Thursday, June 24, brings a Game 3 wrinkle with the likely return of Chris Paul. Let’s look at the Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns 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.
***Get a SNEAK PEEK with our free premium data, tools and content of the day, the Awesemo Premium Single-Game Player Projections.***
NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Thursday, June 24
Yahoo Play of the Day —Paul George: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 50.64 | DraftKings: 54.24
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 98.5% | FanDuel 99.8% | DraftKings 94.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $42 | FanDuel $10,300 | DraftKings $10,300
Just when it looked like the Clippers were going to steal one in the desert, Deandre Ayton saved the day. Now Los Angeles is back home and staring down a 2-0 deficit. They are no strangers to adversity this postseason and have been cool and composed countless similar situations over the last month. The return of Chris Paul dampens the enthusiasm and upside for Devin Booker and especially Cameron Payne. By default, once more Paul George is the best option on the single-game slate.
Devin Booker: Phoenix Suns at Los Angeles Clippers
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 40.48 | DraftKings: 42.9
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 60.0% | FanDuel 59.7% | DraftKings 67.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $36 | FanDuel $8,500 | DraftKings $9,800
Tonight, Paul is on track to clear the health and safety protocol and rejoin the playoff action. While that keeps Booker from being recommended as the top overall play, he is still worth rolling out in main lineups paired with George. The return of Paul only mutes the probability of an apex performance by the rising star. There is still a reasonable chance that Booker could end up scoring the most fantasy points on Thursday. Phoenix has the luxury of a two-game lead and has no reason to push Paul, who last played 11 days ago. Payne is going to see his minutes and opportunities dip far more dramatically than Booker will.
Good Value
Ivica Zubac: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 23.72 | DraftKings: 23.94
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 60.5% | FanDuel 38.6% | DraftKings 37.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $11 | FanDuel $4,800 | DraftKings $4,200
Unlike Game 1, Ivica Zubac matched up with Ayton’s rotations for all but a couple minutes on Tuesday. His 34.3 minutes were a dramatic increase over Sunday’s 18 and also more than his combined court time over the last three games of the Utah series. Considering he had a neutral plus/minus on the court and the Suns near victory, it is likely he will get another chance to replicate his Game 2 workload.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
Los Angeles Clippers
- Rajon Rondo, $10: The rivalry between Rondo and Paul is well known, and these two bring out the best/worst in each other.
- Patrick Beverley, $10: In a surprise twist, Beverley and Zubac joined the starting rotation replacing Terance Mann and Nicolas Batum. Though he had single-digit usage and limited offensive opportunities, Beverley still tallied 15 fantasy points. If he is in the starting lineup again for the coach Tyronn Lue, he can make DFS lineups as well.
- Luke Kennard, $10: In a surprise twist, Kennard actually led the Clippers with a plus-8 in his 18.6 minutes. It is hard to envision him playing the entire fourth quarter again, but it was nice to have that appear in the range of possible outcomes.
Phoenix Suns
- Cameron Johnson, $10: Once again, Johnson was prominent in the fourth quarter, though he still did not share the court with Mikal Bridges in the final frame. They did overlap in the first half when Johnson was replacing Jae Crowder. With his minimum salary on Yahoo, look to Johnson for 12 to 16 fantasy points.
- Torrey Craig, $10: There is risk that comes with rostering Craig, as seen in Game 2 when he took only a single field-goal attempt while producing no fantasy points in 11.3 minutes. Tonight he is very much in play, though he absolutely can fail his backers.
- Dario Saric, $10: Once again Saric played the minutes that Ayton did not. However, he did get nine field-goal attempts and made four, including a 3-pointer and two free throws. He also added three rebounds and two assists. Everything went his way in 13 minutes, but that is an outlier, and a range of 10 to 12 fantasy points is a more likely.
Final Thoughts on the Thursday, June 24 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.
