Deron Williams and Wednesday Night’s Top NBA DFS Picks

Big NBA Wednesday is back, as the NBA bestows a welcoming 10-game slate upon us after a mild six-game Tuesday night.

Our daily fantasy basketball picks from last night largely panned out, specifically with John Wall dropping 52 points and others such as Hassan Whiteside and our favorite play of the night, Gordon Hayward, also worked out nicely.

Tonight is a bit different, as we have a slew of games and a lot to consider. There is one insane game to take a look at, with the Clippers and Warriors squaring off in the final game of the night. That could be an intense one (Vegas gives it a -4.5 spread) and naturally could be a fun one to target in NBA DFS contests.

There is a lot of interesting action across the slate, of course, as James Harden, LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo – just to name a few – will all be hitting the hardwood.

If you want the big name studs, you’ll need to find spots to save at top DFS sites like DraftKings and FanDuel. We’ve been digging the superior salary savings at FD lately, so let’s stick with them as we try to uncover some cheap gems that could potentially help you win big in daily fantasy basketball GPP contests on Wednesday night:

Point Guard

• Deron Williams – Mavericks ($5.9k)
• Marcus Smart – Celtics ($4.7k)
• Brandon Jennings – Knicks ($4.1k)
• Terry Rozier – Celtics ($4.1k)

There is no Russell Westbrook tonight, but you still might want to spend up for at least one point guard, as Chris Paul, Stephen Curry and Damian Lillard all suit up on Wednesday.

You can stack elite point guards, or save at one spot, and if you do that, one good place to start is with D-Will. The 32-year old veteran is still very useful when healthy and right now he’s 100% and rocking for Dallas. He’s dished out a ridiculous 28 assists over his last two games and with Seth Curry and J.J. Barea both still sidelined, he’ll be locked into a huge role again tonight.

The beauty with Williams is he hasn’t even erupted as a scorer yet, and in a home matchup against the Kings, that’s certainly plausible tonight.

There is even added value, as Boston point guard Isaiah Thomas is out tonight and Knicks point guard Derrick Rose could also sit out after getting hurt last night.

That puts Smart and Rozier in play for the Celtics and Jennings in play for the Knicks. Smart is probably the best overall play here, as he was locked into 25-30 minutes nightly even before Thomas got hurt, so whether he starts or not, he’ll play a good amount and probably see a bigger offensive role than usual.

Rozier could end up starting, but his price is a little inflated for my liking. I’d rather pay up for Smart or just pay the same amount for Jennings. Jennings has been terrific as a backup this year and could be licking his chops at an opportunity for a big role in big minutes against the Cavs,

Deron Williams is our favorite play, but all of these guys could offer solid value and upside in NBA DFS GPP tourneys.

Shooting Guard

• Will Barton – Nuggets ($6k)
• Wayne Ellington – Heat ($4.3k)
• Tim Hardaway Jr. – Hawks ($3.8k)
• Jamal Crawford – Clippers ($3.8k)

Will Barton remains a fantastic value as he faces an awful Nets defense tonight. He’s been shredding in 30+ minutes a night since returning from injury, and he hasn’t scored fewer than 17 actual points in the three games since he’s gotten back.

Brooklyn is terrible in general, but they specifically struggle against shooting guards. Jamal Murray possibly being out or limited tonight would only help Barton’s cause.

These other guys are mostly DFS fodder, but Tim Hardaway Jr. gets the start with Kent Bazemore banged up and if he gets hot he could be a gem GPP play. The downside, of course, is he doesn’t do anything besides score the ball.

The same goes for Ellington and Crawford, as they can get hot pretty easily, but you probably need a huge game out of them for them to pay off in tournaments. That being said, Miami is beaten up with injuries, which is giving Ellington well over 30 minutes and a big role right now.

Crawford’s argument is different, as he has a solid 20+ minute role no matter what happens, but if you use him you’re really banking on the Warriors blowing out the Clippers. If that happens, he could spend the entire fourth quarter jacking up shots.

Small Forward

• Danilo Gallinari – Nuggets ($6k)
• Jae Crowder – Celtics ($5.2k)
• Mo Harkless – Blazers ($5.2k)
• Bojan Bogdanovic – Nets ($4.4k)
• Thabo Sefolosha – Hawks ($4.1k)

Small forward is probably the position to pay up at tonight, as LeBron James and Kevin Durant rule this spot and even Paul George and Carmelo Anthony deserve a look.

That being said, there is still a ton of value at the position, with Gallo leading the way. Not only did Gallinari go off in his last game (24 actual points), but the Nets present an amazing matchup. This game should be fast-paced with a lot of points and he even represents solid value at his listed price.

