NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Thursday, July 1st | Bogdan Bogdanovic

Thursday, July 1, changes venues, with the Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals back in Wisconsin. Let’s look at the Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks 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, Thursday, July 1

Yahoo Play of the Day — Khris Middleton: Milwaukee Bucks vs. Atlanta Hawks

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 48.59 | DraftKings: 51.82
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 80.5% | FanDuel 63.2% | DraftKings 78.3%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $35 | FanDuel $14500 | DraftKings $10400

Milwaukee has ruled out Giannis Antetokounmpo for tonight’s game with a hyperextended knee. That leaves a massive void that will need to be filled, and as has been the case throughout the last two seasons, Khris Middleton will become the primary scoring option. Middleton is averaging 1.00 Yahoo fantasy points per minute in 475 postseason minutes on the court with Antetokounmpo. In 106 minutes without him, that jumps all the way to 1.30 Yahoo fantasy points per minute. Middleton is a core option in all formats tonight.

Jrue Holiday: Milwaukee Bucks at Atlanta Hawks

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 50.06 | DraftKings: 51.44
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 70.5% | FanDuel 66% | DraftKings 77.2%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $32 | FanDuel $14,000 | DraftKings $9,600

While Middleton is going to be the primary option, Jrue Holiday is not far behind. He should have the ball in his hands on most possessions, and in addition to his role as a facilitator, he will also pick up some of the scoring load left by Antetokounmpo. Holiday produces 0.90 Yahoo fantasy points per minute when he and Giannis share the court. Without him, Holiday sees his production leap to 1.29 fantasy points per minute.

Bogdan Bogdanovic: Atlanta Hawks at Milwaukee Bucks

  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 27.26 | DraftKings: 28.37
  • Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 60.5% | FanDuel 27.1% | DraftKings 43.3%
  • DFS Salary: Yahoo $22 | FanDuel $13,500 | DraftKings $7,200

Even though he was dealing with his own injury, Bogdan Bogdanovic led the Hawks to a surprise victory with 41.1 Yahoo fantasy points in 33.3 minutes. If not for the game being out of hand, he could have seen another five minutes in the fourth quarter. With the season on the line, he should see as many minutes as his sore right knee allows tonight.

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

Milwaukee Bucks

  1. Bobby Portis, $15 and Pat Connaughton, $10: Yahoo got ahead of the game and increased Portis’ salary by just over one-third. Regardless of whether Portis or Connaughton start for Antetokounmpo, they will both see a minutes boost plugging the rotation.
  2. P.J. Tucker, $11: There should not be much of a role change for Tucker with Antetokounmpo sidelined, so expect something in the 25- to 30-minute range and 15 to 20 Yahoo fantasy points.
  3. Bryn Forbes, $10: the trickledown effect of Portis or Connaughton entering the lineup means that Forbes should approach 15 or 20 minutes tonight. While he is very scoring dependent and unlikely to produce more than a fantasy point per minute, he does become a viable deep differentiation option.

Atlanta Hawks

  1. Lou Williams, $13: It is unlikely that Trae Young will play tonight, and even if he does, he will likely be limited. Williams rolled back the clock in Game 5, leading the Hawks to an unlikely win with a 40 fantasy points. It would be folly to count on that for a second straight game, though he should flirt with 30 fantasy points if he draws another start.
  2. Cam Reddish, $11: He did not play in Game 4 after seeing 17 minutes in Game 2, which also was his first live action in four months. With Young on the shelf, Reddish was quite productive, recording 28 Yahoo fantasy points in 23.3 minutes. If Young is indeed out, Reddish is a tremendous pivot away from Williams.
  3. Danilo Gallinari, $12: Once again, Gallinari disappointed with a meager fantasy performance. It will be interesting to see what Atlanta does with Young likely out and Capela dealing with a sore knee. Gallinari needs to be in the player pool, and with his inconsistent production, gamers are shying away in droves. This makes him live as a tournament differentiation option.

Final Thoughts on the Thursday, July 1 NBA DFS Slate

Have realistic expectations on the single-game slates, and while the giant tournaments are fun, the smaller-field contests can be lucrative with fewer lineup duplications. 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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