This is it. The final two weeks of the NBA’s regular season. What a cold, unforgiving place.
If you thought the last month was littered with vague injuries — look out. These next 13 days are going to feature some absolutely shameless tanking. I, personally, can not wait to watch it all unfold. Not just because it’s hilarious, but because it’ll create a ton of value on these DraftKings slates.
Let’s dive into Monday night and break down the madness.
Set your DraftKings fantasy basketball lineups here: NBA $150K Floor General [$50K to 1st]
C Oscar Tshiebwe, Utah Jazz at Charlotte Hornets, $4,000
With Walker Kessler (reconditioning) ruled out again on Monday, expect to see Tshiebwe back in the Jazz’s starting lineup against the Hornets. The big man hasn’t scored all that well in any opportunity he’s been given this season, but goodness can he grab a rebound. In Tshiebwe’s past four games, the big man has racked up 36 boards in just 81.4 total minutes of action. In the month of March, Tshiebwe actually leads all Jazz players with a 26.7% rebounding rate. For some context on how insane that figure is, consider that Domantas Sabonis leads all qualified NBA players in rebounding rate in 2024-25 at only 22.5%. It’s a small sample, yet it’s clear that Tshiebwe has an elite skill. The 25-year-old collected 10 rebounds, seven points and 22.0 FPTS in his start on Friday. I could easily see a repeat performance.
PG Davion Mitchell, Miami Heat at Washington Wizards, $4,800
Mitchell has quietly proven to be one of the most impactful people traded at this year’s deadline, as the former lottery pick has started 14 of his 23 games with Miami and has been a vital member of the team’s rotation. To wit, in the Heat’s past seven contests, Mitchell is averaging the third-most minutes of anyone on the roster (33.8) and he’s only barely trailing Tyler Herro ($8,800) for the team lead in touches per game (65.4). In that same span, Mitchell is putting up 11.7 points and 5.9 assists per contest and he’s managed to exceed 30 FPTS three times. On most slates, Mitchell would be considered a high-floor asset without a ton of upside, yet Monday presents a unique opportunity. Mitchell should have to shoulder a little more offensive responsibility with Andrew Wiggins (hamstring) sidelined and he’ll draw an elite matchup in the form of the Wizards, who have conceded the most FPTS per game to opposing point guards in 2024-25.
PG/SG Nick Smith Jr., Charlotte Hornets vs. Utah Jazz, $4,600
There’s a couple ways you could go with the Hornets this evening. One of the big dominos on this slate is the status of Mark Williams ($8,200; rest), who was held out of Sunday’s loss to the Pelicans. Usually, Williams would be a lock to play at least one of the games in a back-to-back set, yet with Charlotte “chasing” Utah for the top spot in the reverse standings, any sort of injury report hijinks is possible. If Williams sits again, Jusuf Nurkic ($4,800) would suddenly be a DFS target, after registering 45.0 FPTS in just 21.6 minutes against New Orleans. Aside from that, Smith Jr. has some tantalizing upside. The former first-round pick came off the bench last night, but still found a way to lead the Hornets in minutes (35.5) and field goal attempts (16). He’s not the most consistent fantasy asset in the world, however, the ceiling is obvious at his reduced price.
