Russell Westbrook and Tuesday’s Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks

Monday night was oddly fairly predictable in Daily Fantasy Basketball, as the Suns and Wizards provided us with the most reliable options and James Harden failed to meet value (as some feared) on the road against a solid Detroit defense.

Tonight seems even more straight forward with just four games on the docket, but with some massive GPP contests at both DraftKings and FanDuel, you’ll want to be on top of the best possible daily fantasy basketball picks now, more than ever.

Let’s take a quick look at each position and see which way you should be leaning on Tuesday’s NBA DFS slate:

Point Guard

• Top Pick: Russell Westbrook – Thunder
• Value Play: Rajon Rondo – Bulls

We needn’t waste much time on Russell Westbrook, as he seriously destroys inferior teams – particularly ones with bad defenses. He dropped 70+ fantasy points on these very Lakers last time he faced them this year, too, so there’s no second guessing this.

The reality is you’re basically picking between Russ and The Brow tonight. They’re the same price on FanDuel and Anthony Davis has a far more difficult matchup on the road against a good Hawks defense. It’s an easy call, unless you decide to pair them. That’d be fun, but honestly, we’re off of Brow tonight. Fire up Russ and don’t look back.

If you’re looking to dive at point guard, there are fortunately a few options. The best one may be Rondo, however, as he’s poured in 30+ fantasy points in his last two games after working his way back from an ankle issue.

He’s not set to face much defensive resistance against Denver tonight and he’s on a roll. That’s more than you can say about Dennis Schroder, who went 0-8 in his most recent contest.

Emmanuel Mudiay, Derrick Rose and Tim Frazier all could be worth a look and maybe even D’Angelo Russell (ankle), but right now Rondo feels to be the best cheap play at the position.

Shooting Guard

• Top Pick: Victor Oladipo – Thunder
• Value Play: Jordan Clarkson – Lakers

Targeting the Lakers is a pretty good start to your Tuesday night, as their defense is trash and OKC can certainly blow up on offense. Dipo has really come around lately, too, having dropped 28+ fantasy points in each of his last three contests across both of the major DFS sites.

Oladipo fared well against the Lakers the last time he faced them and at a pretty weak SG position tonight, he feels like the easy pick. He has a good role, gets good run and has a terrific matchup on paper. If you’re looking for just one shooting guard, he’s your man.

If you need a second or want a little more value, consider Clarkson, who was fine against the Lakers early this year and has the upside to thrive in a favorable matchup. It’s probably Lou Williams who will be defended by Oladipo most of the night, so Clarkson could be free to roam.

D’Angelo Russell being out (he’s currently questionable to play) will only add to Clarkson’s value and upside. You could take deeper dives like Kyle Korver or Nick Young, but Clarkson is plenty cheap, reasonably safe and always has the potential to blow up.

Small Forward

• Top Pick: Jimmy Butler – Bulls
• Value Play: Danilo Gallinari – Nuggets

Jimmy Butler narrowly beats out Carmelo Anthony as the best small forward option tonight. Melo can always be huge, but Butler has a slightler better matchup and he’s been very explosive lately. He seems to have the better floor and ceiling these days, so if you’re deciding between those two, go with Jimmy.

Melo is a borderline value on both sites, but he lacks his usual upside with Kristaps Porzingis assuming a bigger offensive role this year. That helps make Gallo one favorite small forward value tonight. Not only does Gallinari consistently log good minutes and score about 15 points per game, but he still possesses solid upside most nights.

It’s unlikely Gallo goes off tonight with Jimmy Butler draping him, but he’s fairly safe in what should be a pretty fast-paced game in Denver.

Power Forward

• Top Pick: Kristaps Porzingis – Knicks
• Value Play: Taj Gibson – Bulls

Some will blindly plug Anthony Davis here, but I’m not loving this date with a good Hawks defense in Atlanta. Not only does Atlanta rebound the ball well, but they’re 6-1 at home and allow just 98 points per game. More specifically, they have two very strong interior defenders in Dwight Howard and Paul Millsap.

I’m sure The Brow won’t be awful, but it is logical that the Pelicans (+8 underdogs) could get housed or at least perform well below expectations.

Because of that, we’re likely fading The Brow and pointing to Zinger as the top power forward. That blowout potential also has us off of Paul Millsap for the most part, so Kristaps Porzingis stands out big time in a home date against a weak Portland defense.

The Blazers really don’t have anyone that can defend Zinger, who can do a little bit of everything, as well as hit three’s or score around the basket. He could be in for a big game with the Knicks getting a pace uptick against the explosive Blazers.

If you’re looking for value, we do like Julius Randle (he wrecked the Thunder earlier this year), but on the season, Taj feels so similar to him that we might not be able to avoid using him. Barring Randle going nuts again in this matchup, Gibson is basically the same player, albeit with a far lower ceiling.

That being said, Gibson starts, gets 28-32 minutes per game and can score the ball decently. He’s a double-double threat with a positive matchup against a bad Nuggets defense. He should be good for 25+ fantasy points and we wouldn’t be shocked to see him top 30.

Center

• Top Pick: Dwight Howard – Hawks
• Value Play: Guillermo Hernangomez – Knicks

Center is disgusting tonight, as a severe lack of quality plays makes Howard the obvious play at the top. Despite no legit options behind him, he remains a pretty good price across all sites. The only issue here is the Hawks could blow out the Pelicans and it’s possible he either won’t be needed or will see low minutes.

I’m not sure we can let that fear force us to fade Dwight, who could be in for a big game at home. The matchup is favorable for him and he could easily end up returning enough value by halftime.

You can consider just about anyone as a value play at center after Howard. Mason Plumlee, Steven Adams, Robin Lopez and maybe even Jusuf Nurkic all could pan out. I’m not sold on any of them matching Howard tonight, though, and it’s quite likely none of them have even serviceable games.

They’re all strikingly similar, however, as they all average somewhere between 22-25 fantasy points. With no clear winner there and Joakim Noah (illness) possibly out for a second straight game, that makes Hernangomez a fine punt play at the position.

Hernangomez is a dice roll, to be sure, but he did log 29 minutes last game and has chipped in some solid performances on the year. He’s certainly not safe, but at home against a beatable Blazers interior defense, he could be in a worse spot. At the minimum on FD and dirt cheap on DK, he’s very much in play if you only want to use one center and don’t feel like paying up.

That does it for tonight’s look at the top daily fantasy basketball picks. In summary, we prefer Russ over Brow and will do our best to fade the Hawks/Pelicans game, which at the moment has the worst spread by far.

Instead, we’re targeting the Lakers/Thunder game and will pick and choose our spots in the Bulls/Nuggets and Blazers/Knicks games, as well. Whatever your path ends up being in NBA DFS games tonight, we wish you luck!