Top of the morning to you all and hopefully you are as excited as I am. We have two games with the stakes about as high as they can get and teams are fighting for reputation. Not going to lie I am absolutely loving all this minor league chaos going on and the narratives being shot down before they have time to spread their wings. Just like it should be.
Per usual, tonight revolves around LeBron James. Luckily his price is reasonable and there will be multiple ways to roster him and a few other superstars. Kyle Lowry has seemingly gotten over his playoff woes and he might be the only Raptor worth considering tonight. With Toronto basically allergic to the playoffs, it's hard for me to have confidence in any Raptor BUT Lowry. With the 76er-Celtics game, the most important aspect of tonight will be the centers. Joel Embiid's price has fallen to below 10K, so between James and Embiid, you have to roster at least one.
In this article, I will be providing you with my daily fantasy basketball lineup picks for DraftKings on 5/7/18. These DFS lineup picks can vary from higher-priced players and elite options to lower-priced players and value picks on DraftKings.
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DraftKings DFS Guards
Fred Van Vleet - PG/SG, at CLE ($3,600)
With such few options at point guard, your three choices are Terry Rozier, Kyle Lowry or Ben Simmons. For game one I suggested Fred Van Vleet and he flopped. As much as I don't think that will happen again, it always can. A 2-for-9 game is never good but it's something Van Vleet can build of off. So don't get this confused with thinking the Raptors will win, I don't. But I do think Van Vleet will be able to salvage his last game of the season and continue to prove why he is an up and coming backup point guard.
J.J. Redick - SG/SF, vs BOS ($5,900)
It's almost harder NOT to roster J.J. Redick at this point. Seeing how Philadelphia has dedicated their minutes towards scoring rather than defense, that means Redick is getting plenty of shots. The best part about this is that Redick has actually been efficient this series. His price is rising for a reason and the 76ers can absolutely beat the Celtics one game, but they don't look capable of keeping them down. The Celtics consistent hustle causes problems for Philadephia, but it hasn't caused any problem for Redick specifically.
DraftKings DFS Forwards
O.G. Anunoby - SF/PF, at CLE ($3,400)
If the Raptors don't reward O.G. Anunoby for being the most important player for them this series then the Raptors deserve less credit than I initially thought. After being tasked with guarding LeBron James THEN having to watch your superstars do EXACTLY what everyone thought they would is a tough task for a rookie. If anything, it will create a sense of leadership within himself to take control seeing how the best players on his team cannot. Anunoby clearly has confidence from simply guarding James, but he should translate that to offense because at this point, there's no way he can see the importance of hitting his shots.
Robert Covington - SF/PF, vs BOS ($5,300)
I know I said that the 76ers are emphasizing scoring over defense but Robert Covington was atrocious last game. He HAS to rebound and it's not like he won't be getting the minutes. Assuming he can even hit one shot will be an improvement and seeing how the 76ers have yet to win a game this series, it's hard to see why they would stick with any certain strategy. Covington is one of those players that misses everything one night and can't miss the next. Well, this is the next night and I'm assuming Covington will be getting minutes dependent on his scoring which should be other-wordly because that's just how it works sometimes.
DraftKings DFS Centers
Aron Baynes - C, at PHI ($3,700)
I already mentioned to the top-tier centers for today so you know I had to hit you with the Aron Baynes bomb. Seeing how he is starting and contributing for minimal price, how can you pass it up. When you are forced to roster a LeBron James or Joel Embiid, you need the pieces to counter-weight the heavy hitters. Baynes will be that guy in most contest and the 76ers backcourt has struggled to really keep him from playing his game. He's not breaking records or anything, but you can't really fade a player of getting double-digit rebounds in a little over 20 minutes in the playoffs. The upside is there and Baynes should hit his projected without a problem.