Fantasy Basketball Picks: Top DraftKings NBA DFS Targets, Values for March 23 – DraftKings

Saturday Night NBA DFS goes head-to-head with March Madness on Saturday. There’s a simple solution. Build fantasy basketball lineups and watch college basketball. Let’s dig into the NBA DFS research and make some fantasy basketball picks, as we gear up for the six-game main slate that starts at 7 p.m. ET.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st]

For up-to-the-minute news, analysis and lineups, download the DK Live app. You also can follow DK Network on Twitter @DKNetwork.

Guard

Studs

Dejounte Murray, Atlanta Hawks vs. Charlotte Hornets, $9,700 — Matchups matter. Atlanta is a perfect example. They create an electric DFS environment with their style of play. That style is fast and doesn’t involve defense. Charlotte similarly creates fantasy basketball opportunities. Although the Hornets do not play up-tempo basketball, they play very little defense. They’re not capable. This is a borderline G-League roster at the moment. The Hawks roster is not much different. Their injury report is lengthy. Murray has the keys to the car with Trae Young sidelined for at least another week.

Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns at San Antonio Spurs, $8,900 — This is Booker’s team. PF Kevin Durant ($9,300) accepts this fact. Durant might be saving his skinny legs for the post-season run. Regardless, the usually deferential team player is fine with Booker scoring all of the fantasy points. Since the All-Star Break, Booker is averaging almost 40 minutes per game. He’s scoring, rebounding and assisting. The Suns are a borderline play-in team. They’re not good enough to blow out the Spurs and rest Booker. That means the Booker NBA DFS pick should be 40 minutes with a high usage rate in an ideal NBA DFS game environment (up-tempo action against a bad defense).

Value

Keon Ellis, Sacramento Kings at Orlando Magic, $4,400 — Don’t sleep on defense. Stocks (steals and blocks) are valuable fantasy points. Ellis doesn’t get a lot of offensive action. His usage rate is dangerously low. But that’s good in DFS. It lowers ownership. His sneaky defensive stats make him an intriguing NBA DFS value pick. Ellis is getting minutes and he’s doing damage on the defensive end with those minutes.

Forward

Studs

Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets at Atlanta Hawks, $8,200 — NBA DFS studs are superstars. They are brand name picks. That’s not Bridges’ brand. A lot can be said about these players, but there’s not much brand-name appeal for Charlotte’s entire roster. Forget about brand. Boil it down. NBA DFS comes down to minutes, usage and matchups. Bridges checks every box. He leads the team in usage rate and plays 40 minutes every night. The Hawks do not play defense, and they play fast. Atlanta is also injured.

Value

Dillon Brooks, Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz, $4,500 — The Rockets share the wealth. Their equitable usage rates make it difficult to predict which player to target in NBA DFS. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It reduces ownership and suppresses their salaries. This is a pretty full slate and Houston could be egregiously ignored. Houston has turned up the heat. They’ve been one of the fastest teams in the NBA over the last several weeks. The Jazz have the worst defense in the NBA. This is the perfect combination. Brooks scored 32.5 DKFP in 25 minutes on Thursday before being ejected in the third quarter. Some smooth Jazz is exactly what the hot-tempered Brooks needs.

Garrison Mathews, Atlanta Hawks vs. Charlotte Hornets, $3,500 — The projection sites love Atlanta. Several key pieces are out and a Hawks-Hornets matchup provides a great DFS environment. “Garry Bird” is not picking up steam. PF/C Bruno Fernando ($3,900), C Clint Capela ($6,400), PG/SG Vit Krejci ($3,900) and SF/PF De’Andre Hunter ($6,000) are the popular targets. Mathews is the pivot. His minutes have been up since Trae Young went down. He played 21 minutes with the second unit and carried a 15.6% usage rate on Thursday. If the starting lineup is thin, then the replacements make the second unit thinner. Mathews should see a usage bump in a great matchup. Also, he has multi-position eligibility (SG/SF).

Center

Studs

Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs vs. Phoenix Suns, $10,600 — The rookie is not a lock. The highlights are lock highlights. Wemby is already a legend. But look closer. His legendary games were favorable matchups. Phoenix is not a favorable matchup, but it’s not a tough matchup. The Suns are a borderline playoff team that plays average defense. The “VW Banyama” is the opposite of the VW Beetle. He’s big, fast and agile — an open-wheel Formula 1 racecar. Throw out the tough matchups — the gravel roads. Put him on a race track (soft matchups), and he rips. The Victory Wagon scored 68 DKFP against Memphis on Friday. On Mar. 17, he dropped 76.25 on the Nets. Earlier this month, he scored 70 DKFP in back-to-back games.

Value

Jock Landale, Houston Rockets vs. Utah Jazz, $4,700 — Without thinking, what’s the best song on the platinum-selling classic 90s album Jock Jams? Unbelievable by EMF! Yes! Did we just become best friends? Jock is jamming with Alperen Sengun done for the season. And what better time to turn up the volume than a matchup with the Jazz on Saturday night? The Jazz play up-tempo basketball and have arguably the worst defense in the NBA. That’s when they’re healthy, and they’re not. Jock dropped 43.5 DKFP on the Bulls in 27 minutes on Mar. 21. That’s Unbelievable!

Jontay Porter, Toronto Raptors at Washington Wizards, $4,600 — There’s a lot of value at center on Saturday. Cheaper options are in play. Porter is not a must-play, but this matchup in as plus a matchup as possible. The Wizards are bad and fast. They’re terrible at limiting big men. Porter returned from an illness and scored 27.75 DKFP in 21 minutes on Friday. He was a point-per-minute player in tough matchups with the Magic last week. In favorable DFS matchups, he’s averaging over 30 DKFP.

Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $200K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st]

Put your knowledge to the test. Sign up for DraftKings and experience the game inside the game.

I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.