This article is part of our DraftKings NBA series.
Slate Overview
After back-to-back slates with plenty of games, things will calm down Sunday as the main NBA slate on DraftKings has only three contests.
Things tip off at 7 p.m. EDT with Portland and Toronto and conclude with the Magic and Lakers at 10 p.m. A battle between the Hawks and Nuggets, which could be the most appealing to target, is sandwiched in between at 9 p.m.
There is minimal new injury news on the slate. However, with the trade deadline just a few days ago, several teams have acquired new players and will offer different rotations. That has made the last two slates fun to play and I expect much of the same today. A little more unpredictability spices things up.
Without further ado, let's take a look at the news that most affects today:
Injury News to Monitor
Damian Lillard, POR (knee)/Status: WILL PLAY
Lillard missed Friday's game against the Magic due to a knee injury, but is off the report for Sunday. His return will make CJ McCollum less appealing while the Blazers are also working newly added Norman Powell into the rotation as he is set to start today.
Aaron Gordon, DEN (trade)/Status: QUESTIONABLE
Gordon was traded from the Magic to the Nuggets at the trade deadline, but has yet to make his debut. Assuming he plays, he would take away minutes from Michael Porter Jr., Paul Millsap and JaMychal Green.
Monte Morris, DEN (quad)/Status: OUT
Morris hasn't played since Mar. 12 and is once again listed out. This slightly boosts Jamal Murray and means Facundo Campazzo and PJ Dozier will keep seeing increased minutes.
LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis, LAL (calf)/Status: OUT
James and Davis continue to be sidelined for the Lakers. This has led to a massive uptick in usage for everyone on the team, most notably Montrezl Harrell and Dennis Schroder.
Terrence Ross, ORL (knee)/Status: QUESTIONABLE
Ross hasn't played since Mar. 14, so if he is able to go he would likely be limited. Orlando traded away Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon at the trade deadline, so their rotation looks drastically different now and they are a tricky team to target.
Wendell Carter Jr. and Otto Porter Jr., ORL (trade)/Status: QUESTIONABLE
The Magic got Carter and Porter back in the Vucevic trade and they could make their debut Sunday. That would confuse the Orlando rotation even further, but you're going to have to get some exposure to this team tonight.
Other notable injuries:
Cole Anthony, ORL (ribs)/Status: OUT
JaVale McGee and Gary Clark, DEN (trade)/Status: QUESTIONABLE
De'Andre Hunter, ATL (knee)/Status: QUESTIONABLE
Lou Williams, ATL (trade)/Status: OUT
Elite Players
There are three main spend-up options on this slate: Nikola Jokic ($10,400), Damian Lillard ($9,800) and Trae Young ($8,900).
Obviously all are in play and you could probably fit a couple in your lineup on a small slate. Pairing Young and Jokic together is an interesting way to attack it with a Denver/Atlanta game stack. Young has underperformed lately and his salary has dipped below $9,000 for one of the few times this season. Now could be the time to jump on him.
That said, don't discount Lillard. We know he has potential to put up 70 fantasy points and break the slate. He also rested last game, so will come into this contest fresh.
Expected Chalk
All three of the aforementioned studs will come in highly covered on this slate. It's unavoidable with so few games.
I also think Kyle Lowry ($7,500) and Fred VanVleet ($7,800) look a bit too undervalued and could easily find their way into many lineups tonight. Khem Birch ($5,000) greatly outperformed his salary last game for the Magic with 14 points and 15 rebounds. I could see people going right back to him tonight.
There aren't really any super obvious plays like we had for Saturday. To me, that makes this more fun to play because a lot of options look decent.
Key Values
Kevin Huerter, ATL at DEN ($4,600)
Huerter hasn't been great of late failing to reach 20 fantasy points in each of his last four games. The positive is he's still been getting close to 30 minutes every night. This represents a favorable matchup against the Nuggets and the Hawks just traded backup point guard Rajon Rondo. If Huerter gets into a rhythm shooting tonight, he can crush this salary. It's risky, although his valuation has been as high as $5,700 this season.
Michael Carter-Williams, ORL at LAL ($6,300)
MCW was forced to miss the Magic's first game post-trade deadline because of an illness. He's on schedule to play Sunday and could command a lot of usage without Vucevic and Gordon. What's really appealing about Carter-Williams is his ability to stuff the stat sheet with rebounds and assists. That said, he isn't exactly known as a scorer and has a tendency to struggle shooting.
Gary Trent Jr., TOR vs. POR ($4,800)
Not even a week after being traded from Portland, Trent will get the chance to take on his old squad. Queue up the revenge game narratives. I like Trent for more than that reason, as he played 31 minutes in his first game as a Raptor and shot the ball 11 times. He is another risky play being extremely scoring dependent. But if you select Trent, you're getting someone who should see 30 minutes and can get hot from deep.
Other values to consider: Bogdan Bogdanovic, ATL at DEN ($4,900); Facundo Campazzo, DEN vs. ATL ($3,800); Chuma Okeke, ORL at LAL ($5,700)
