NBA DFS Picks for April 16 2021

After a small slate like we had yesterday, we can always expect something crazy the next day. Which is certainly what we got with tonight’s ten-gamer. We have a ton of value to talk about today, and some of our favorite superstars to spend the extra salary on. We got the news yesterday that both the Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons are going to be sitting a ton of guys tonight. In consequence, we are looking to Toronto and Detroit for all our value tonight. As we have hinted, this is a slate to play stars and scrubs, as it has the perfect combination of value and top end plays.

Here’s a studs and duds lineup For DFS Basketball 4/16/21 (using DraftKings Values)

We have a ton of value tonight and absolutely no reason not to go back to Russell Westbrook. There are a lot of different directions we can go for value tonight, but Westbrook is a guy we consider to be a lock. Westbrook has been on fire lately, and we have this seen this before. When Westbrook is playing like this, he has no equal in DFS. Westbrook has scored over 60 FPTS in five of his past six games, which is ridiculous. Furthermore, we have not seen Westbrook dip under 50 FPTS in about a month. Westbrook went for over 69 FPTS last game and it was not surprising. There is only one other guy in the league who can even step into the ballpark of this level of production, and we will get to him later. Westbrook feels very safe here and chances are he is going to have another massive game. We have enough value today that the $11,000 price tag for Westbrook is a non-factor, and he is a first guy in type play.

The Raptors are tanking militantly right now, and they are resting most of there roster again tonight. The Raptors are going to be without Kyle Lowry, Pascal Siakam, OG Anunoby and Gary Trent JR among others tonight, and are a top source of value for us. Fred VanVleet has been out since the second of the month, but he is good to go and a priority for us tonight. The first thing we want to mention is VanVleet was healthy last game but sat out for his game one suspension. This lifts a lot of the concern that he may have lingering injury issues. Furthermore, we know the Raptors would not play anyone unless they were %110, as they will jump at the chance to rest somebody. The Raptors are sitting all their high usage guys outside of VanVleet, tonight and he should be in for a big game. No doubt VanVleet takes massive usage and sees a big opportunity here. Other then Chris Boucherwho is a solid option for upside, it is hard to imagine anyone else on Toronto doing the scoring tonight. VanVleet is averaging over 40 FPTS on the season and we expect a huge bump here.

Alongside Toronto tonight, the Detroit Pistons are our key target for value. The Pistons have already announced that they will be resting Jerami Grant, Mason Plumlee, Cory Joseph, and several other players for tonight’s contest. The Pistons are extremely short-handed tonight and one of our favorite plays is Saddiq Bey at only $4,800. Frankly, this tag would be great for Bey even if Grant and others were still in, as he has scored well over 25 FPTS in four of his last five outings. Bey is one of the only Pistons who has played consistent minutes all season and we have no doubt he sees a massive opportunity tonight; Bey has showed some solid upside this year, and he is not priced for a good game today. The Pistons have a fantastic matchup today, so much so that it is supposed to be a close game despite all the injuries. The Thunder cannot play defense, and someone is going to score for Detroit tonight, Bey is the first candidate for that big game.

Staying on the topic of Detroit, the most obvious play from the Pistons tonight is Isaiah Stewart. Plumlee is out for tonight, and Stewart has started and dominated in games without Plumlee recently. Plumlee has been dealing with a lot of lingering issues lately, and we have a solid number of games with Stewart getting the start. We have seen Stewart dominate in these opportunities, scoring over 42 FPTS in his last game without Plumlee. Stewart is only $4,400 tonight, which is a solid tag for a healthy rotation. With all the extra minutes Stewart should get tonight, he is a very safe play while still having great upside at a small price.

Yuta Watanabe – PF ($3,000 DK) Watanabe is one of our favorite plays on the entire slate as the minimum price tag offers us a ton of flexibility, and Watanabe has little risk tonight. The Raptors are resting pretty much all there forwards tonight, and we expect huge minutes from Watanabe. Watanabe is likely to start tonight but we are sure he has dominant role in the Raptors rotation regardless. With all the injuries Watanabe can easily go for a big game at this price, simply by getting a few points or defensive stats. With that said, it is hard to think of a disappointing performance for Watanabe, as it takes so little to hit value at the $3,000 price tag.

Nikola Jokic – C ($10,900 DK) If you are playing cash games tonight and just want a solid performance, going to Westbrook, Jokic and value feels like the obvious play. Except for Westbrook, Jokic has a huge leg up on anyone on the slate in terms of DFS production. Jokic is averaging 57.6 FPTS over the last ten days, which is slightly lower than what he is averaging on the season. There really is not much that needs to be said about Jokic, he has been delivering high 50’s in FPTS all season with huge games riddled in. Jokic has a fantastic matchup tonight against the Houston Rockets, and we have seen him devour weak frontcourts like Houston’s all season. We have so much value tonight that we can play Jokic and Westbrook while still having money left over. Anytime you can play guys like Jokic with no real concern for salary, it is usually worth doing.

Killian Hayes – G ($3,500 DK) like a few other guys that we have mentioned for tonight, Hayes would be a solid play if most of his teammates were not sitting out. However, with the gutted Detroit rotation it is hard to imagine Hayes having a bad game. Hayes scored 22.3 FPTS last game, and there were many more healthy guards. We expect Hayes to start tonight, but he should receive massive run regardless. Hayes could see a crazy opportunity tonight and there is upside for a huge game. But as we have said with a few other guys, you are getting a very safe player here. It is hard to imagine terrible value from Hayes in this spot.

Hamidou Diallo – F ($4,200 DK) Diallo is the most contrarian of the plays we have mentioned as he has not been great on recent slates. However, we talked about how someone is going to score for Detroit against this Thunder team, and Diallo has been a high usage guy in the past. The minutes have been limited for Diallo lately, but he has upside for a big run today as so many guys are out. Diallo does like to shoot the rock when he is out there, and he is too much offensively for the Thunder defense. If Diallo ends up getting solid minutes tonight, he should be able to put together good value.

Here’s a studs and duds lineup For DFS Basketball 4/16/21 (using FanDuel Values)

Rui Hachimura – SG (4,900 FD) Hachimura has not been fantastic the last few slates and we may look elsewhere for Cash games. However, Hachimura has showed great upside this season and he has gotten cheap on FanDuel. Hachimura has been playing increasing minutes since returning from injury and we saw 34 minutes from him last game. Before getting hurt, we saw a lot of solid scoring nights form Hachimura which is what we are hoping to get here. 

Christian Wood – PF (7,800 FD) Wood is a smash play for us on this slate as he should be way harder to roster. Wood should be a center who costs about $9,000 to roster. Instead, we get him at the power forward for $7,800. Wood has showed massive upside and dropped big games all season. Wood is red hot right now as he has scored over 50 FPTS in each of the last two games, which makes his price tag quite questionable. Wood is a smash play tonight as he gives us the upside we are looking for on a slate this big. 

Have fun with this one, keep an eye out for what other news breaks throughout the day.

Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.