This article aims to highlight some of the best NBA DFS Plays at every position for your cash game lineups. Keep in mind that the following player write-ups were constructed earlier in the day, and sometimes injury/rest situations can alter the fantasy landscape. Monitoring our NBA News & Headlines Feed throughout the day will keep you in the loop while giving you the subsequent DFS consequences of each information piece.
We’ll take a look at Saturday’s four-game slate starting at 2:00 ET. Note that Yahoo is running a series of Showdown slates with no four-game main slate today.
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POINT GUARD
Luka Doncic – Dallas Mavericks (at LA Clippers) – DK: $10,500 / FD: $10,000 / Yahoo: $51
The playoffs are all about the stars, which makes DFS tough. The sites, especially FanDuel, have flattened salaries a little bit, which should encourage a good amount of lineup diversity. Since Yahoo is doing only single-game contests today, I’m going to highlight my favorite star at each position, then give some ideas for value below. Doncic is the easy pick for me at PG. More is going to be required of him to be successful in this round than any other star, except maybe Nikola Jokic. Although the Clippers are decent home favorites (minus-5) and a top defensive team, Doncic has put up remarkably good numbers against them. In three games vs. LA this season, he’s averaged 63 fantasy points per game with 30 real points, 11 assists and two steals per game.
Also Consider: Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, Kyrie Irving
For Value: Monte Morris/Facundo Campazzo, Goran Dragic
SHOOTING GUARD
CJ McCollum – Portland Trail Blazers (at Denver) – DK: $7,900 / FD: $7,500 / Yahoo: $31
This is the game I’m most looking forward to watching, though they should all be good. Vegas has it as the closest, with the Nuggets favored by just one point at home. These two closed out the regular season against each other, in decisive win by Portland over a Denver team that hardly played its starters. McCollum doesn’t have the same upside as Lillard, but also doesn’t break the bank today. He’s scored a very consistent 24-28 points per game recently, with a few typical peripherals. He isn’t a player who will likely be a tournament winner, but he should be very solid for the price.
Also Consider: James Harden, Paul George
For Value: Donte DiVincenzo, Tyler Herro
SMALL FORWARD
Jimmy Butler – Miami Heat (at Milwaukee) – DK: $8,400 / FD: $8,800 / Yahoo: $42
Miami gets the faster-paced Bucks, which is always an advantage for an aggressive player like Butler. On paper, the Bucks are the more generous defensive team, and they have Top 10 DvP to SG and SF. This will be his first real game back in a while as he was dealing with a sore back for a couple of games before sitting out the last two regular season tilts. He claims he’s ready to go, and he will certainly be needed to keep Miami in the playoffs. When he’s on his game, he’s got triple-double potential and that’s what I’m expecting in a high-usage role tonight.
Also Consider: Kevin Durant, Michael Porter, Jr.
For Value: Dorian Finney-Smith
POWER FORWARD
Jayson Tatum – Boston Celtics (at Brooklyn) – DK: $10,100 / FD: $10,000 / Yahoo: $45
Speaking of high usage, Tatum has been instrumental for the Celtics with Jaylen Brown out. He’s coming off a monster 50-point effort in the play-in win over Washington, and has just generally been crushing it over the past couple weeks. A matchup with Brooklyn isn’t easy, especially as we’ve so rarely seen all three stars play together in a meaningful setting (one reason I’m not hyping any of the Nets’ big three today), but Tatum is matchup-proof. This should be an up-tempo game and if Tatum can disrupt and create like he has been, he’s in for another huge night. You’re choosing between him and Giannis Antetokounmpo here, which is a tough, tough choice. Similar to what I said about Luka above, I think Tatum has to be The Guy for Boston, whereas Milwaukee can fall back on Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton if necessary, giving a slight edge to Tatum for me.
Also Consider: Giannis Antetokounmpo
For Value: Trevor Ariza
CENTER
Nikola Jokic – Denver Nuggets (vs. Portland) – DK: $10,600 / FD: $10,700 / Yahoo: $53
Keeping with the theme, you have to imagine that Denver will go the way of Jokic in these playoffs. Jamal Murray had some amazing takeover games in the bubble playoffs, but Denver is struggling to find consistent backcourt production without him. As a result, the bulk of the work falls to Jokic and Michael Porter Jr., which is good for us. Jokic only played a few minutes last Sunday vs. Portland, but still kept up his crazy almost two fantasy points per minute pace. There’s no player I believe in more tonight.
Also Consider: Jusuf Nurkic, Bam Adebayo
For Value: Tristan Thompson
ADDITIONAL NOTES
Monte Morris (G – DEN) or Facundo Campazzo? That could be one of the big questions tonight. Both are super cheap and one of them should stake their claim on this playoff series. We know Portland is a traditionally great guard matchup, so there is incentive to save with this spot. Morris is significantly less expensive on all three sites, with FanDuel having the smallest margin between the two guards. I think either is a safe play, with Campazzo probably having the higher upside of the two.
Dorian Finney-Smith (F – DAL) is not an exciting play, but as noted above, Dallas has one star (and maybe a half with Kristaps Porzingis hopefully up to speed) to rely on vs. the Clippers. That’s not going to be a winning formula unless he uses the defensive draw to create for guys like DFS. Finney-Smith can be a dangerous three-point shooter and I think Dallas should use that to make LA pay for doubling Doncic. He’s hit seven threes in his last two games, but there is always the risk of him running cold. Luckily, he’s cheap enough and plays enough that he isn’t going to tank your lineups and could provide a significant spark.
Tristan Thompson (C – BOS) is looking likely to carry the load alongside Tatum in the Celtics frontcourt tonight. Robert Williams is listed as questionable but did not practice Thursday or Friday, which at least suggests he’ll be less than 100 percent tonight. Thompson is a reliable rebounder and modest scorer, even in the time share, so if you need to save at center, he’s my high-floor pick.
Donte DiVincenzo (G – MIL) got hit with a late scratch on Sunday, but it probably had more to do with the Nets’ earlier win than his great toe. At any rate, he had been playing really well down the stretch and has had a week to rest the questionable toe, so I expect him back at it with his usual 30-ish MPG. He’s quietly been stuffing the stat sheet lately, averaging over 30 fantasy points per game since May 4. For the price, he could be a solid stash in tonight’s lineups.