NBA DFS Picks DraftKings + FanDuel Expert Lineup Building Strategy 3/23

Monday’s slate should have been a smash for me; Jaylen Brown and Sterling Brown became two of my highest-owned players as the news came rolling in fast and furiously after lock. Yet, like most nights in the past two weeks, I couldn’t get all the pieces together. It was frustrating to break even on a slate where late swap was such a huge edge, but mama said there’d be days like this. We go back to the drawing board, and I hope to find us some fire NBA DFS picks and strategies for this six-game main slate on DraftKings and FanDuel.

Be sure to check out the Slate Starter podcast, featuring yours truly and Rynpak, to get the first look at the slate and make NBA DFS picks for DraftKings and FanDuel!

NBA DFS Slate Starter: Picks & Strategy | March 23

The Tortoise and The Hare: NBA Edition

What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? Well, we are about to find out on Tuesday when the warp speed Wizards head to the Garden and face the Knicks, who are certainly the immovable object in this scenario. In fact, this matchup pits the team playing at the fastest pace in the league (Washington) against the team with the slowest pace in the league (New York). That said, we have become accustomed to the effect Tom Thibodeau’s team has on their opposition, resulting in game totals that almost always rank near the cellar of any given slate.

Well, that is until Tuesday, where the Knicks are somehow involved in a game currently sporting the second-highest total of the day (225.5). But that’s what the Wizards do, which makes the Knicks even more intriguing than normal. Their entire starting unit (plus Alec Burks) are some of the most reliable options to receive extended run in the NBA, and now the matchup couldn’t possibly be more favorable. Julius Randle and his absurd streak of play leaps off the page even more than normal, as his 1.28 DraftKings points per minute and 28.2% usage on the year should receive a boost in this spot. We will see if Derrick Rose returns Tuesday, but even still, Randle will be the unquestioned go-to on the offensive end.

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The rest of the Knicks could also be plug-and-plays depending on how injury news shakes out. Mitchell Robinson is questionable with a tweaked ankle, which could make Nerlens Noel at his depreciated price tags one of the best center plays on the slate. In addition to the aforementioned Rose, we also have Elfrid Payton‘s questionable status to wait on, so there is still so much yet to be determined with the Knicks backcourt. All I know is that, if they’re active, they’re most likely playable in your NBA DFS lineups.

Now on to the Wizards side, which could best be described as “Russell Westbrook or Bust” for me. Westbrook is just starting to hit his stride; over the past month, he is putting up an astronomical 1.56 DraftKings points per minute, which is further accompanied by 31.5% usage and a 48% assist rate. I have been doing everything I can to get overweight to Westbrook every slate for quite some time now, but today might be the first one where his price and matchup point me towards the exit sign. I will have to see where ownership is before I decide what to do with him, but at $10,800 on DraftKings and $11,100 on FanDuel, perhaps he could go a bit overlooked.

The rest of this cast is viable for large-field tournaments, but that’s about it. Bradley Beal has an upside in any spot, plus you’re getting a steep discount to roster him instead of Westbrook. But he is simply too scoring-dependent for me to prioritize in any meaningful way in such a subpar game environment by Wizards’ standards. Rui Hachimura has been my boy since head coach Scott Brooks called him out, but as I always tell Rynpak on the Slate Starter Podcast, “be first to the party and first to leave.” So despite 37 minutes in five consecutive outings, now might be a good time to hit eject. And lastly, Alex Len is a pure punt play that could work out if he reaches the 29-minute plateau like he did against the Nets on Sunday.

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Just. Play. The. Nets.

I’ll fully admit it: I buried the lede by not writing my first section about the Nets. I just thought the parallels in that Wizards – Knicks game made for a fun talking point, but I apologize for holding out on you. While that matchup carries the second-highest total on the slate, the highest-totaled one belongs to the Nets – Trail Blazers impending track meet (currently 236). I am expecting fantasy points on both sides of this matchup, and I am expecting them in bunches.

Even more importantly for NBA DFS purposes, I think I have a pretty good idea where they’re going to come from, and it’s almost all from the Nets side of the ball. Kyrie Irving is going to miss the next three games for personal reasons, and James Harden is questionable after taking a shot at the end of the first half of Sunday’s matchup. If he plays, he will be my highest-owned player of the slate. I am desperately hoping we get that news before lock, as waiting for the 10 p.m. EST tip-off will be a nerve-wracking experience otherwise.

If he becomes a true game-time decision, make sure you have some swaps in place. On DraftKings, for example, leaving $1,000 on the table to go down to Damian Lillard on DraftKings is certainly suboptimal. Make sure you have another roster spot open in order to optimize your lineups based on that news should it not break before lock. On FanDuel the process is always a bit more complicated, but with the 76ers – Warriors game tipping at the same time,, you will certainly have more plays to pivot on to.

Assuming Harden plays, Bruce Brown is going to be the second-highest-owned Nets player for sure. He could very well be the highest-owned play of the slate as things stand right now, but he will be even more of a lock should Harden sit. We have next to no sample with both Harden and Irving off the floor for this season, but trust me when I say a $4,200 Brown on DraftKings and $4,000 on FanDuel would become a free square in Harden’s absence.

[MARCHMADNESS]

Also available to roster for the Nets in this spot would be — and I don’t say this lightly — everyone else. Pricing wasn’t given the chance to adjust for Irving’s absence, so buckle up for a gigantic portion of this slate to be won or lost with the results of this shootout. Check out Awesemo’s ownership projections constantly, but no matter what they say, I find it almost impossible not to jam in an absurd amount of Brooklyn on Tuesday.

Final Thoughts for Your NBA DFS Lineups

We are going from an eight-game slate with no true spend-ups on Monday’s slate to a six-gamer with way too many of them to choose from on Tuesday. I think we already have enough viable value to jam in two to three of the expensive studs in every lineup, so prepare for more of the stars-and-scrubs builds we have grown accustomed to.
I love Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram just like I do every slate they are on. This is not the same Lakers team (obviously), as evidenced by the Pelicans opening as 6-point favorites, so get to more than you’d think of them both. But at this point for me, Williamson is the slight priority.
Just play Andrew Wiggins.

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Author

Eric Lindquist

Eric Lindquist hails from Sioux Falls, South Dakota (yes, that’s the one with Mount Rushmore). A steady diet of three SportsCenters a day at an early age led to his obsession with sports, one that 30 years later is paying dividends for him as a successful DFS player and sports bettor. Despite over half a million dollars in net career earnings, he’s most passionate about helping others achieve their financial goals, an energy you can witness on the daily in his current role as a host and analyst at Stokastic. He’s a former Division I golfer at Iowa State, wishes he was a former Minnesota sports fan, and is a proud father to a 100-pound Bernese Mountain dog named Duke that wishes he could just eat people food instead of the crap he and his wife feed him on the daily.