DraftKings Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Thursday 3/11/21

With nine games to choose from on Thursday's slate -- which locks at 7:00 p.m. EST -- let's look at the top options across all five positions for NBA DFS.

Be sure to check out our projections, which are updated throughout the day as news breaks, and our other DFS tools such as advanced stats and a matchup heat map.

Here are some of the top plays on today's DraftKings slate. As always, good luck.

Point Guard

John Wall ($8,200) - As usual, there are a lot of good point guard options on this slate. But on a point-per-dollar basis, Wall looks like the best option. For starters, he and the Houston Rockets draw a Sacramento Kings that ranks 11th in pace and dead last in defensive rating, according to NBA.com. Wall also played 40 and 41 minutes in the two games going into the All-Star break, turning in 46.25 and 49.0 DraftKings points in the process. He should eat with some fresh legs under him.

Shake Milton ($5,300) - Tonight, the Philadelphia 76ers will be without the services of both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, who ended up missing the All-Star game as a result of contact tracing and will remain out while quarantined. On the road against the Sixers, Milton will be one of the few guys to step up in their absences. According to NBA Wowy, when the two stars have been off the floor, he has averaged a cool 1.07 DK points per minute on a massive 30.4% usage rate. He went for 24 points and 34.75 DK points in his only start this season.

Shooting Guard

Paul George ($8,500) - George is in that spot salary-wise where you have to consider playing him in both tournament and cash games. Not only is he averaging 43 DK points, or a hair above his salary-implied output here, but -- according to NBA Finals odds -- the Los Angeles Clippers are favored by seven on their home floor against the Golden State Warriors. PG and the Clips should also take advantage of the Warriors playing at a pace 5.3 possessions faster than they are accustomed to. Feel confident locking him in at your shooting guard slot.

Bruce Brown Jr. ($5,800) - Even with Brooklyn boasting three of the league's top players, Brown has found himself the talk of the NBA podcast world of late. Stepping in with Kevin Durant injured over the last nine games, the third-year guard has averaged 12.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 25.2 DK points. In limiting that sample to his last five, he has popped off to the tune of 19 points a game and, with his peripherals attached, 33.4 DK points across 29.2 minutes. He should have no problem with a Boston team ranked 25th in defensive rating in the final 10 games before the break.

Small Forward

Norman Powell ($7,200) - Next to the Sixers, the Toronto Raptors are the team missing the most on Thursday night. Spilling over from their pre-break COVID and contact tracing, they will be missing OG Anunoby, as well as Fred VanVleet, Malachi Flynn, Patrick McCaw, and Pascal Siakam. That means more of Powell, who converted an elevated 27.3% usage rate into 30.5 points and 42.6 DK points in the last two games for Toronto. That's well above what he needs to return five-times value at this salary, particularly against the Atlanta Hawks and their 23rd rated defense.

Bogdan Bogdanovic ($3,500) - Speaking of the Hawks, they are favored on the road down in Tampa Bay, but who can you rely on outside of Trae Young, John Collins, and Clint Capela? Without Cam Reddish and De'Andre Hunter, it figures to be Bogdanovic, who returned to play only two games before the break. Yet, he was able to play both ends of the back-to-back, logging 16 and 20 minutes for an average of 14.3 DK points. There's little value to be had on this slate so opting for Bogie could be huge for GPP lineups.

Power Forward

Zion Williamson ($9,300) - Zion didn't do much to impress in his first All-Star appearance, so the narrative could be there for him to show out in his first game of the second half. But outside of that, the matchup and his recent play are primary reasons to prioritize him versus Minnesota. While the second-year stud hit at least 44 DK points in 9 of his last 10 showings, the Wolves are giving up 47.2 DK points per game to the position, according to FantasyPros. They are 25th in defensive rating and 28th in opponent scoring.

Tobias Harris ($8,100) - Harris will be the primary beneficiary of the situation in Philadelphia. When both Embiid and Simmons have been off the floor this season, he has upped all of his DK points per minute, usage rate and rebound rate from 1.01, 19.3% and 10.8% to 1.21, 30.6% and 11.8%, respectively. Taking on a Chicago squad that allows the sixth-most points per game and 46.1 DK points per game to power forwards, he should and will be a popular play across all formats.

Center

Chris Boucher ($6,500) - You might not have to, but if you are choosing between Powell and Boucher for your Raptors play, it would be wise to go with the latter. The fourth-year big man has proven to be valuable when given the minutes this season. He's been asked to play a lot of power forward minutes in the stead of Siakam, and in doing so he's flourished. In the last three, he's averaged 18.3 and 32.9 DK points in 29.3 minutes a game. Boucher has averaged 1.24 DK points per minute on the year and is primed for a good night against Atlanta.

Dwight Howard ($5,300) - Stacking Sixers might be the way to go tonight. Down low, Howard should lead the way with 25 to 30 minutes in a starter's role -- something he's done four times to this point in the season. Outside of a blowout in which he logged 15 minutes, he averaged 27.2 minutes in route to 26.9 DK points thanks to two double-digit rebound games and a double-double. The Bulls are better at rebounding than they were a year ago, but they still rate eighth-worst versus opposing centers.

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 authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.