Main Slate Breakdown for NBA DFS 04/15:
Apr 9, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Paul George (13) runs down court after a three point basket against the Sacramento Kings in the second half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Welcome to another year of the DFS Army NBA Full Court Press! Members had a ton of success using the Full Court Press along with various articles and tools that DFS Army provides last season, so we are glad to be back with another year of the all-inclusive article. You have to start your research somewhere, and oftentimes going game by game and breaking down every matchup and its key players is the first step in our process. My name is Mike aka @MadnessDFS on Twitter, make sure to give me a follow as I’ll occasionally make updates to the advice in the article. But, you’ll mostly find me in our VIP coaching forums where I provide detailed lineup maneuvers and answer all lineup questions. With that said, let’s get it started!
Atlanta Hawks @ Cleveland Cavaliers
Vegas Total: 223.0
Vegas Spread: Atl -2.5
Before I get started with this game I just want to touch on the playoffs being much much much different than we’re used to seeing over the past couple of weeks. If you played the last two NBA slates, you’ll notice that value diminishes as rotations tighten up. A lot of times it will take the public longer to adjust to this, so the sooner we can get ahead of that, the better. We’ll start with the Hawks, Trae Young had a really rough shooting night in that opening game against the Hornets, but he is a guy I have no issue going right back to here. He’s averaging 52.5 DraftKings points per game in four games against the Cavs this season and I don’t expect him to shoot 1-7 from three-point range again in this one. Clint Capela was huge for Atlanta last time out and would expect he’s right back over that 30-minute mark again here against a big Cavs frontcourt. Bogdan Bogdanovic comes into this one as questionable, but I fully expect him to play – keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed for updates surrounding him. He’s a fine GPP option off of the bench here. De’Andre Hunter and Danilo Gallinari both played well in that Charlotte game as well and are guys I’ll go back to as mid-range forward options. Then we can round this rotation out with guys like Onyeka Okongwu and Delon Wright who will play around 15-20 minutes if you’re really desperate for value. From the Cavs, it sounds like Jarrett Allen is going to give it a go which will be a huge addition to their frontcourt. I don’t know that I would expect him to play his full minutes, but around 30 minutes isn’t out of the question and would make sense as a tournament option to get different on a two-game slate. Evan Mobley got back up to the 35 minute per game mark and will look like a nice option in this one. Darius Garland is a guy I like quite a bit here, this Hawks team isn’t great on defense, and the addition of Allen will take some attention off of him in that backcourt. I would still consider Caris LeVert more of a tournament option but it’s pretty clear the minutes will be there for him after playing 40 minutes in game one. His production is just a bit too volatile for me to love for cash games, that being said, it’s a two-game slate so I won’t fault you for going to him. Then we get to the frontcourt where I think we leave Lauri Markkanen as your cash option and have Kevin Love as a GPP option due to the minutes’ volatility. That being said, I would imagine we see those minutes tighten up a bit now that it’s do-or-die time. Lastly, Isaac Okoro will start in that SF spot, he’s not a great per minute guy but the minutes will be there for him if you need a salary saver, we could see him lose some minutes with Allen back as well. Then, Rajon Rondo played 26 minutes in game one and looks like he’ll be in the playoff rotation a good amount and looks like a solid value option.
5-star play: Trae Young, Clint Capela, Darius Garland
4-star play: Bogdan Bogdanovic, Danilo Gallinari, De’Andre Hunter, Evan Mobley, Caris LeVert, Lauri Markkanen, Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo
Deeper Value: Rajon Rondo, Isaac Okoro, Onyeka Okongwu, Delon Wright
GPP Sleeper: Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert, Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, Onyeka Okongwu, Delon Wright
Quick shoutout to VIP member “Cenzamatic” on a massive $20k win late in the NBA season! Sometimes paying up for double studs works, and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kevin Durant brought it home for him with the help of some Stanley Johnson and Pistons value. Good work and congrats man!
New Orleans Pelicans @ Los Angeles Clippers
Vegas Total: 215.5
Vegas Spread: Lac -4.0
Starting with the Pelicans, CJ McCollum had a big night in game one and was looking to score early, and often, I have no issue going right back to him in this spot. Jonas Valanciunas bounced back in a big way last time out and is averaging 45.2 DraftKings points in four games against the Clippers this season. Brandon Ingram was fine last time out but would be more of a secondary option for me, he just feels like he’s priced right where he should be. I do think Herbert Jones will look like a nice mid-range value again, he’s going to play all the minutes he can handle, as he’s their best defender so he should have no issue running into some fantasy points. Jose Alvarado kept it rolling last time out as well and looks like a fine value option here, he’s played at least 22 minutes in four straight games and has at least 20 fantasy points in each of those games. We only saw 14 minutes from Larry Nance Jr. in game one, so I don’t know how crazy I want to go on him in this spot. From the Clippers, Luke Kennard comes in as questionable, but the rest of this team should be a go tonight – just keep an eye on the Breaking News Feed for news on Kennard, but I’m not sure we’ll even need him at this price on this slate. Paul George will look great to me here, he’s going to play all the minutes he can handle and now has at least 57 DraftKings points in back-to-back games, and the matchup looks great. George has a 33.7% usage rate and 1.32 fantasy points per minute on the season, so if he’s going to continue seeing around 40 minutes he’ll look like a great option in a win-or-go-home game. We can finally go back to guys like Reggie Jackson and Marcus Morris with comfort knowing they won’t randomly put them on minutes restrictions. I do think these guys take a bit of a hit with Norman Powell back, however. Powell played 27 minutes last time out which was good to see… but definitely underproduced. That said, I have no issue going right back to him here and would expect minutes around that 30 number again. They’re going to need to throw the kitchen sink at Valanciunas similar to how they held Towns down. Ivica Zubac is the guy you’ll want in this frontcourt moving forward as we saw just 7 minutes from Isaiah Hartenstein. They’ll do some funky things with Morris, Nic Batum, and Robert Covington at the five as well. Then we should see them round this rotation out with guys like Nicolas Batum, Terance Mann, and some Robert Covington who would all look like secondary options here.
5-star play: Paul George, Jonas Valanciunas
4-star play: CJ McCollum, Brandon Ingram, Herbert Jones, Reggie Jackson, Norman Powell, Marcus Morris, Ivica Zubac
Deeper Value: Jose Alvarado, Nic Batum
GPP Sleeper: Jose Alvarado, Larry Nance Jr., Nic Batum, Robert Covington
NBA Lock of the Day: Paul George (DK – $10.0k; FD – $10.2k)
I’m just going to go right back to the well with PG13 in this one. He’s going to play around 40 minutes which is going to give him a great floor and ceiling as we’ve seen over the past two games where he’s scored at least 57 DraftKings points in each game. We’ll have to find some value pieces to make him work, but check out our cheat sheets, I think we’ll have some for ya! At this point in the day, I would think he makes my core, but check out our VIP Cheat Sheets as we get closer to lock for staff picks on Core plays, 8x locks of the day, and tiers notes as well!
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