NBA DFS Picks For Fanduel 8/14/2020

We are on a little 2 slate win streak and are trying to close the regular season with a bang. Yesterday, our lineup absolutely crushed it and cashed with ease in all formats (finished in the top 3-5% of lineups). Dame, LeVert, Booker, and Boban all had great showings for us. I would be lying if I said that today's slate is a good one. All of the teams have nothing to play for, so it is going to be extremely random. Any of these players could be rested or played at limited minutes, so I wouldn't spend crazy money on this slate. Regardless, let's dive into the article and try to win some money!

Injury News:

- Russell Westbrook/Gary Harris/Will Barton/Montrezl Harrell/Patrick Beverley are still listed as out.

- Kyle Lowry/Fred VanVleet/Pascal Siakam/Serge Ibaka/O.G. Anunoby are all out for the Raptors.

- Victor Oladpio/T.J. Warren/Myles Turner are all out for the Pacers

- Chris Paul/Luguentz Dort will not play today.

- Goran Dragic/Jimmy Butler/Bam Adebayo are out for the Heat.

- Andre Iguadola/Jae Crowder/Derrick Jones are listed as questionable.

- Joel Embiid is questionable with an ankle injury.

- Goga Bitadze is questionable with a sore left knee.

- (update: Michael Porter ruled out)

Point Guard:

Kendrick Nunn - $4,800:

Nunn is not listed on the injury report ahead of the Heat's final regular season game, but who knows how much he is going to play. The Heat are resting all of their usual starters, so that could mean that Nunn sees a huge usage boost, while it could also mean that he will hardly see the court. The whole slate today is basically a risk, so play him if you are feeling it.

Aaron Holiday - $4,200:

Aaron Holiday put up a bad fantasy performance last game when he was high owned, but I don't expect him to do that again. He is likely not going to rest much, and with the players sitting out of this one for the Pacers, he should see plenty of opportunities. He will likely be in my squad.

T.J. McConnell - $3,900:

Essentially everything that goes for Holiday, also goes for T.J. McConnell. He will probably come off the bench rather than start for Pacers, but he will still see plenty of opportunities to score you some points. He is a cheap, pretty safe option for all types of games.

Other great plays: Malcom Brogdon - $6,600, Shake Milton - $4,600, Edmond Sumner - $4,100, Reggie Jackson - $3,800, Monte Morris - $3,700

Shooting Guard:

James Harden - $11,500:

Harden is the most expensive player on the slate, and unless a new story comes out on his minutes being severely limited, then everyone is going to own him. He is at a risk to rest as are most of the stars, but his last game was meaningless and he still played 35 minutes. I think the Rockets' starters are less likely to rest than other teams, but who really knows.

Tyler Herro - $5,300:

With all the best players on the Heat sitting out except Herro, he is in a prime spot to score a ton of fantasy points. In his last 3 games, he scored over 45 FD points in 2 of them. He is another candidate for a player to rest, but the Heat may also opt to give their rookie some more time to develop and show his potential as the main focal point of their offense.

Alec Burks - $4,200:

It is not likely that the 76ers are going to play Tobias Harris, Al Horford, or Joel Embiid for long. When they are not in the game, then Burks will probably be the best scorer on the court for his team. In his last 3 games prior to sitting out the last one, he scored over 28 FD points in all of them. He is a good option in all formats.

Other great plays: Paul George - $7,700, Norman Powell - $5,000, Duncan Robinson - $4,300, Ben McLemore - $3,700, Terence Davis - $3,500

Small Forward:

Kawhi Leonard - $8,700:

Like Harden, Kawhi Leonard is a star that is likely to be high owned because he played a lot of minutes in his last meaningless game. In that game, the Nuggets opted to barely play their starters in the second half, but Doc Rivers kept most of the Clippers' players in for the whole game. I will likely be playing him.

Tobias Harris - $7,600:

I am not in love with this play at all, but Tobias Harris did score 42 FD points in just 24 minutes of action in his last game. As I said before, it is not likely that the 76ers' starters play long, but it doesn't take many minutes for Harris to put up good fantasy numbers with his current roster. I still much prefer Kawhi and Bazley.

Darius Bazley - $5,200:

With the Thunder not playing many of their starters recently, Bazley has seen great minutes, and has been capitalizing on them. He has scored over 34 FD points in each of his last 3 games, including scoring over 42 in 2 of those. He has scored over 20 actual points in each of those games as well, so he has boom potential with his scoring ability. I would lock him in your lineups.

Other great plays: Justin Holiday - $4,600, Jae Crowder - $4,100, Matisse Thybulle - $3,700, JaKarr Sampson - $3,600, Derrick Jones - $3,600

Power Forward:

Robert Covington - $7,000:

As I said with Harden, people are going to be all over the Rockets' starters today because they played a lot in their last game with nothing at stake. $7,000 is a pretty hefty price to pay for Covington, but price is almost irrelevant today with the value due to players resting. Covington would be one of the players who I would pay up for.

Marcus Morris - $4,200:

I have mentioned Morris a few times in a row now, but I am going to again because his price is not going up. He is another player that continues to see good minutes despite playing for nothing, so he is a superb option if you need someone around this price tag.

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson - $3,800:

Rondae Hollis-Jefferson finds himself being introduced into my articles for the first time due to all the injuries/resting going on with the Raptors. It looks like none of their starters are going to play, so RHJ should see great minutes. He has scored over 21 FD points in his most recent games, and I would only expect that to increase for today.

Other great plays: Paul Millsap - $4,400, Nerlens Noel - $4,400, Jeff Green - $4,100

Center:

Chris Boucher - $5,000:

Chris Boucher has been a monster for the Raptors when Serge Ibaka hasn't played. In his last 2 games, he put up fantasy outputs of 40 and 53 FD points. Boucher should see even more minutes today, which I expect to allow him to reproduce those excellent numbers. His scoring, rebounding, and shot blocking ability create an excellent boom candidate.

Kelly Olynyk - $4,200:

The Heat are not playing Dragic, Butler, or Bam, which leaves Olynyk has one of the few players on the roster who usually see minutes and are playing today. We don't know how much he will play, but I wouldn't be too concerned about him resting. Like Boucher, he has great potential for a boom performance.

P.J. Tucker - $3,700:

A lot of the time it appears that P.J. Tucker just runs up and down the court with the number of points he gives you compared to his minutes. I am not saying that he doesn't do that today, but he had to be included with his almost minimum price, and the fact that we know he will be playing a lot.

Other great plays: Ivica Zubac - $5,600, Marc Gasol - $4,600, Mason Plumlee - $3,600

Core/Lineup:

With the randomness in the games today, I wouldn't be surprised if the highest scoring team is $10,000 under budget. Anyways, my core 3 for the slate today are James Harden, Darius Bazley, and Chris Boucher. Since it is the last day of the regular season and my lineups have been doing good as of late, I will include my lineup today. Nunn/Herro are great plays too if you don't care about wasted salary.

PG: Malcolm Brogdon - $6,600

PG: Aaron Holiday - $4,300 (swapped to Austin Rivers - $4,900) SG: James Harden - $11,500 SG: Paul George - $7,700 (swapped to Tyler Herro - $5,300) SF: Kawhi Leonard - $8,700 SF: Darius Bazley - $5,200 PF: Robert Covington - $7,000 PF: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson - $3,800 C: Chris Boucher - $5,000

If you enjoy these articles, please follow @SportsVerseHQ and @Excyphir on twitter! Stay up to date there in case of potential lineup changes with injury, or resting news. Good luck.