FanDuel NBA Picks and DraftKings NBA Picks - Wednesday, 5/5/21

Woof! These last two weeks are going to be something! It's already been nuts with all the resting and random "injury" designations, and it's only going to get weirder from here on out. The good news is that we have a lot of information available ahead of this slate, so hopefully, we have a good grasp on how things will play out. We also had a big night on Tuesday behind Giannis Antetokounmpo, Delon Wright, and Hamidou Diallo, so let's build on that momentum.

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Point Guard

Delon Wright FD - $5200 DK - $5600
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 35.85 DK - 35.08

Wright was my favorite play of the day on Tuesday, and we're obviously going right back to him. He started at point guard with Tyrese Haliburton, Harrison Barnes, and De'Aaron Fox all out, posting one of the best all-around stat lines of the season. In fact, he finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and four blocks in that majestic performance, providing 55 fantasy points across 37 minutes of play. We talked about how much he stuffed the stat sheet in his time with Detroit, and this sort of game shows just how versatile he can be. Indiana has been terrible recently, too, allowing at least 130 points in three of their last four games.

Austin Rivers FD - $3600 DK - $3400
Opponent - NY
Proj Pts FD - 20.01 DK - 20.5

This play is obviously risky, but Rivers could play some big minutes here. We say that because of this injury report, with Jamal Murray, Will Barton, Monte Morris, and PJ Dozier all likely to sit here. That means Rivers could find himself as a starter which is no surprise when you see that he played 33 minutes on Monday. Any guy who can play at least 30 minutes below $4K is hard to avoid, especially with so much ball-handling missing from the lineup. That means all he needs is about 0.6 DK points per minute to be successful, and even the worst players in the league can do that.

Ben Simmons has fallen all the way down to $7K on both sites and could be a great bargain against a horrific Houston defense.

Shooting Guard

Caris Levert FD - $8400 DK - $8800
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 44.9 DK - 45.45

It's crazy that LeVert had a mass in his kidney when he was traded, and he's returned to this level of play. Since Indiana is playing without Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner, he's been asked to play a lot of point guard. That's led to the former Brooklyn guard scoring at least 43 DraftKings points in five of his last seven games, averaging 44 fantasy points per game in that span. That's the guy we saw when he filled in for Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving earlier this year, and Caris should continue that success in a matchup like this. Sacramento owns the worst defensive rating in the league, which happens to be the highest total on the slate.

Jordan Clarkson FD - $6500 DK - $7300
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 35.58 DK - 37.67

Clarkson is in a nightmarish shooting slump, but it's insane just how much usage he's getting right now. The big reason for the boost is the fact that Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley both remain out. Clarkson is flirting with a 30 percent usage rate with those two guys off the floor, averaging 18 shots and 31 minutes a night over his last 10 outings. He's also got a 30-point average in that span too, which is pretty insane since he's shooting just 38 percent from the field and 30 percent from three-point range in that span. If he can get hot, 40-50 fantasy points could be incoming.

Collin Sexton should take on more usage with Darius Garland out, which is awesome against a 29th-ranked Portland defense.

Small Forward

Buddy Hield FD - $7300 DK - $7700
Opponent - IND
Proj Pts FD - 32.64 DK - 34.89

We had Hield in this section on Tuesday, and he provided one of the first double-doubles of his career. That's really no surprise when you look at the injury report, with Fox, Haliburton, and Barnes all out right now. That leaves a ton on Buddy's shoulders, scoring at least 42 DK points in three of his last four games. More importantly, he has more rebounds and assists in that span than usual which is great news since he's also one of the best sharpshooters in the NBA. We already mentioned how bad Indiana's defense is right now, too, and it seems likely that all of these guys will have elite stat lines in what could be a 130-120 shootout.

Joe Ingles FD - $6000 DK - $6700
Opponent - SA
Proj Pts FD - 32.45 DK - 34.75

All the same things go for Ingles as they do for Clarkson. While JC has been coming off the bench, Ingles has actually been given the starting point guard job in Mitchell and Conley's absences. He's been fantastic in this role all season, averaging 32 DK points per game in his 23 starts this year. It's all a matter of touches, minutes, and shot attempts for Ingles, with all of those rising exponentially when those guys are sidelined. He's been brilliant against the Spurs this season, too, averaging 29 DraftKings points per game across 27 minutes a night in their two meetings this year.

Kevin Porter Jr will likely run the show for Houston again here.

Power Forward

Domantas Sabonis FD - $10300 DK - $10600
Opponent - SAC
Proj Pts FD - 49.63 DK - 52.09

This pricing seems pretty crazy, but it's even more insane how good this guy has been since his return. With Brogdon and Turner both out of the lineup, Sabonis has skyrocketed his rebounding and assist numbers. Over his last two games, he's averaging 29 points, 19 rebounds, 11.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game. Those are video game-like numbers, with Dom dropping at least 73 fantasy points in both of those gems. We've already talked about how the Kings have the worst defense in the NBA, too, making Sabonis impossible to avoid in this tasty game stack.

Marvin Bagley III (FD $6500 DK $5400)

There is some risk of Bagley sitting here in the second half of a back-to-back set, but the Kings really feed him out there. They're already missing all of the players we mentioned before, and it's left MB with a huge role. In his last two games, Bagley has 65 combined DraftKings points across 65 minutes of play. That's really all you can ask for from a guy sitting around $6K, especially with so many Sacramento players sitting. He obviously falls right in line with the rest of the players for this game stack, with Indiana surrendering the third-most fantasy points to opposing PFs this season.

Dont forget about Giannis Antetokounmpo with the way he's playing right now.

Center

Joel Embiid FD - $9600 DK - $10200
Opponent - HOU
Proj Pts FD - 56.93 DK - 59.01

It's weird that Embiid is outside the Top-5 in terms of pricing on both of these sites. He's been one of the most reliable players in the NBA, scoring at least 34 fantasy points in 43 of his 46 games this season. That's a heck of a floor, and it pairs beautifully with his 52-point average for the year. The best part of this play is the matchup, though. Houston currently ranks fifth in pace and 25th in defensive efficiency while owning a 27th OPRK against opposing centers. The only real risk here is blowout potential, but Embiid could drop 50-plus in just three quarters and could be the play of the day if this one stays close somehow.

Robert Williams III FD - $5400 DK - $5400
Opponent - ORL
Proj Pts FD - 31.27 DK - 29.07

Williams has been a per-minute beast throughout his career, and with his minutes on the rise, he needs to see that price creep up too. Over his last 20 games played, The Time Lord is averaging 32.1 DK points per game in 23 minutes a night. That's a scary total in such a low amount of playing time, and we love the fact that he's played at least 23 minutes in 11 of his last 13 games. All of that makes it hard to believe that he's just $5,400 on both sites because Rob-Will literally has 10X upside if he plays 30-plus minutes. Orlando is a bad defense right now, too, ranked 24th in defensive efficiency and trading off all their good players at the deadline.

If you have the salary, Nikola Jokic is obviously a great pick.

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