3 NBA DraftKings Studs to Target on 2/24/21
While building a daily fantasy basketball lineup, it's important to make sure you find the right studs to anchor your team. As the most expensive players in your lineup, they need big-time production to match their high salaries.
You may find it hard to fit some of these guys in while staying under the salary cap, but you can check out our projections to find value players for your rosters. Let's take a look at the top high-salaried DraftKings plays of the day.
Trae Young, PG, Atlanta Hawks
DraftKings Salary: $9,800
On Tuesday, the NBA All-Star game reserves were announced, and Trae Young was not among them. The third-year point guard missed out on a second straight nomination despite putting up similar numbers to a year ago -- just on fewer shots and three-point attempts. And while it's early, he has Atlanta on the fringes of a play-in spot in the Eastern Conference playoffs. You can bet that Young will be as motivated as ever to put up a big game.
He and the Hawks did play in Cleveland last night, but their opponent -- the Celtics -- was also on the road for the front end of a back-to-back. That means that they'll likely be without Kemba Walker, who played Tuesday and has been sitting out consecutive games. Young should draw rookie Payton Pritchard for the majority of the game, and that bodes well for his fantasy game.
Regardless of the one-on-one matchup, when Young has seen the C's this season he has taken full advantage of the green light. In two matchups, he's shot nearly 67% from the floor and just short of 44% from three in route to 35.5 points and 58.1 DraftKings points per game. Oh -- and he's coming into this evening red hot, shooting 62% from the floor and averaging 35.3 points a night over the last three.
Karl-Anthony Towns, C, Minnesota Timberwolves
DraftKings Salary: $9,700
Karl-Anthony Towns is another super-talented player who won't be in Atlanta for All-Star weekend festivities, but he won't do so for completely different reasons than Young. His season has been completely derailed due to injury and COVID to this point, and while his on-court production has been there he hasn't been a staple on most DFS slates.
Tonight, we get the chance to roster him in a very favorable road matchup. KAT's Minnesota Timberwolves will get to face off with the Chicago Bulls, who are 24th in the league in opponent points per game thanks in part to the league's third-fastest pace, according to NBA.com. On top of that, he should benefit from missing two key guys in Otto Porter and Lauri Markkanen.
With Minnesota boasting a 111.5 implied total in a game with a 227.5 over/under, Towns should have no problem stuffing the stat sheet. He has averaged 47.7 DK points per game on the year and an even better 53.2 across his previous three -- all three of which resulted in double-double performances and narrow Minnesota losses.
Jarrett Allen, C, Cleveland Cavaliers
DraftKings Salary: $7,700
Investing in two top centers might be the most efficient play tonight. There are a number of options at different salary points, but it's hard to ignore Jarrett Allen in his new role as a starter with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Since the Cavs decided to sit Andre Drummond in hopes of finding a trade destination for the 27-year-old, the even younger Allen has taken over as the starting center and seen a significant minutes bump as a result. In his three games as the unquestioned guy in the middle, he has turned 35 minutes a game into 19.7 points, 3 double-doubles, and an average of 46.3 fantasy points -- bringing his per-minute tally to 1.32. If he continues to operate at that pace, he would need to log just 29.2 minutes to meet five-times value in this spot.
This spot doesn't stick out at first glance, with Houston in the bottom half of FantasyPros' positional ranks against centers, yet the Rockets' defense is a shell of what it was early on. Christian Wood's absence has played a large role in that, but now they have opted for smaller lineups with DeMarcus Cousins on the out. Standing 6'11", Allen should feast against a starting frontcourt of 6'5" P.J. Tucker and 6'4" Jae'Sean Tate.
Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
