🏀 NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Sunday, March 14th | Paul George

NBA DFS action on Sunday, March 14, locks at 7:00 p.m. EST with a six-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 Paul George, Trae Young, Nikola Vucevic and more.

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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Sunday, March 14th

Yahoo Play of the Day – Paul George: Los Angeles Clippers at New Orleans Pelicans

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 41.99 | DraftKings: 43.5
• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 22.6% | FanDuel 38.2% | DraftKings 21.6%
• DFS Salary: Yahoo $35 | FanDuel $7,800 | DraftKings $8,100

While the Clippers do play in Dallas tomorrow, they have had 72 hours between games and are coming off the All-Star Break. This will be just the second game in 10 days for Paul George plus his All-Star appearance. Hopefully George will be monitoring his caffeine intake to avoid any more dizzy spells.

The Pelicans have been abysmal on defense this season, allowing 115.9 points per 100 possessions, which is the third worst in the league. Over their last 10 games, that figure climbs to 117.2 points per 100 possessions. The other bonus is that New Orleans has one of the most efficient offenses in the league, which allows them to keep games within reach down the stretch. We should see George with 34 to 36 minutes and an excellent chance for 40-plus Yahoo fantasy points. Add in Reggie Jackson ($12), who will likely move into the starting lineup for the injured Patrick Beverley, and our Yahoo rosters are off to a great start.

Trae Young: Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 45.3 | DraftKings: 48.71
• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 27.2% | FanDuel 28.3% | DraftKings 18.9%
• DFS Salary: Yahoo $39 | FanDuel $9,000 | DraftKings $9,300

While this is the second game of a back-to-back for Atlanta, Trae Young only played 32 minutes last night, and the rest of the starters averaged 27-ish in a cake walk against Sacramento. Gamers are likely to look elsewhere among the top-shelf options if they only glance at Young’s recent game logs. The Hawks have won their last four games, and last night was their first home game in three weeks.

Cleveland has been mediocre at best on defense this season, and they are in the bottom third of the league in most traditional and advanced metrics. Atlanta is just two games out of the fourth seed in the compact Eastern Conference standings. Now is the time for them to keep banking wins and move out of the play-in zone.

Nikola Vucevic: Orlando Magic vs. Miami Heat

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 51.31 | DraftKings: 53.49
• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 17.8% | FanDuel 22.5% | DraftKings 23.4%
• DFS Salary: Yahoo $48 | FanDuel $9,900 | DraftKings $9,900

On Friday Nikola Vucevic sorely disappointed his backers with just 37.3 Yahoo fantasy points in a great matchup against the Spurs. Orlando was crushed 104-77 and Vucevic logged only 29 minutes, which was his third lowest mark since New Year’s Eve. Miami will be without Bam Adebayo for the fourth straight game. In this same matchup on Thursday, Vucevic tallied 24 points, 17 rebounds and 3 assists in 34 minutes.

Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier, James Ennis and Cole Anthony are all out. This means Vucevic will once more be the focal point of the Magic offense. He has been outstanding this year, with career highs in field-goal attempts, points and rebounds; his 11.7 boards per game are fourth most in the league. Additionally, he is fifth with 25 double-doubles in his 38 games, which provides an excellent indication of his safe fantasy baseline.

Good Value

Minnesota Timberwolves vs. Portland Trail Blazers

This game did not disappoint last night, with the Blazers notching a 125-121 victory. Damian Lillard, Enes Kanter and Karl-Anthony Towns all had outstanding games. D’Angelo Russell (knee) and Malik Beasley (suspension) are out tonight. Jordan McLaughlin is still pending clearance from the health-and-safety protocol, and Jarrett Culver (toe) is questionable after missing the last two games. This should provide Ricky Rubio and Anthony Edwards with ample opportunity on offense. Rookie Jaylen Nowell should continue to see 24 to 26 minutes off the bench, with 2 or 3 more attainable if he continues his excellent play.

Naz Reid only played 14 minutes off the bench, but I am still interested in him as a tournament differentiation play. Since returning from his bout with COVID-19, Towns has played 32 and 31 minutes in the second game of his last two back-to-backs, though it should be noted he did foul out of one of those games, which cost him a couple minutes down the stretch.

Houston Rockets vs. Boston Celtics

Victor Oladipo will be back tonight, but the Rockets are still incredibly short-handed. John Wall (knee), Christian Wood (ankle), Eric Gordon (groin), Danuel House (knee) and Rodions Kurucs (oblique) are all out tonight. David Nwaba is dealing with a wrist injury that will likely need surgery, and he may be out tonight as well.

This means we will once again be turning to Kevin Porter Jr, Kenyon Martin Jr., Jae’Sean Tate, Justin Patton and Sterling Brown as value options. Their salaries are adjusting for their new roles and responsibilities, but they are still discounted across the board.

Risky Value

John Collins: Atlanta Hawks vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 32.44 | DraftKings: 32.4
• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 10.2% | FanDuel 29.7% | DraftKings 12.9%
• DFS Salary: Yahoo $26 | FanDuel $5,900 | DraftKings $6,400

The Awesemo Boom/Bust tool is arguably the best feature of all the premium content. John Collins’ falling salary is driving an increase in his popularity. Today he has a 23.8% chance of being in the optimal lineup. His boom score 39.5 FanDuel points has a probability of being reached 26.2% of the time. However, he has a 29.6% chance of falling below his bust score of 29.5 FanDuel points.

Keep in mind that Collins has not topped 31 FanDuel points in his last four games, and he has failed to reach that mark in six of his last eight. In his two good games he did have 36 and 58 fantasy points, which is approximately in line with his 1-in-4 chance of success tonight.

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

1. Tomas Satoransky: CHI vs. TOR – $10
2. Sterling Brown: HOU vs. BOS – $12
3. Naz Reid: MIN vs. POR – $11

SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks

1. Thaddeus Young: CHI vs. TOR – 1.45x multiplier
2. Enes Kanter: POR at MIN – 1.45x multiplier
3. Michael Carter-Williams: ORL vs. MIA – 1.80x multiplier

Final Thoughts on the Sunday, Mar. 14 NBA DFS Slate

We have a relatively compressed schedule tonight, with all six games tipping off within a two-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.