark the 85th career game for Goga Bitadze. Despite making just two starts in his limited appearances, DFS gamers are familiar with Bitadze. However, most of the collective memories are of Bitadze underperforming in what should have been a good spot or putting up 20-plus fantasy points out of nowhere at a rock-bottom salary.

Well, dear reader, the stars are aligning to roll with Bitadze. With Turner and Sabonis likely to miss this game, the matchup with the Timberwolves is a good one, as they are in the bottom five teams by most rebounding and defensive metrics. The wild card, of course, will be minutes. For his career, Bitadze has 5.4 fouls per 36 minutes. As long as he can avoid too many ticky-tack fouls against Towns, he should be in line for 25-ish minutes, which would be enough run to get him close to a double-double and 30 fantasy points.

Risky Value

Jayson Tatum: Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 44.12 | DraftKings: 45.47
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 16.8% | FanDuel 26.0% | DraftKings 15.2%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $42 | FanDuel $8,800 | DraftKings $9,100

Jayson Tatum is projecting as one of the 15 most popular options tonight. That is particularly concerning on DraftKings. The matchup against the Knicks is not as easy as it was before coach Tom Thibodeau took over. On the season, New York is playing at the slowest pace in the league, with just 96.4 points per 100 possessions. In turn, they have a stifling defense that is the fourth best, allowing a paltry 107.7 points per 100 possessions.

The Awesemo Boom/Bust tool shows there is a 16% chance of Tatum appearing in the DraftKings optimal lineup. That is appropriate for his popularity, but there is unseen risk here. While there is a 16.1% chance of  Tatum exceeding his boom score (5x salary + 10) of 55.5 DraftKings points, there is a hefty 50.1% likelihood of him falling below his bust threshold (5x salary) of 45.5 DraftKings points. Even with Kemba Walker out for rest and recent acquisition Evan Fournier in the health and safety protocol, let other gamers assume the risk of a mediocre performance from Tatum.

 Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

  1. James Ennis: ORL vs. WAS – $12
  2. Kevin Huerter: ATL vs. MEM – $10
  3. Kenrich Williams: OKC vs. CHA – $12

Final Thoughts on the Wednesday, April 7th NBA DFS Slate

Tonight there is a more typical staggered schedule with games tipping off during a three-hour window. 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.

Eric "EMac" MacPherson won the 2007 Fantasy Baseball grand prize (trip for two to the MLB All-Star game) in the Roto format on ESPN. He won again in 2008, this time in the H2H format. As one of the early adopters of daily fantasy sports, EMac has been providing content for baseball and basketball as well as both professional and college football since 2012 for a variety of websites including DraftKings Playbook, FanVice, RotoWorld, Daily Fantasy Bootcamp, and RotoGrinders. He is well into his third decade of fantasy sports and has a wealth of knowledge and experience. Follow him on Twitter @EMacDFS or contact EMac by emailing [email protected].

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