It is the last slate of the regular season tonight and things are getting crazy. We are going to see some ridiculous lineups here and we must approach this slate prepared for the utter bedlam. Anyone who played todays morning slate got a whiff of how crazy this gets, as we saw expect Toronto to run a six-man rotation this morning, for tonight’s, slate we are expecting to have a similar amount of news pour in as we approach lock. We have prepared a lineup that highlights some fantastic value plays, as we will mention a few budget guys who could be in for some crazy games. Most importantly, we are talking about our favorite studs for tonight, as some teams have a lot to play for here. We are heavily focused on rostering studs who have a lot of incentive to give it their all tonight, to potentially avoid having to participate in the play-in games.
Here’s a stars and scrubs lineup For DFS Basketball 5/16/21 (using DraftKings Values)
| Point Guard | |||
| Shooting Guard | C. McCollum | $7,600 | |
| Small Forward | L. King | $3,300 | |
| Power Forward | A. Davis | $10,200 | |
| Center | D. Jones | $3,500 | |
| Guard | |||
| Forward | – | $9,800 | |
| Utility |
We usually do not buy into narratives around here, but for this slate there is something we must look at. That is the teams that have a lot to play for tonight. Some teams are locked into their positions and will most likely not be playing their studs for big minutes. With that said, some team have crucial games tonight, one of which is the Portland Trailblazers. If Portland loses tonight, they are at risk of having to play in the play-ins to make the playoffs. We expect the Blazers star backcourt to go all out tonight, which makes them both priorities for us. CJ McCollum is a priority for us at $7,600 as we expect him to play a full playoff minutes load tonight. McCollum has fantastic scoring upside, and he is cheap enough that we can fit him alongside three bona fide superstars.
Our lineup for tonight consists of studs and cheap plays who could absolutely explode. The perfect play for the latter is Louis King at $3,300, who we just saw go for 53.3 FPTS. The Kings have been rocking a gutted lineup for a little while now, and we expect to see a lot of guys resting for there last game of the season. We saw King play over 34 minutes last game, and we are expecting similar or even more run tonight. King should be in for another audition for Sacramento, and he is giving us fantastic upside at near minimum price. This is the kind of potential we need for value plays on this slate.
Alongside the Portland Trail Blazers, the team we are looking to for our stud’s tonight is the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers are in a similar position to Portland here, as if they win their game, they could potentially avoid having to participate in the play-in games. We are expecting the Lakers studs to play solid run and bring there all tonight. We have more then enough value to pay the $10,200 for Anthony Davis tonight. Davis is a DFS beast, and he has a lot of reason to win here. It is hard to get away from superstars who we expect to play a competitive game on this slate, as we have enough salary to squeeze them all in.
Amidst the countless injuries for the Sacramento Kings, they are running desperately low on center options. We saw Damian Jones play 34.4 minutes last game and we are expecting a similar opportunity tonight. Jones is only $3.500 here and just saw him smash for 36.8 FPTS. Jones is another budget play that comes with some fantastic upside.
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Damian Lillard – PG ($9,400 DK) Lillard is one of our favorite studs to play here for a few reasons. Firstly, we can easily afford him. We can play all the stars we want to tonight without sacrificing anything, as we have so many strong plays under $3.500. Lillard always has a ton of upside, but tonight this is a huge game for Portland. We are expecting Lillard to bring it tonight, and he is already cheap for a guy who is averaging well over 50 FPTS across the past ten days. Lillard could be in for a massive game here and there is no real reason to get away from him.
Jahmi’us Ramsey – G ($3,100 DK) Ramsey is another Sacramento king who has slate breaking upside in this spot. The Kings have a ton of guys out and we could see a few more players ruled out closer to lock. Regardless, we expect Ramsey to play run like the 29.5 minutes he saw last game. Ramsey took 12 shot attempts last game and that could be even more in the season finale tonight. Ramsey is the type of value play we are relying on, as a winning lineup tonight will consist of extremely cheap plays who go off.
LeBron James – F ($4,700 DK) You may have noticed that we have included all four of the studs from the Lakers and Blazers in our core lineup. We may not be playing them all in every lineup, but we do like the approach and have the salary to fit them all. James is a priority for us here, as he is an unstoppable force when he really wants to win a game. We are expecting James to bring some playoff energy to seal the deal here, and that is an exciting thought.
Wenyen Gabriel – Util ($3,100 DK) The Pelicans have had a lot of injuries for a while, but we are expecting them to run bone dry. Gabriel should be in for some extended run tonight, like the 31 minutes we saw last game. Gabriel scored 29.5 FPTS last time around, and he has upside for another nice performance tonight. Gabriel is one of many fantastic values we have available tonight.
Here’s a stars and scrubs lineup For DFS Basketball 5/16/21 (using FanDuel Values)
| Point Guard | D. Lillard | $9,900 | |
| Point Guard | J. Ramsey | $3,900 | |
| Shooting Guard | C. McCollum | $7,900 | |
| Shooting Guard | K. Huerter | $4,400 | |
| Small Forward | L. James | $10,100 | |
| Small Forward | L. King | $5,200 | |
| Power Forward | W. Gabriel | $4,400 | |
| Power Forward | A. Davis | $10,600 | |
| Center | C. Felicio | $3,500 |
Kevin Huerter – SG (4,400 FD) The Hawks have a ton of guys questionable for tonight and it would not be surprising to see a lot of players sidelined for this one. Huerter is quite cheap and if he is in while a lot of others are out, we must expect him to be in for some goo run. Mostly we just wanted to mention the Hawks as a team to look out for some value to open closer to lock.
Cristiano Felicio – C (3,500 FD) The Bulls have a ton of guys out tonight and are going to be missing there starting center. Felicio has an opportunity to find some extra run tonight at the minimum price. If the Bulls decide to start Felicio here, he is a fantastic value option for the role we would expect from him. If he does not start, we probably look elsewhere on this slate.
Keep an eye on all the news that is bound to break before lock. We will see you guys in the playoffs.
Go win your lineup and tell us how you did. Twitter (@FantasyDFSX) is a good place for that.
