March Madness starts today and a lot of people’s brackets will inevitably be busted almost immediately. At least that’s how it goes for me most years, but let’s not worry about that right now. When March Madness goes awry NBA DFS will be here for the rebound! We have a small five-game slate here so fewer options are available than usual. #1 piece of advice as always is to be up to date on injuries, as the info in this article will only be up to date as of Tuesday night. Value is rough right now and you’re going to have to play some mid range players that aren’t ideal.
Let’s get down to it. Pricing is always (Fanduel/DraftKings). I mostly play tournaments and my picks will always bias towards volatility and upside.
Guards
Spend ups ($9k and over)
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander ($10,600/$9,600)
SGA is the only high priced guard I’d want to spend up on here. He’s not in a stellar matchup, but he’s in his home country, if you want the narrative, and the Thunder need every win they can get right now to stay in the playoff race.
Middle-to-High (7k-8.9k)
Jamal Murray ($8,200/7,500)
I like this matchup against the Pistons for Murray. Murray has been off the last two games and can use this matchup against a trash dumpster team to get back on track. If you find yourself a few $s short of affording Murray on DK you can also play Chris Paul at a similar price. On FD I’d play Murray, as he’s slightly cheaper and I like his ceiling more.
Middle ($5k-6.9k)
Markelle Fultz ($7,000/$6,400)
Not crazy about playing him, but if your build works out with a guard in this range he has a good floor for his price and a decent ceiling.
Value Town (Under $5k)
No one playable with the current injury news.
Forwards
Spend ups ($9k and over)
Giannis Antetokounmpo ($12,000/$12,000)
He’s expensive but it’s Giannis against the Pacers. It’s going to be tough to get up to him on this slate, but if you can reasonably get there he has the highest raw points potential along with Jokic.
Middle-to-High (7k-8.9k)
Paolo Banchero ($7,800/$7,600)
The matchup isn’t amazing, but I like Paolo the most for the forwards in this range.
Middle ($5k-6.9k)
Aaron Gordon ($6,700/$6,200)
I like Gordon for the same reason I like Jamal Murray. The Pistons are barely an NBA team at the moment and Gordon should be able to take advantage of the matchup.
Value Town (Under $5k)
Keegan Murray ($5,400/$4,100)
He’s an option on FD, but I like him a lot more on DK. He’s just too cheap even though his minutes have been up and down recently.
Centers
Spend ups ($9k and over)
Nikola Jokic ($12,200/$11,600)
He’s expensive as usual, but he has the highest upside on the slate alongside Giannis.
Domantas Sabonis ($10,200/$10,100)
If you can’t get all the way up to Jokic, Sabonis is a nice consolation prize at a more palatable price point.
Middle-to-High (7k-8.9k)
Don’t love anyone in this range on this slate. I’m going to be going for a spend up or salary relief.
Middle ($5k-6.9k)
Isaiah Jackson ($6,000/$5,400)
This is only an injury play, if Myles Turner is out Jackson is in play here as the presumed starter. Note Jackson is a PF on FD.
Value Town (Under $5k)
Jaylin Williams ($5,500/$3,800)
Massive price discrepancy between sites here. I’d only play him on DK, he’s way too expensive on FD.
