3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 4/4/18

Nikola Vucevic, C, Orlando Magic

DraftKings Salary: $8,300

While Aldridge is definitely the preferred cash game option among stud big men today, Nikola Vucevic is worth a long look in tournaments. There are several appealing bigs on this slate, and if paying for a high-upside tournament center, most will gravitate towards Hassan Whiteside at just $6,600. This should keep Vucevic's ownership down after a dud last night, which just adds to the tournament appeal.

To be clear, Vucevic should not be used in anything other than tournaments. His minutes were clearly down last night, and it wasn't just a product of the blowout. He played just 12 minutes in the first half, and with the game still within reach with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter (the time Vucevic normally re-enters the rotation), he remained on the pine. Maybe they were limiting his minutes on the front end of a back to back, or maybe there is something else going on. Orlando has just five games left, and Vucevic is a potential offseason trade candidate, so there is inherent risk built in with rostering him at any point from here on.

If Vucevic returns to the usual 30-plus minute load we saw him at in the four previous games, he could be in store for a monster performance tonight. He draws a Dallas Mavericks team that has struggled to contain opposing bigs all year, as they rank dead last in rebounding rate. Dallas will be without Nerlens Noel, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwight Powell, and Harrison Barnes, which leaves them drastically shorthanded in the frontcourt.

If Vucevic sees 30-plus minutes, it is tough to envision a scenario in which he doesn't have his way with a makeshift Dallas frontcourt. He put up 32 DraftKings points in just 20 minutes last night and is averaging an extremely impressive 1.48 DraftKings points per minute over the past week. The only limiting factor is Frank Vogel's unpredictable rotations.