NBA DFS Picks for June 18 2021

The Atlanta Hawks will host the Philadelphia 76ers and the L.A Clippers host the Utah Jazz tonight, as the Sixers and Jazz fight to avoid elimination. We expect any healthy studs to be playing a ton of minutes tonight, especially from the Sixers and the Jazz. With that said, we have a ton of injury news to talk about for this one. The Clippers are still our favorite target’s tonight with Kawhi Leonard out, as we will be getting most our value from Los Angeles. We still do not know for sure if Mike Conley or Donnovan Mitchell are playing tonight, so it is hard to know what to do with the Jazz. However, it looks like Conley will play and Mitchell is currently a game time decision. We are more focused on value from the Clippers unless we get more news about the Jazz missing guys. We are going with a stars and scrubs build here, as we must pay quite a bit to get to the top studs on this one.

Here’s a balanced core For DFS Basketball 6/18/21 (using DraftKings Values)

We mentioned that we are prioritizing the Clippers for value tonight. The cheap options for L.A. have not seen their prices change much despite playing a ton of minutes without Leonard last game. Reggie Jackson is still only $5,200 here and we saw him play a huge role last game. Jackson scored 33.5 FPTS in 36.4 minutes. We expect Jackson to be one of the top options again without Leonard, as we saw him shoot the ball fifteen times last game. Jackson has the upside for a big game here, but he should hit nice value at this price regardless.

We are desperate to find cheap value tonight, as the two best studs on the slate are both over $10,000. We have the luxury of a solid play under $4,000 tonight in Terrance Mann. Mann benefited from Leonard’s absence last time out, as we saw him play 25.4 minutes. Mann went for 23 FPTS last game, which would be fantastic for his $3,200 price tag. We really do not need a lot out of Mann at this price, as he allows for us to pay up for a few of our studs. 

Marcus Morris Sr. saw a massive opportunity last game as he played 40 minutes and put up sixteen shot attempts. Morris is one of our favorite options to get to tonight as he is way too cheap at this $5,100 price tag. Morris has scored 37.5 and 36 FPTS respectively in his last two games, which is not surprising for all the minutes he is playing. The Clippers do not have a lot of strong options without Leonard, so it feels safe that Morris plays massive run again tonight.

If the Philadelphia 76ers lose tonight it will mean a humiliating elimination at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks. Joel Embiid has been fantastic this series, and it is we will need him regardless of the $11,000 price tag. Embiid has played mid to high thirty’s in minutes every game this series, and he has scored well over 60 FPTS in three of five games. We expect to see Embiid play around 40 minutes to avoid elimination tonight, and he has the potential for a crazy night. There are not many superstars playing tonight, so it is likely that Embiid is a must have due to the sheer FPTS. 

Here’s a balanced core For DFS Basketball 6/18/21 (using FanDuel Values)

Point Guard

Lou Williams – PG (3,200 DK) Williams is a solid value option if you want to get away from the Clippers guys. We saw a nice game from him last time around, as he scored 25.5 FPTS in 22.3 minutes. He is still cheap here and could easily be a great play again if he gets decent run. Williams does not need to score too much for us at this price as he allows for a lot of upside elsewhere.

Mike Conley – PG (6,800 DK) Conley is on track to play tonight, but it is he is still not 100 percent. This is a risky play, and we will be looking elsewhere if Mitchell is also good to go. However, if Mitchell is out then Conley does have a ton of upside in tonight’s elimination game. 

Shooting Guard 

Paul George – (10,100 DK) George has been priced up dramatically, but he is still a priority pay up for us as we expect him to play a massive role without Leonard. George was fantastic with Leonard off the floor last game, going for 71 FPTS. We really like playing George and Embiid together on this slate, as they are the only expensive studs we really need to pay for. We also have a lot of strong value options tonight to pay for both guys.

Seth Curry – (5,400 DK) We mentioned last time around that Curry had fantastic upside with Danny Green out. He ended up exploding for over 50 FPTS, as he played a ton of minutes and hit seven threes. The Sixers are relying desperately on Curry for scoring right now, so we would not be surprised to see another big game here. 

Small Forward 

Furkan Korkmaz – (3,900 DK) Korkmaz has been playing solid run since Green got hurt, but we are yet to see a good shooting night. Regardless, we are getting Korkmaz at cheap here and we expect him to play at least 25 minutes. He could easily hit nice value if he can hit a few three’s.

Nicolas Batum – (4,900 DK) Batum is another value from the Clippers who looks fantastic tonight, as we saw him play over 42 minutes last time out. Batum went for 28.75 FPTS and is too cheap for 40 or more minutes here. Batum has scored 32.25, 30.25 and 28.75 FPTS respectively in his last three games, so he feels very solid under $5,000.

Power Forward 

John Collins – (6,300 DK) Collins has been getting progressively more expensive and he is now considerably pricier then the $5,600 we were paying a few games ago. Still, Collins looks solid at this price, as we know he has upside for a great game. Collins has been playing a ton of run lately and we saw him go for over 40 FPTS last game. Collins has upside for another big game, and we expect him to play well over 30 minutes again.

Center

Clint Capela – (6,700 DK) Capela has not been great this series, which is not surprising as he is playing against Embiid. With that said, we still have some interest in this $6,700 price tag. Capela is a solid option for tournaments tonight as he does have upside for a 50 FPT game. If he shows his upside tonight, he could break the slate at this price.

General strategy 

The main thing we want to talk about here is what to do with the Utah Jazz. Right now, it is hard to make any roster until we know if the Jazz backcourt are playing. But we do know how we want to approach it either way. If the Conley and Mitchell both play tonight which seems then we do not really like anyone from Utah. These guys are all priced up for someone being out, so we just have no value if everyone plays. If one of Conley or Mitchell sit tonight, the other one is a nice stud to go after. On the off chance they both sit tonight; we would be going right back to the Jazz for value.

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