I might prefer paying a little less for Crowder, who already has a nice role as a starter for the Celtics, but should see it enhanced with Isaiah Thomas out on Wednesday. Crowder has a very safe floor, but Thomas accounts for over 26 actual points per game. If Crowder can snag some of those, he’ll be huge tonight.

Harkless is the same price as Crowder and has a similar floor, but for tonight, probably lacks the same upside. He’s still very stable and has a great matchup with the Bucks. He could easily get 30+ fantasy points tonight and he and Crowder aren’t a bad pairing if you decide to punt the SF position.

If you want to dive even deeper at small forward, consider Bojan and Thabo. Sefolosha is starting and getting good run with Kyle Korver on the bench, while he has even more upside with Kent Bazemore out tonight. He doesn’t have a great floor or insane upside, but he’s cheap and he’ll be on the floor a lot. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

Bojan’s run and role are a little shakier, but he’s without a doubt the superior offensive player. Once he gets hot, it’s tough to stop him, and it’s not like the Nuggets are defensive stalwarts. He’s tough to trust, but at this price he looks like a solid dice role in GPP tournaments.

Power Forward

• Trevor Booker – Nets ($5.9k)
• Tobias Harris – Pistons ($5.6k)
• Ryan Anderson – Rockets ($4.7k)
• Dwight Powell – Mavericks ($3.9k)

Power forward is also a little top-heavy with Blake Griffin, Kevin Love, Draymond Green and Kristaps Porzingis looking like super popular plays. However, this is still a good position to pay down at, as there is some really nice value to be had.

Trevor Booker might be the most obvious value, as he’s been remarkably versatile and overall very consistent on the year. His ceiling isn’t out of this world, but he’s a nightly double-double threat and is a good bet to hit 30 fantasy points with a good matchup. He has just that tonight, so it’s not crazy to bank on him reaching 30+ fantasy points for the 10th time this year.

Booker lacks the upside of someone like Tobias Harris, however, and Harris has actually been even more reliable as of late. He did hand in a clunker two games ago, but Harris has otherwise been rock solid, contributing 30+ fantasy points in five of his last six games. I don’t love that he’ll be facing off with the bigger Marvin Williams on the road, but his recent play speaks for itself.

Ryan Anderson and Dwight Powell are far more volatile, but both are getting solid run and have good matchups tonight. Rando is quite scoring dependent, but has topped 30 fantasy points in two of his last three games and gets the Lakers tonight. Powell has a solid matchup with the Kings and makes sense as a solid GPP dive with both Dirk Nowitzki and Andrew Bogut sidelined.

Center

• Mason Plumlee – Blazers ($6k)
• John Henson – Bucks ($4.7k)
• Jusuf Nurkic – Nuggets ($4.5k)
• Salah Mejri – Mavericks ($3.5k)

Center is another solid spot to pay up at, where DeMarcus Cousins leads the way as one of the top elite options, overall. Behind him is Hassan Whiteside, Andre Drummond and a slew of nice intermediate center options.

A lot of these guys can go full spare more often than we’d like, of course, so if you’re not spending to get Boogie, punting center could make some sense.

Plumdog doesn’t even feel like a punt, as he remains a solid price despite being one of the more reliable players at his position. The proof is in the pudding, as Plumlee has hit on at least 23 fantasy points in an insane 13 straight games. He’s a terrific cash game play and he has a little upside, too.

Henson is in that same game, though, and given that Plumdog and the Blazers in general don’t defend well, he might even be the better play. Henson was a little disappointing in his last game, but before that he had ripped off 30+ fantasy points in three of four games. He again looks like a fine NBA DFS value pick tonight.

I am certainly hesitant to trust Nurkic tonight, but he was solid last game and has a dream matchup with Brook Lopez tonight. The key for Nurkic could be the health of Nikola Jokic (wrist), who has missed his last three games. If he’s out again, Nurkic could be a sneaky GPP sleeper.

Salah Mejri might be the top play at center, however, as he stands to start with Andrew Bogut already ruled out. Mejri only contributed 18 fantasy points in his last start, but he showed his upside in the start before that (30 fantasy points). The date with Boogie isn’t ideal, but minutes are huge for a guy priced at the minimum on FanDuel. That puts Mejri in play as a supreme center punt.

Overall, there is not a ton of deep value in daily fantasy basketball tonight. You won’t want to take too many insane dives, and instead try to find value up top and in the intermediate pricing. Perhaps that leaves you with guys like Paul George, Brook Lopez and/or Kyrie Irving operating as your “elite” plays.

Whatever the case, 10-game slates are crazy and we wish you luck. Hopefully some of our daily fantasy basketball picks end up helping you win some fat cash.