Welcome to the SuperDraft Starting Five, playoff edition! I’m giving you NBA DFS picks for my starting five — two guards, two forwards, and a center — for Tuesday’s NBA DFS main slate.
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NBA DFS Picks: SuperDraft Starting Five
CHRIS PAUL (1.4X MULTIPLIER)
Reveeeeeenge. Let’s take a walk down narrative street and fire up Chris Paul, who was the catalyst behind the Thunder’s rise from 0.2% playoff prediction by ESPN’s Power Index, to a 44-28 record and the No. 5 seed in the West. With the exception of an overtime thriller early on in the bubble, Billy Donovan has limited Paul’s minutes leading up to the first round. But now, 33-36 minutes should be in the cards at a 23% usage rate. He can also spike an upside on the defensive end to really put the bow on this selection, and at a 1.4x multiplier, CP3 could really shine tonight.
GORAN DRAGIC (1.6X MULTIPLIER)
I expect him to be popular, but folks: this is good chalk. Dragic has not failed to reach 32 SuperDraft points once in his five bubble appearances, and now enters the starting rotation ahead of Kendrick Nunn. He could blow this slate out of the water with minutes into the 30s.
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JIMMY BUTLER (1.4X MULTIPLIER)
SuperDraft really likes Jimmy Butler because his multipliers are too high on a daily basis (and I’m just fine with that). He’s been somewhat limited in the bubble thus far, failing to exceed 33 minutes once in his four games. But that hasn’t slowed down his productivity one bit, exceeding 40 SuperDraft points in three of four (he was held out of the second half in the one he didn’t reach that mark). I see a big minutes uptick in a close game, which, I believe, makes him the best multiplier value on the slate.
SHAI GILGEOUS-ALEXANDER (1.5X MULTIPLIER)
There’s no denying it: Gilgeous-Alexander’s been bad in the bubble. However, he’s been a key cog for them all season, and in the playoffs you lean on your talent. With the smaller interior of the Rockets, there should be little resistance to stop SGA getting to the rim at will in this series. Add in his 23.2% usage rate on the year and minutes that should easily land in the 30s, I’m going back to the well.
NIKOLA VUCEVIC (1.2X MULTIPLIER)
With Aaron Gordon out, there’s an opportunity to capitalize on the only staple of the Orlando Magic offense. With Gordon off the floor this year, Vucevic’s usage rate spikes to 28.9% and a whopping 1.33 FP/Min. While Milwaukee poses a stout interior defensive presence with the Lopez twins, Vucevic is capable of overcoming that matchup. If Orlando can somehow keep it close–and by that I mean not a 20-point deficit at the end of the 3rd quarter — Vucevic has a big night in store.