NBA DFS Picks for June 16 2021

We have another two-game slate featuring the Philadelphia 76ers hosting the Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers visiting the Utah Jazz. We have had quite a few slates featuring these two matchups, so we have some understanding of what we will be able to fit in our lineup. Both series playing today are tied at 2-2, so we expect to see guys go all out in tonight’s game five. This slate is going to be all about the Los Angeles Clippers, as we already got the news that Kawhi Leonard is unlikely to play for tonight. We already had some good price tags on the Clippers guys, so we are absolutely fixated on them for tonight. The three or four best plays on this slate are all Clippers guys, and the challenge for tonight will be determining how many Clippers is too many.

Here’s a balanced core For DFS Basketball 6/16/21 (using DraftKings Values)

Donnovan Mitchell is the only of our core plays that is not a Clipper tonight, as most of our value does come from L.A. here. With that said, we want to prioritize Mitchell tonight if Mike Conleyremains out. Conley is questionable tonight, and we are yet to see him play a game all series. Mitchell is a fine play if Conley plays, but one of our favorite studs if Conley is out. Mitchell has been fantastic this series, and he should be more expensive then the $9,000 we are rostering him for tonight. Mitchell’s worst DFS night this series was 47.75 FPTS, showing a ceiling of over 60 FPTS. He has been absolutely carrying this Jazz team offensively shooting between 24 and 30 shot attempts a night. There is no reason to doubt Mitchell here, and the matchup should be a little easier with Leonard out. 

We got the news this morning that Kawhi Leonard is out for tonight’s game. Paul George is a lock for us tonight as he should see a massive opportunity and is only $8,600. At this price, we would be all over George if Leonard was playing, which is why he is looks so fantastic with Leonard out. George went for over 50 FPTS last game, and he has scored over 45 FPTS in six of his last seven contests. George is going to have do a lot for the Clippers to have a chance in game five tonight, so we expect him to play a ton of minutes. George has as good upside as anyone on the slate tonight, and he is way too cheap for the game we expect him to play.

Marcus Morris Sr., looks great for value tonight, as we expect all the Clippers guys to see some extra opportunity. With Leonard out, Morris is likely to play over 40 minutes in a big game. He should be in for a solid usage bump with Leonard off the floor, and he only costs $4,500. There are a ton of ways that Morris can hit value here, as he should be on the floor for a vast majority of the contest. We saw Morris score 37.5 FPTS in 35 minutes last game, and he should see an even bigger opportunity tonight. We are going to use multiple Clippers for value tonight, and Morris is our favorite of the bunch.

Nicolas Batum is a similar play to Morris tonight. They are both guys we would be looking at if the Clippers were healthy, and our priorities with Leonard out. Batum is only $4,600 tonight and he should be in for some nice value. He scored 30.3 FPTS last game and is averaging over 26 FPTS across the last ten days. We expect Batum to play around 40 minutes tonight, which makes him way too cheap at his current price. We love getting to Batum here, and we do not mind having three or four guys from the Clippers in one lineup.

Here’s a balanced core For DFS Basketball 6/16/21 (using FanDuel Values)

Point Guard

Reggie Jackson – PG (5,100 DK) Jackson is our favorite point guard on the slate and one of our favorite plays in general. Jackson has been good throughout the playoffs, which is why we have talked about him often for value. Jackson has played 36, 29 and 29 minutes in his past three games, so we expect to see him play over 30 minutes tonight without Leonard. Jackson is one of the highest usage guys with Leonard off the floor, so he has the upside for a massive game tonight. At this price, Jackson is another no brainer from the Clippers. 

Ben Simmons – PG (7,600 DK) Simmons is not the most natural fit tonight as all the value from the Clippers allow for a strong stars and scrubs lineup. With that said, Ben Simmons is a nice option if you want to go with a more balanced lineup, as we really like this price tag on him. Simmons went for 45 FPTS, and we know he has nice upside through triple doubles. 

Shooting Guard 

Joe Ingles – (5,200 DK) Ingles is too cheap here if Conley remains sidelined. Ingles has seen massive opportunities every game this series, playing over 30 minutes a night with decent usage. He has scored over 30 FPTS in each of his last three games, which is why we really like getting to him here at only $5,200.

Seth Curry – (5,000 DK) Keep in mind that two of our core plays are shooting guards on both sites, but we really like Ingles and Curry for value as well. Curry has been one of our favorite value options throughout the playoffs, as he has some nice scoring upside for his price. We saw Curry play a whopping 35.1 minutes with Danny Green out last game. So we really like getting to him here at this price tag.

Small Forward 

Royce O’Neale – (5,000 DK) We really like getting a lot of the forwards in our core lineup, so we but we have a few more value options here. With Leonard out, there aren’t really any great forwards to pay up for, so you are probably going to use the small and power forward positions for value. O’Neale has been playing a ton of minutes and we know that will be the case if Conley remains out. With that said, we prefer to get to the value from the Clippers.

Luke Kennard – (3,100 DK) Kennard has a lower floor then Batum or Morris but he could be in for a lot of minutes with Leonard sidelined. The price tag on Kennard gives him massive upside if he can have a decent outing here, and he allows for a great stars and scrubs lineup. Kennard is clearly the best play under $4,000 tonight, so he fits easily in a lot of lineups.

Power Forward 

John Collins – (6,000 DK) With all the forward priorities we have already mentioned, we are only going to talk about one power forward tonight. There are no other power forwards we haven’t mentioned that look great here, but we still really like Collins at this price point. Collins scored 36 FPTS last game and he has a ton of upside with all the minutes he is playing this series.

Center

Joel Embiid – (10,500 DK) Embiid is our favorite center tonight, as we have enough value elsewhere to pay up here. Most of the other stars we like tonight are in the $8000 to $9,000 range, so we can play a few of them alongside Embiid. Embiid has been fantastic this series and he is playing well over 30 minutes a night. Embiid shot a terrible four of 20 last game, and still went for over 49 FPTS. He scored over 58 FPTS every other game this series, and he should be closer to $11,000 for this one.

General strategy 

We have mentioned already that we are prioritizing value from the Clippers tonight. We want to talk about how many Clippers guys we are going to look to get to for different contests. This is an easy slate for Cash games, as we are happy playing as many Clippers as fit naturally. We can use three or four value pieces from the Clippers to fit some of our favorite studs. For tournaments, we would definitely not play more then five clippers, but we are still happy getting to three or four.

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