NBA DFS Projections: Best DraftKings and FanDuel Picks - Tuesday, March 1st
Hello Grinders, we have a six-game slate on this Tuesday night. We’ll go through the top NBA DFS picks on both DraftKings and FanDuel, highlighting key plays using data from our RotoGrinders Premium tools.
NBA DFS, DraftKings Projections and Picks
Daniel Gafford – It’s odd to start this article with a punt center that’s $3,600 on DraftKings, but Gafford stands out as a strong option in both cash games and tournaments due to his cheap price tag and starting role. Since he’s overtaken Thomas Bryant as the team’s starting center, Gafford has produced games of 30.5 DKFPs and 24.25 DKFPs. On tap for tonight is a matchup against the Detroit Pistons, who rank 25th in defensive efficiency in the league. Our early morning projections have Gafford as the highest projected owned player on DraftKings by a wide margin, and the player with the highest RG Value and Smash Percentage. If you’re curious how every other player ranks in comparison to Gafford, be sure to sign up for the RotoGrinders Premium projections.
Luka Doncic – It’s a bit scary to invest $12,000 into a single player on this slate, but Luka Doncic might be worth it. He’s coming off back-to-back 50+ fantasy outings and is just four games removed from his 80+ DKFP performance. In fact if you’re paying up for anyone today, Doncic has to be the clear choice as his ceiling projection (79.74) is higher than the next projected player by a whopping 13 fantasy points (Kyle Kuzma at 66.41). The Mavericks are actually road favorites here, and assuming LeBron James does suit up and play through his knee discomfort, this game should remain relatively close. That would be good news for Doncic, as a close game would help him stay on the court and give him a better chance at achieving that ceiling score.
NBA DFS, FanDuel Projections and Picks
Scottie Barnes – All eyes will be on the status of Fred VanVleet, who missed last night’s game due to knee discomfort. It’s hard to trust Nick Nurse as VanVleet was downgraded to doubtful a few nights ago, only to end up starting. We got news this morning that both Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby are now questionable. If both can’t go, that’s good news for the rest of the Raptors, especially Scottie Barnes. Barnes is coming off a massive 66.2 FanDuel point performance, is only $5,500 and carries SF and PF eligibility. I find Barnes slightly more appealing on FanDuel at $5,500 than his $6,000 price tag on DraftKings. Even with Fred VanVleet listed in early morning projections, Barnes still projects as the top RG Value option on FanDuel at both the SF and PF positions. If VanVleet is ruled out and removed from projections, those value scores should shoot up even more. Make sure you stay on top of the news with RotoGrinders alerts and our news page.
Kevon Looney – While Daniel Gafford stands out as a strong center option on DraftKings, I do like Looney on FanDuel where he’s $100 cheaper than Gafford. Looney isn’t someone we normally target but given the matchup against Karl-Anthony Towns and the Timberwolves, his size will be needed tonight as the Warriors remain without Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, Klay Thompson, James Wiseman and potentially Nemanja Bjelica in a #revenge game (he’s questionable as of this writing). We’ve started to see a higher floor lately for Looney, as he’s produced 30+ fantasy point performances in two of his last three games. Also noteworthy is that in Looney’s three matchups this season against Minnesota, he’s played at least 24 minutes in all three outings and he did drop 40.9 FanDuel points against KAT and company in their Novemeber matchup.
Reggie Jackson – With Paul George, Norman Powell and Kawhi Leonard still on the sidelines, Jackson has taken it upon himself to carry this Clippers offense lately. Jackson is only $7,000 on FanDuel (compared to $8,200 on DraftKings), so he’s much more appealing on this site. Jackson just dropped 40.8 FanDuel points against the Rockets last game and gets to feast on them again tonight. The Clippers have a 117.75 team total as of this writing, largest among any team on this slate. We’ll need to monitor the status of Kevin Porter, who remains questionable for the Rockets. If he’s ruled out again, Jackson would likely be facing Dennis Schroder again, whose defense isn’t something I’d be scared of. The CourtIQ data with all of George/Powell/Leonard off the court this season shows Jackson owns a team-high 30.2% usage rate and has averaged 0.98 fantasy points per minute. In two games after the All-Star break, he’s seen his average minutes per game shoot up to 35.5, way higher than his season average of 31.0 so the team has been riding him harder lately.
Image Credit: Imagn