NBA DFS Projections Preview | DraftKings & FanDuel Lineup Optimizer Values 3/31/2022
We’re back with a five-game slate and the two teams on a back-to-back facing each other (ATL & CLE) so keep an eye out for their injury reports later today. Overall it’s looking like a pretty calm slate as far as injury news with just a handful of relevant questionable tags and some big names already ruled out. The highlight of the day for me is Giannis vs. Durant as that game is sitting at a 240 total which is the only game above 227 currently and it’s the closest spread at -1.5 in Brooklyn’s favor so it’s looking like we need to find some value to fit Giannis, Durant, and some other big names in that game.
This article is meant to highlight some of RG’s most helpful tools for NBA DFS, including our industry-leading NBA DFS projections and NBA lineup optimizer, with some picks and analysis along the way. Let’s get to it!
NBA DFS Projections Preview – Thursday, March 31st
NBA Starting Lineups – Early DFS Analysis
LeBron James is still absent on NBA Starting Lineups as he won’t play in Utah tonight. It’s the Lakers so they could go 100 different ways with their starting lineup but for now we’re projecting the same one they went with last game. There is serious blowout risk as 12.5 point underdogs but the Lakers will have some solid value today with Malik Monk and Stanley Johnson at the top of the list for me while Russell Westbrook always has crazy high upside when both James and AD are out and I’m loving his $8k price on FD.
The Jazz have a chance of getting Bojan Bogdanovic and Danuel House back with neither being in play for me if active while if both remain out we should see Juancho Hernangomez continue to start and be a decent value play. Trent Forrest will join Hassan Whiteside on the sidelines tonight so Jordan Clarkson could see a slight bump in minutes especially if this game gets out of hand early while Monroe and Paschall will help back up the C spot.
Danilo Gallinari could return while John Collins is still out indefinitely and Jalen Johnson remains in concussion protocol. Lou Williams is also now out with an ankle injury so Delon Wright will get most of his minutes. Cleveland will be without Evan Mobley for this road trip so look for Moses Brown to start for him again and be a decent value play on DK at $3,200 but not likely to see over 25 minutes.
Every other team is projected to have the same starters as their previous game for now but be sure to check the lineups page throughout the day as we get more injury news.
NBA DFS Key Injuries – The Situation Room Review
Very quiet right now in The Situation Room with Cory Joseph, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari and Bojan Bogdanovic being the biggest questionable tags currently. Look for Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot to start if Gallinari remains out while Juancho Hernangomez likely starts if Bojan sits again. With Lou Williams out Kevin Huerter and Delon Wright would be looking at a lot of minutes if Bogdan Bogdanovic ends up out. Killian Hayes should start if Cory Joseph ends up out and has an excellent DraftKings price of $4,300 while his $5,600 FanDuel price is definitely less appealing but he’d still be in play likely to see 30+ minutes.
UPDATE: Bojan Bogdanovic is IN. Bogdan Bogdanovic is IN. Danilo Gallinari is IN. Cory Joseph is IN
Wenyen Gabriel and Danuel House are the only other Q players currently with both of their minutes being absorbed by the plenty of available forwards LA and Utah have so them being in or out won’t affect this slate much for me.
UPDATE: Gabriel is IN. House is IN
Make sure to follow the RG NBA Twitter feed for all news related to injuries and lineups as well as our DFS Alerts page for any big news updates on players with instant analysis on how it affects their teams and the slate.
NBA DraftKings & FanDuel Lineup Optimizer Picks
With a good feel for the projected starting lineups as well as key injuries let’s check out LineupHQ, where you can create lineups in seconds with our lineup optimizer tool as well as the “build” tool where you can create up to 300 lineups at once based on your custom settings.
If we click on the “P/$” column header in the LineupHQ grid, it will rank all the available players from high to low based on their expected fantasy points per dollar of salary on the specific DFS site you have selected — this is one of the best starting points for finding value on any slate.
On FanDuel Caris LeVert has gone from $6,700 over two weeks ago to $5,200 today which doesn’t make any sense as he’s averaged around 35 MPG over his last three games and just put up over 40 FP yesterday. Lock him in and ride this salary tag until it skyrockets soon. With LeBron out last game Stanley Johnson saw 35 minutes scoring over 30 FP and his $4,500 price today is looking solid for that kind of minutes and upside. If you need some sub-$4k guys to help fit in Giannis and Durant I’d look at Ayo Dosunmu ($3,800) and Royce ONeale ($3,900) as both should see around 30 minutes which is hard to find in that price range. There are a lot of $7k-$8.5k guys I’m liking today too if you want a more balanced approach with guys like Rudy Gobert ($7,800), Nikola Vucevic ($7,700), Donovan Mitchell ($8,100), Cade Cunningham ($8,200), DeMar DeRozan ($8,300), Khris Middleton ($7,500), and Russell Westbrook ($8,000) all with 50+ FP upside and pretty safe floors. Other players on my radar right now include Mike Conley ($5,400), Clint Capela ($6,000), Malik Monk ($5,800), Brook Lopez ($4,700), and Lauri Markkanen ($5,700).
DraftKings has a couple of the same locks for me in Caris LeVert ($5,800) and Stanley Johnson ($3,800) while Moses Brown is $1,100 cheaper than FD and is a fine value option at $3,200 if he starts again. Keep an eye on Cory Joseph status as Killian Hayes has a great $4,300 price today and would be a popular play if he starts for Joseph. Brook Lopez is another dirt cheap center worth considering as he’s just $3,900 which is way too cheap for a guy in the highest projected game total today likely to see 28+ minutes. FanDuel has taken notice of Isaiah Hartenstein fantasy output of late as he’s $6,400 there but he is still just $5,100 on DK after putting up over 30 FP in four straight games off the bench and is a fine option if you’re not going Embiid and/or someone cheaper. Some other cheap DK guys to consider include Malik Monk ($5,500), Isaiah Stewart ($5,000), Kelly Olynyk ($3,500), Lamar Stevens ($3,500), Isaac Okoro ($3,900) and if Gallinari sits Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot ($3,100).
Keep checking LineupHQ as we learn more news and our minutes and projections change throughout the day as well as the ChangeLog which shows which projections were recently updated. The best p/$ plays could change in an instant if there’s a big injury that comes out of the blue, a questionable player gets ruled out, or we get a quote from a coach saying someone won’t see as many minutes or will see a lot more minutes than we were expecting earlier in the day as a few examples of many that can drastically change a slate.
NBA DFS – RotoGrinders Premium Tools Pre-Lock
If you have any tough last-minute decisions or need some quick picks, be sure to check out the Consensus Value Rankings, Expert Survey, and LineupHQ tags from our DFS experts.
For up-to-the-minute news and analysis leading right up to lock, make sure to watch NBA Crunch Time and follow the CourtIQ Live Blog later in the day.
Good luck today!
Image Credit: Imagn