The NBA has seven games on the main slate for Friday, April 4 with just over a week left in the regular season. With 14 teams in the player pool, the slate provides a solid stack of stars to pick from as well as some great value options. As you get your lineups locked in and ready to take the floor, make sure to include these three NBA must-start options in your plans. Based on their matchup, expected workload and recent form, they should be set to put up outstanding production on Friday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $150K Fadeaway [$50K to 1st]
PG Isaiah Collier, Utah Jazz at Indiana Pacers, $6,000
The Jazz ruled out Lauri Markkanen (knee), John Collins (ankle), and Walker Kessler (concussion) for their Friday night matchup in Indiana, so Collier should stay very involved at point guard. The rookie has turned in good non-scoring numbers all season and has been scoring more lately. He remains very affordable, though, which is why he’s one of my NBA must-starts for Friday.
In four of his last five games, Collier has scored at least 15 points including two games with over 20 points. He had a 20-point double-double against the Rockets on Wednesday, finishing with 22 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and 47.75 fantasy points.
Collier’s huge game is a great ceiling performance, but it isn’t a total outlier since he had at least 27 fantasy points in four of his last five games. Collier set the Jazz rookie record for assists, passing John Stockton, and he will continue to run the offense against the Pacers in what should be a pretty high-scoring game in Indianapolis. You can stack around Collier with Kyle Filipowski ($7,100) or Brice Sensabaugh ($4,700) if you want to go all in on the Jazz, but Collier is a great option either as part of that stack or independently.
PG Collin Gillespie, Phoenix Suns at Boston Celtics, $4,500
Gillespie is another under-priced option in the backcourt on Friday who has the potential to vastly outperform his salary. The second-year guard from Villanova has started eight straight games for the Suns, and should stay very involved even with Bradley Beal ($6,700) cleared to return. Beal hasn’t played in over two weeks, and with Kevin Durant (ankle) out, Gillespie’s recent success should keep him in coach Mike Budenholzer’s rotation.
In two of his last three games, he hit exactly four three-pointers and went off for 48.25 fantasy points against the Timberwolves and 31 fantasy points against the Bucks. Even if he takes a slight hit in usage, at his salary under $5K, he’s an excellent value play in the backcourt for Phoenix against the Celtics.
SF/PF Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs vs. Cleveland Cavaliers, $5,100
The Spurs are hosting the Cavs in the game with the highest over/under on the main slate on Friday night. San Antonio ruled out Jeremy Sochan (back) for a third straight game, but Johnson got a probable tag after sitting out Wednesday’s game with back soreness of his own. Devin Vassell ($7,300; back) also missed that game, opening up lots of usage for Harrison Barnes ($3,800) and Julian Champagnie ($4,100). While Champagnie and Barnes are still decent bargain options, Vassell and Johnson should step back into high-usage roles.
Of the two, Johnson is much cheaper and gets the nod in my NBA must-starts since he was rolling along so productively before being limited by his back issue in his most recent game on Tuesday. Prior to that game, he had played 20+ minutes in nine of his previous 10 games.
Before Tuesday’s limited workload, Johnson averaged 15.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 27.7 fantasy points in 25.3 minutes per game. He had 37.75 fantasy points against the Thunder in the only game he played during that stretch without Sochan.
The Spurs took on the Cavs last Thursday, and Johnson had 17 points, 10 boards and 35 fantasy points in 27 minutes. Johnson had at least 27 fantasy points in three straight before his early departure April 1.
If he’s ready for his full workload, he brings both a high ceiling and a high floor for the scrappy Spurs in San Antonio.
