Another day, another NBA slate with a mind-numbing amount of injuries. This is life in March.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll be focusing on tonight’s seven-game featured slate on DraftKings. Let’s dive in and find some viable value plays for your lineups.
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SG/SF Lonnie Walker IV, Philadelphia 76ers at San Antonio Spurs, $4,400
Tracking this Walker season has been a rollercoaster. It started with the veteran overseas, but the wing would eventually sign a guaranteed NBA deal with the 76ers in February. Thanks to Philadelphia’s onslaught of injuries, Walker even worked his way into the team’s starting five back on March 10. One game later, Walker would suffer a concussion and miss the next four contests. All caught up? Good. Walker is listed as probable for this evening’s tilt against the Spurs and he’ll likely return in a relatively sizeable role. In his three appearances prior to the ailment, Walker averaged 17.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists with a 24.4% usage rate that ranked third on the team within that span. That was also mostly playing alongside Kelly Oubre Jr. (knee), who is now sidelined due to his own injury. So long as there isn’t any sort of conditioning issue, Walker should carry a large load on Friday in a matchup with a San Antonio squad that sports the NBA’s worst defensive rating in the month (127.5). Sounds good to me.
SG Isaiah Joe, Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Charlotte Hornets, $4,600
The Thunder are currently pretty thin on the wing, with Jalen Williams (hip) and Lu Dort (hip) both already ruled out for tonight’s contest against the Hornets and Cason Wallace ($4,300; shoulder) questionable. If Wallace were to miss his second consecutive contest, there’s a reasonable chance that Joe would step into Oklahoma City’s starting five for the 14th time in 2024-25. Heck, even if he doesn’t, Joe will probably flirt with 30 minutes of action — as he has averaged 30.8 minutes across his last three games. Specific to his last two appearances, Joe is producing 20.0 points and 32.4 FPTS. The man can shoot the ball. Joe is knocking down exactly 40.0% of his three-point attempts this season. In a matchup with Charlotte, a team that possesses a 119.2 defensive rating in March, I’d expect the good times to keep rolling for Joe.
C Kai Jones, Dallas Mavericks vs. Detroit Pistons, $5,100
The Mavericks barely have enough active bodies to field an NBA team, so just know that whoever suits up is going to play some serious minutes. Still, let’s specifically focus on Jones. The former first-round pick has played only two contests with Dallas — sandwiched around a seven-game injury absence — but both of those appearances have gone really well. In his first, back on March 3 against the Kings, Jones went off for 21 points, eight rebounds and 32.5 FPTS. On Wednesday, making his first start with the Mavericks, Jones collected an 18-point, 11-assist double-double in a paltry 24.3 minutes of action. Again, we’re dealing with a microscopic sample here, but Jones is averaging a healthy 1.13 FPTS per minute as a member of Dallas’ organization. He should start on Friday versus Detroit and he’s quite appealing for DFS at this price tag. It helps when a team’s lone other option at the five is Dwight Powell ($3,500). It really does.
