NBA DFS action on Sunday, April 4, locks at 7 p.m. ET with a four-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 and daily fantasy basketball picks, including Stephen Curry, Clint Capela and more.
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NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks, Sunday, April 4th
Yahoo Play of the Day — Clint Capela: Atlanta Hawks vs. Golden State Warriors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 41.76 | DraftKings: 42.03
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 38.6% | FanDuel 27.2% | DraftKings 25.4%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $38 | FanDuel $9,000 | DraftKings $8,800
This is a nice matchup tonight for Clint Capela, who is leading the league with 14.1 rebounds per game. Golden State has been a bottom-three rebounding team most of this season by both the traditional and advanced metrics. Capela is seventh in the league with 31 double-doubles in his 43 games, which gives him a safe fantasy floor. The upside comes with his 2.3 blocks per game, which is the third most this year.
While he has been dealing with an ankle sprain, it is considered to be minor and Capela should see his full allotment of minutes tonight. John Collins will be out for the next week with a sprained ankle, and De’Andre Hunter is out as well with a knee injury, so it will be Capela and Danilo Gallinari manning the frontcourt.
Stephen Curry: Golden State Warriors at Atlanta Hawks
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 44.97 | DraftKings: 48.04
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 22.0% | FanDuel 38.0% | DraftKings 25.6%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $47 | FanDuel $9,000 | DraftKings $9,800
On Friday Stephen Curry received a night off on the second leg of a back-to-back to rest his bruised tailbone. Tonight he will be back in the lineup, and he gets a cherry matchup against Trae Young. Curry is fifth in the league with a 32.5% usage rate among players logging at least 1,300 minutes. Additionally he is fifth with 20.3 field-goal attempts per game and first with 11.5 from behind the arc, where he has a 42.0% success rate. This matchup is approaching a 230 project point total, so Curry should be well represented in NBA DFS rosters.
Tobias Harris: Philadelphia 76ers vs. Memphis Grizzlies
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 36.54 | DraftKings: 37.22
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 26.8% | FanDuel 36.8% | DraftKings 18.8%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $35 | FanDuel $7,900 | DraftKings $8,400
Last night the 76ers dismantled the Timberwolves 122-113. Joel Embiid returned from a 10-game absence and played 29 minutes. However, he will sit this one out as he regains his conditioning after missing time for a hyperextended knee. That bodes well for the fantasy prospects of Tobias Harris. NBA WOWY shows Harris is averaging 1.05 Yahoo fantasy points per minute when playing with Embiid and a whopping 1.25 when he is off the court.
Four of Harris’ seven best fantasy performances have been in games that Embiid has not played. In these 18 games Harris is averaging just over 40 fantasy points. On the short slate he would have been a fine option with Embiid, but he is a tremendous option with Embiid out.
Good Value
Kevin Porter Jr.: Houston Rockets at New Orleans Pelicans
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 34.95 | DraftKings: 36.84
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 23.0% | FanDuel 36.2% | DraftKings 27.0%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $27 | FanDuel $6,000 | DraftKings $6,900
Do not be dissuaded by the increasing salary; Kevin Porter Jr. is a good value tonight against the Pelicans. John Wall is out with knee soreness, so Porter will be running the offense for the Rockets. NBA WOWY shows that in 54 minutes alongside Wall, Porter is averaging 0.62 Yahoo fantasy points per minute with a 21.8% usage rate and a 10.5% assist rate. In his 277 minutes without Wall, he is averaging 1.06 fantasy points with a 26.9% usage rate and a 37.1% assist rate. Porter is still a good 15 to 20% discount compared to what he should be for this matchup.
Risky Value
Bogdan Bogdanovic: Atlanta Hawks vs. Golden State Warriors
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 29.16 | DraftKings: 30.18
- Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 23.8% | FanDuel 16.2% | DraftKings 22.2%
- DFS Salary: Yahoo $22 | FanDuel $7,200 | DraftKings $6,600
The recent salary increase may have gone a little too far for Bogdan Bogdanovic. Tonight he is projecting to be one of the most popular options on DraftKings. There is a 15.5% chance of him appearing in the optimal lineup compared to his 22.2% popularity, which gives him a -6.7 leverage score. That in itself is not terrible, but the Awesemo Boom/Bust tool shows there is just a 6.0% chance of Bogdanovic exceeding his boom score (5x salary + 10) of 43.0 DraftKings points. Conversely, there is a 61.8% chance of him not surpassing his bust threshold (5x salary) of 33.0 DraftKings points. It looks like this is a player best left for other gamers to assume the risk.
Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies
- Wendell Carter: ORL at DEN – $14
- Danuel House: HOU vs. NOP – $10
- Jaxson Hayes: NOP at HOU – $10
Final Thoughts on the Sunday, April 4th NBA DFS Slate
There are quite a few players who are questionable in the two later games for New Orleans and Orlando. That means it is unlikely that all of the news will be released by the time the slate locks. 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.
