Today is the last Sunday of regular season basketball for this season and all but one playoff spot has been clinched, the last seed in the Western Conference. The last spot is being fought over by the Grizzlies and the Suns, with the Grizzlies currently holding the eighth seed.
For today’s article there will be no players from the early game between the Pacers and the Thunder so that this article will be relevant for those of you sleeping in today. If you have not signed up on FanDuel.com yet you should stop missing out and click that link over there to the right. This will also give you a 100% deposit bonus on your initial deposit on FanDuel.com
Point Guard:
Star – Stephen Curry, $8,800: The Warriors clinched their playoff birth with a win over the Lakers in their last game but are still battling for position with the Trail Blazers, the team they play tonight. Damian Lillard is not a talented defender and Curry is currently on fire scoring 57.2, 47.4 and 58 fantasy points in his last three games.
Stud – Mike Conley, $7,200: The Grizzlies still have not clinched their playoff spot leaving them in a must win situation versus the Lakers tonight. The Lakers play some horrific defense and are the second worst team in the NBA this season in defensive efficiency versus opposing point guards.
Scrub – DJ Augustin, $6,000: Augustin is the player in Chicago no one is talking about but he has been a big contributor to the Bulls success this season. He packs a nice scoring punch and even though he comes off the bench he still sees around 30 minutes a night. Over the last eight games played he has averaged 31.1 fantasy points a game.
Shooting Guard:
Star – Wesley Matthews $5,500: Shooting guard is an interesting position tonight with the most expensive player being Jimmy Butler at $6,500. For this reason it will be good to save some money here tonight and squeeze in a few higher priced studs at other positions. Matthews has scored 25(24.8)+ fantasy points in five of his last six games and gets a nice high scoring matchup versus the Warriors tonight.
Stud – Arron Afflalo, $5,500: Afflalo comes in at the same price as Matthews tonight. He carries a bit more upside, but also has been a lot less consistent recently. The good news is the last time the Magic played the Nets on April ninth Afflalo scored 25 points with 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
Scrub - Iman Shumpert, $3,800: In three of the Knicks last four games Shumpert has scored 20+ fantasy points, which is more then enough to pay off his near minimum price salary.
Small Forward:
Star – Nicolas Batum, $7,300: The matchup for Batum tonight may not be the prettiest on paper but the Warriors versus Trail Blazers game is going to be one of the most high scoring games of the evening making for some daily fantasy basketball gold. Batum’s ability to contribute to multiple stat categories allows him to rack up fantasy points in a hurry and he has at least 35 fantasy points scored in four of his last five games.
Scrub – James Johnson, $3,900: Johnson gets a nice bump in upside tonight if Tayshaun Prince is out once again, but in a matchup versus the Lakers he makes a decent play either way.
Scrub - Andrei Kirilenko, $3,500: With the various injuries to the Nets Kirilenko has emerged in the daily fantasy basketball world once again by becoming a minimum priced play in a stars and scrubs lineup. Do not have lofty expectations for AK47, but on 20+ minutes he will be able to pay off his salary.
Power Forward:
Star – Zach Randolph, $7,200: As mentioned with Conley, the Grizzlies need this win tonight. The Lakers are competing with the 76ers to be the worst team in the NBA versus opposing power forwards and Randolph will help them on their quest tonight.
Stud – Jordan Hill, $6,100: Not for the timid, but the upside is incredible. Pau Gasol is out tonight and Chris Kaman is questionable. If Kaman plays Hill becomes a high-risk yet high reward play. If Kaman sits you can roll out Hill into your daily fantasy basketball lineups with quite a bit more confidence in his minutes.
Scrub - Miles Plumlee, $4,600: Surprisingly enough Plumlee has been a fantastically consistent value play recently. He has scored 20+ fantasy points in six of his last eight games and the matchup versus the Magic is a good one.
Center:
Star – DeMarcus Cousins, $10,200: My top play of the day is quite easily Cousins. He has scored 50+ fantasy points in each of his last two games and the beat up, undersized Timberwolves frontcourt is not going to slow him down tonight.
Stud – Gorgui Dieng, $6,000: Although it has not been officially announced yet it looks as though Nikola Pekovic is done for the season, which will keeps Dieng’s value in tact for the last couple games. His price is still at an incredible discount for his recent production and if you cannot fit Cousins into your lineup he makes a solid play.
Scrub – Kyle O’Quinn $5,200: In O’Quinn’s last four games he has scored 30+ fantasy points in three of them with the only under 30 point game being a 29.1 fantasy point game. You should probably pay for Cousins, but if you want to be cheap he will help you out.
Good luck tonight. Be sure to follow both @eDraftSports and me @Cui2iousGeoi2ge