NBA Fantasy: Yahoo DFS for March 27

We’re set for a signature massive midweek slate Wednesday, as there are 12 games on the docket. That gives us an almost overwhelming player pool, but it also presents us with the opportunity to be a bit more selective than usual of whom we invest the highest dollars in, given there are so many choices to consider.

As customary, we’ll highlight multiple advantageous positional matchups to exploit at each position for your Yahoo Fantasy lineups, as well as a good trio of candidates that may be best to steer clear of due to a combination of circumstances/salary.  

Guards

Darius Garland, CLE at CHA ($30): Speaking of utilizing salary cap dollars wisely, I’m in favor of paying down a bit at guard Wednesday and going with Garland as a play has the potential to deliver a very good return on investment. The star guard will continue to operate without Donovan Mitchell (nose) and checks in having scored over 30 Yahoo points in three of his last five games alone. Garland has flashed a much higher ceiling than that this season as well, and he’ll face a Hornets squad that’s allowed the fourth-highest offensive efficiency rating to point guards (29.6), along with the fourth-most Yahoo points per game to ones in the last 30 contests (51.6).

Jeremy Sochan, SAN at UTA ($21): Sochan has blown past his current salary on multiple occasions recently, scoring 55.1 Yahoo points in his most recent contest Monday against the Suns and also recording over 30 on five other occasions in his last eight games overall. The second-year continues to be listed at his season-opening position of guard, but he’s deployed as a power forward these days. That puts him in an excellent positional matchup Wednesday, as the Jazz are surrendering an NBA-high 31.0 offensive efficiency rating to fours, along with 52.3% shooting, including 39.9% from 3-point range. Additionally, Utah has yielded 51.8 Yahoo points per contest to the position in the last 30 games, and Sochan already has one tally of 29.5 Yahoo points against the Jazz this season.

ALSO CONSIDER: Jalen Green, HOU at OKC ($36)

Guard to Avoid

Tyrese Haliburton, IND at CHI ($50): Haliburton is the first of three big-name players I’m recommending avoiding Wednesday, and as is the case with the other two that will be discussed, it primarily comes down to salary. In Haliburton’s case, he requires a massive investment that’s not exactly commensurate to recent production. The All-Star guard did have a vintage performance of 64.9 Yahoo points three games ago, but otherwise, he’s been under 40 Yahoo points in six of his other 12 games in March, and he hasn’t hit as much as 50, or a Yahoo point per dollar, in any of those other contests. With the likes of Dejounte Murray, Anthony Edwards and Devin Booker all available for $5 less, I don’t see the need to spend such a large chunk of the cap on Haliburton.

Forwards 

DeMar DeRozan, CHI vs. IND ($41): DeRozan continues to churn out fantasy scores befitting a higher salary, as he’ll come into Wednesday having posted 44 to 53.4 Yahoo points in three of his last four games. He also has tallies of 43, 46.6, 47.7, 50.6 and 68.3 Yahoo points dating back to the start of March, with the latter total coming against the same Pacers team he’ll face Wednesday. Indiana continues to play at an extremely fast pace and has surrendered the fourth-highest offensive efficiency rating to PFs (30.0) for the season and 49.2 Yahoo points per game to fours in the last 15 games, furthering DeRozan’s appeal.

DeAndre Hunter, ATL vs. POR ($18): Hunter is set to draw another start at power forward for Jalen Johnson (ankle) on Wednesday, giving him plenty of value at his current salary. The veteran delivered nicely in the comeback win over the Celtics on Monday, compiling 34.9 Yahoo points in 34 minutes. He also generated a tally of 33.3 three games ago, and with Trae Young (finger) also still out Wednesday, Hunter is set to build on the 24.2% usage rate and average of 32.5 Yahoo points per 36 minutes he averages without both Young and Johnson on the floor.

ALSO CONSIDER: Paolo Banchero, ORL vs. GSW ($41)

Forward to Avoid

Franz Wagner, ORL vs. GSW ($35): Wagner is another player perfectly capable of delivering a solid score that could nevertheless fall short of what would justify his salary. Accordingly, the young forward has scored 17.5 to 29.1 Yahoo points in his last three games, and he’s also had games with 13.6, 20.8 and 25.8 Yahoo points within March. The evidence for Wagner very possibly delivering an underwhelming score is there, and a Warriors team surrendering just 43.8% shooting to small forwards could make his life difficult Wednesday.

Centers

Chet Holmgren, OKC vs. HOU ($33): Holmgren posted a rare dud against the Bucks two games ago (9.8 Yahoo points), but he’s scored 37.8 to 66.3 Yahoo points in the other four games he’s played over the last two weeks. That small sample is a solid representation of the vast upside the redshirt rookie offers at his very reasonable salary, and he’s now facing a Rockets team he lit up for 59.1 and 46.6 Yahoo points the last two times he saw them. Houston is now even more short-handed down low due to Alperen Sengun’s leg injury, affording Holmgren even more appeal than usual.

Naz Reid, MIN vs. DET ($18): Reid has taken the reins of the starting power forward role from Kyle Anderson in the ongoing absence of Karl-Anthony Towns (knee), and the veteran big has been making very good use of the opportunity. Reid has scored 23.8 to 55.9 Yahoo points in his last four games, and zooming further out, he’s also generated tallies of 51 and 44.5 Yahoo points in March. Reid is notably shooting a blistering 49.1% from 3-point range on an average of 7.9 3-point attempts per contest over the last seven games, a level of aggression that is allowing him to pile up the production at a brisk pace. The Pistons make for good targets Wednesday, considering they happen to allow NBA-high 41.1% shooting from behind the arc to power forwards, along with 51.7 Yahoo points per game to the position in the last 30. 

ALSO CONSIDER: Nic Claxton, BKN at WAS ($28)

Center to Avoid

Anthony Davis, LAL at MEM ($54): Suggesting that one should not consider Davis following his masterful 78.6 Yahoo-point effort Tuesday in the double-OT thriller against the Bucks might seem borderline blasphemous, but there’s a case to be made for investing that big chunk of dollars elsewhere. Fatigue is naturally the overriding factor, considering AD not only played 52 minutes Tuesday, but 40 minutes in each of his two prior games. What’s more, Tuesday’s numbers came with LeBron James sitting out, and the latter is fully expected to return Wednesday. Finally, consider Wednesday marks the fourth game in six nights for Davis, a very unforgiving stretch that could leave him at much less than his best Wednesday.