NBA DFS Picks for May 2 2021

We have seven games to talk about tonight following last nights successful behemoth. Tonight, does not have as much value and injury news as last night, but it does have quite a bit of opportunity of its own. Our favorite team to roster for tonight is the Sacramento kings, as they are still missing De’Aaron Fox and Harrison Barnes. Beyond that we are looking to pay up for a few studs with pace up matches here, as we have a few great opportunities to go after. Once again we are going with a stars and scrubs style build, as we have value plays that have special circumstances making them very solid. This has been the case throughout most of the 2021 season, and we have done well playing more top-heavy style lineups.

Here’s a studs and duds lineup For DFS Basketball 5/2/21 (using DraftKings Values)

In the four games Fox has been out for the Kings, it has been the Tyrese Haliburton experience. Haliburton has played 30 or more minutes in each game since Fox has been out. In that span he has scored 42.5, 41.75, 26 and 50.5 FPTS. Except for the 50-point blowout the Kings suffered against the Jazz, Halliburton has played 36 or more minutes in every game since Fox has been out. Haliburton has scored over 40 FPTS in each of those games. The Kings have a solid matchup against the Mavericks here, we expect Haliburton to continue to play a huge role here. Haliburton is $7,300 tonight, which is still too cheap for the role he has seen with Fox out of the lineup.

The Oklahoma City Thunder ended up resting a ton of guys last time around and playing a confused starting lineup. If Lu Dort and Aleksej Pokusevski remain out, we can expect a similar lineup tonight. Charlie Brown Jr. got the start at shooting guard last time and we like getting back to him if he starts again here. Brown scored 18.8 FPTs last night, which is good value for the minimum price of $3.000. Brown only shot 30 percent last time, but he played 27 minutes. We expect as similar opportunity if Brown is to start. No one is going to accuse Brown of being an NBA superstar, but he should be able to hit value again through sheer opportunity. You’re a good value, Charlie Brown.

Buddy Hield is a huge priority for us with Fox and Barnes both out. Hield is one of the only scoring threats available for the kings here, and he perfectly fits the positions the Kings are low on. Hield is $7,000 and we get a lot of the upside on the Kings between him and Haliburton. Hield was disappointing last game, but he shot a putrid one of eleven from the field. We cannot expect Hield to shoot that badly, especially against a much worse defensive squad. Hield has also showed incr3eased production without Fox, as he has scored over 40 FPTS twice in the time he has been out. Hield is doing more playmaking and taking more shots without Fox, his price is not yet adequately adjusted for the boost.

We like a few New York guys with a great matchup against the Houston Rockets. One guy we are going to be getting to is Derrick Rose, who has great upside for his $5,600 price tag. Rose has been great lately, scoring over 30 FPTS in three of his past four outings. Rose was slightly underwhelming last time around, but he only shot two from eleven from the floor. We cannot expect Houston to be able to hold the veteran to that kind of efficiency, and he should be in for another nice night here. The Rockets are terrible defensively and we want some exposure to the team playing them.

Marvin Bagley – PF ($4,500 DK) Bagley has only played one game since returning from injury. Bagley played 21 minutes last game and scored 20.5 FPTS. We expect his minutes to progress upwards the more he plays since the injury. The Kings are undermanned here and will play him if he is good to go. We expect Bagley to play a bit more minutes here, and he does not need much to hit value at this price.

Khem Birch – C ($5,100 DK) Birch joined the Raptors at the perfect time. As he has quickly emerged as their primary center. As a result, Birch has been playing massive minutes lately, playing over 30 minutes in three games straight. In Birch’s last four games he has scored 31, 35.5, 43.25 and 41.5 FPTS. Birch has been dominant, just last game putting up over 40 FPTS on the Utah Jazz. Birch has not been priced up at all for his dominant run, which makes him an easy priority for us here. 

Luka Doncic – G ($10,800 DK) Doncic was a priority for us last night against the Wizards. He ended up as a must play with over 80 FPTS. It is a similar case tonight as Doncic has another fantastic matchup against the Sacramento Kings. We do not have some our favorite superstar playing tonight. Doncic is the most expensive guy on the slate and has the best upside. Doncic has a good margin on anyone else on the slate. We have a lot of value tonight and want to get the guy who we think is going to be top producer of the night. Doncic is the top dog playing here, and he has the best matchup on the slate. We do not need to explain the upside for Doncic to have a big game, we have all seen it.         

RJ Barrett – F ($6,500 DK) Barrett is our favorite Knick and a tournament priority for us tonight. Barrett has seen a massive role recently, playing over 40 minutes in four of his last five games. In his past three he has scored over 45 FPTS twice. Barrett is on fire right now and on a collision course with a lifeless Houston defense. Barrett is cheap for how good he has been lately, and we are betting on a good scoring night in this matchup.

Here’s a stars and scrubs lineup For DFS Basketball 5/2/21 (using FanDuel Values)

Damian Lillard – SG (8,500 FD) It is surprising how cheap Lillard is here on FanDuel. Lillard went for 55.9 FPTS last game and everyone who knows anything about the NBA knows he has superstar upside. Lillard is way too cheap at $8,500 as he has some of the best upside on this slate. Lillard has a clear path to the optimal lineup here, we are jamming him in both tournaments and cash games.

Trevor Ariza – PF (4,800 FD) We want to mention this Miami situation as there is some value here. The Heat are already missing a few guys and there is some opportunity for wing players here. Ariza should be in for decent run and he has showed some big games lately.

Good luck tonight guys, one thing we want to mention is Jaylen Brown is now questionable. We want to get to Jayson Tatum if he ends up out.

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