NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks for Sunday, February 7th | Kawhi Leonard

NBA DFS action on Sunday, Feb. 7, locks at 1:00 p.m. EST with a five-game main slate. Before you lock in your lineups on DraftKings, FanDuel, Yahoo and SuperDraft, make sure to check out Awesemo’s daily fantasy basketball rankings and projections. Let’s dig into some daily fantasy basketball picks, including Kawhi Leonard, Jayson Tatum, LaMelo Ball and more.

Don’t forget to head over to the Awesemo NBA DFS HOME PAGE for more great written daily fantasy basketball content, including the FREE Deep Dive — the most in-depth article in the industry.

Awesemo’s NBA DFS Picks: Building Blocks

Yahoo Play of the Day – LaMelo Ball: Charlotte Hornets vs. Washington Wizards

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 42.63 | DraftKings: 44.00

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 37.4% | FanDuel 33.4% | DraftKings 30.5%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $33 | FanDuel $7,800 | DraftKings $7,800

Devonte’ Graham (groin) is out of action on Sunday, which should cement rookie LaMelo Ball in the starting lineup for a fourth straight game. Ball has topped 50 Yahoo fantasy points in two of his last four games. That is a lofty total to target, but 40 fantasy points are realistically in play. Over their last 10 games, Washington is playing at the fourth-fastest pace in the league, with 102.3 possessions per 48 minutes. They eschew defense as evidenced by their 117.7 points allowed per 100 possessions. This matchup boasts a 233.0 projected point total, and we will want to have a few players from this tilt on our rosters.

Jayson Tatum: Boston Celtics at Phoenix Suns

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 47.57 | DraftKings: 49.14

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 21.2% | FanDuel 23.7% | DraftKings 17.9%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $45 | FanDuel $10,200 | DraftKings $9,400

This is a nice time to target Jayson Tatum, who will be tasked with carrying the Celtics offense. Jaylen Brown (knee) and Marcus Smart (calf) will be sidelined on Sunday. Tatum has been phenomenal over his last four games. In this stretch he has averaged 39.3 minutes per game, with 29.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals. He also has attempted 10 3-point shots in each of his last three appearances, which is a nice wrinkle. On the season he is averaging 7.6 3-point attempts per game, with nearly a 42 percent success rate. This has him squarely in the Sunday conversation as a core play.

Kawhi Leonard: Los Angeles Clippers vs. Sacramento Kings

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 49.59 | DraftKings: 49.77
  Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 40.8% | FanDuel 38.7% | DraftKings 37.2%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $43 | FanDuel $9,900 | DraftKings $9,100

Utilizing NBA WOWY we can see that Kawhi Leonard averages 1.30 Yahoo fantasy points per minute with Paul George on the court. George will be out this afternoon dealing with a sore right foot. Without George on the floor, Leonard is averaging 1.45 Yahoo fantasy points per minute, which is an 11% increase. On the season Sacramento has the worst defensive efficiency rating, allowing 115.1 points per 100 possessions. Anything less that 50 fantasy points for Leonard will be a disappointment.

Good Value

Joe Ingles: Utah Jazz at Indiana Pacers

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 25.56 | DraftKings: 27.16

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 35% | FanDuel 30.7% | DraftKings 24%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $14 | FanDuel $4,500 | DraftKings $5,300

Mike Conley is out today with a sore hamstring, so that should shift some of the secondary facilitation duties to Joe Ingles. Looking at NBA WOWY, we can see that over the last two seasons, Conley and Ingles lead the Jazz in assist rate at 25.6 percent and 24.3 percent, respectively. When Conley has been off the court, Ingles leads the team with a 26.2 percent assist rate, and Donovan Mitchell is second with 22.3 percent. This will likely be overlooked by most gamers today, so we can use this information to our advantage and roster Ingles on more of our entries than the masses. Check out the Awesemo Player Rostered Projections here.

Risky Value

Frank Kaminsky: Phoenix Suns vs. Boston Celtics

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Point Projections: Yahoo and FanDuel: 23.1 | DraftKings: 23.52

• Awesemo’s Preliminary Rostered Projections: Yahoo 21.2% | FanDuel 17.8% | DraftKings 32.7%

• DFS Salary: Yahoo $10 | FanDuel $4500 | DraftKings $3700

Today it looks like Frank Kaminsky is shaping up as one of the more popular value options. This is certainly reasonable with his current salary level. On Friday he drew his first start of the season as coach Monty Williams was looking to match up against the Pistons bigger frontcourt. Cameron Johnson came off the bench. There is a decent chance we will see Kaminsky start today based on the Boston lineup. With their various injuries, the Celtics are thin on backcourt options. In their last game they started Tatum, Tristan Thompson, Daniel Theis, Grant Williams and Kemba Walker. My guess is we will see that again today, which bodes well for Kaminsky getting a second straight start.

The risky part is that there is a good chance that in the final frame Kaminsky may not be on the court, as Phoenix obviously has Deandre Ayton at the center spot, and the Suns may opt for Johnson and Mikal Bridges over Kaminsky, along with Chris Paul and Devin Booker. That is exactly what happened against Detroit, where Kaminsky did not play after checking out with 4 minutes left in the third quarter.

Yahoo Daily Fantasy Basketball Discount Dandies

1. Deni Avdija: WAS at CHA – $10

2. Tristan Thompson: BOS at PHX – $10

3. Malik Monk: CHA vs. WAS – $10

SuperDraft Daily Fantasy Basketball Picks

1. LaMelo Ball: CHA vs. WAS – 1.30x multiplier

2. Kemba Walker: BOS at PHX – 1.50x multiplier

3. Nicolas Batum: LAC vs. SAC – 1.75x multiplier

Final Thoughts on the Sunday, Feb. 7 NBA DFS Slate

With everyone focusing on the Super Bowl today, some gamers may not be putting in their best efforts for today’s early NBA slate. We will want to watch out for any late-breaking news, but it seems that we have most of the key information already. Keep in mind that salaries and scoring formats differ across the various fantasy sites, and a slam-dunk play on Yahoo may be a below-average NBA DFS pick on DraftKings or FanDuel.

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