NBA DFS Showdown Picks for May 21, 2021

Tonight, we have the matchup between the Warriors and Grizzlies to decide who gets the eighth spot in the western conference playoffs. It is our last showdown slate going into some all-day basketball this weekend. This promises to be a fantastic basketball from a fan’s perspective, and we have a lot thought for who we like in DFS. Our for this slate is going to be a stud, as our favorite plays on the slate are some of the big names at the top. We have a few guys on both sides who smashed in there first play in game, and we expect to do something special again tonight. We are going with a top-heavy build here, as the guys at the top have most of the upside. Furthermore, we have a great value option we will talk about under $3,000. 

Here’s a showdown lineup For DFS Basketball 5/21/21 (using DraftKings Values)

As we mentioned you are going to one of the studs on this slate for your captain spot. We are going with Steph Curry as captain for a few reasons here. Firstly, Curry is not that much more expensive then our second favorite option in Jonas Valanciunas, but he is a much safer play. Curry is the only player on this slate who people would call a superstar, and it shows up in the DFS production. Curry averaged 51.3 FPTS this season, and no one else on the slate averaged 40. Curry is the obvious captain for cash games, as the raw FPTS we expect to see from him is unrivaled. The second reason we like curry for captain is this is just not an expensive slate. we do not have massive superstars on the other side of the game to pay up for, and we have a solid budget play. We can afford to captain Curry, while still rostering the two Memphis studs. Which is going to be our favorite strategy for Cash games tonight.

Jonas Valanciunas looks fantastic tonight and is our favorite captain option to get away from a likely more popular Curry. Valanciunas was massive in the first play in game against the Spurs, as we saw him go for over 60 FPTS. The Warriors have a weak frontcourt, and we could see something crazy here from Valanciunas. He is a highly effective per minute producer and we must expect big minutes from him in a game this important. Valanciunas has upside about as good as Curry here, and he is a bit cheaper to get to.

We are not getting to many guys in the $8,000 range today, as they do not have nearly as much upside as the studs for a few thousand more. In consequence, we are looking for cheap guys that we expect to be in for solid minutes. Juan Toscano-Anderson is only $5,800 here, and we saw him play over 25 minutes last game. The Warriors do not have many forward options and Toscano-Anderson should be in for similar run tonight. We expect him to take a fair number of shots like always, and he his upside here is standard. We are hoping for him to have a good shooting night, but more then anything we just need cheap minutes here. 

Mychal Mulder is our favorite value play on the slate, and he is particularly important for playing all three studs on the slate. Mulder is only $2,200 here and he is the only play under $3,000 that we expect to get significant minutes. Mulder played 22 minutes last game a scored over 10 FPTS on bad shooting. We expect Mulder to see a similar opportunity tonight, which makes him a fantastic punt play for the price. Mulder is not a guy we expect to get a remarkably high score, but anything in double digits should be enough given how much salary he opens elsewhere. Rostering Mulder allows us to easily play all three of the studs on the slate easily. 

We do prefer Valanciunas to Ja Morant here, but we are happy fitting all three into our lineup. Morant has a ton of upside of his own, as we expect him to have usage equal to only Curry tonight. Morant played 41 minutes last game and shot the ball 20 times. We are expecting a similar opportunity tonight, which could lead to a massive outing. Morant looks so much better than the midrange plays a few thousand cheaper, which is why we are looking to squeeze in studs tonight. The upside we get from Curry, Valanciunas and Morant is unrivaled by any other plays on the slate, and we feel it is worth the salary to play all of them. Morant and Valanciunas are a nice guard-big combo, so there is no reason to think they cannot both have a big game here. 

In the last play-in game we saw 26 minutes and ok usage for Jordan Poole. Poole is only $5,400, and we expect him to play a bigger role then other guys in his price range. Poole is a high usage guy, and the Warriors will rely on him if some of the starters are struggling. Poole has some solid upside here, and for the price that is awfully hard to find. However, we do not need too much from him, as he is cheap enough that he is one of the only options that allow us to play all three of our studs.

Here’s a showdown lineup For DFS Basketball 5/21/21 (using FanDuel Values)

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