With March Madness in full swing, it’s easy to lose sight of the incredible NBA action we get served on a nightly basis. Although many of Sunday night’s games should be relatively low-scoring, we’ll get an absolute shootout when the Nets and Wizards take the court.

Each week, I’ll be here to profile some strong value plays, studs, and duds for Sunday’s DraftKings slate. I’ll do my best to point you in the right direction, and if you have any questions, you can hit me up on Twitter at @is_sirois. All matchup data is pulled from our defense versus position tool.

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Most Value Per Dollar 

I am not a fan of this evening’s slate. We have two games with projected totals above 220, per the BettingPros consensus odds: WAS/BKN (247.5) and DAL/POR (229). Yes, that means the slate’s other four games all have totals in the 210s: CHI/DET (217.5), TOR/CLE (217), PHI/NYK (213.5), and LAL/PHO (214.5).

On the injury front, the Lakers will have to cope without LeBron James. I see that benefiting one Laker enough to feature him below. The 76ers will have to play without Joel Embiid and Seth Curry, and Ben Simmons is also questionable. Likewise, their opponents are also quite banged-up — the Knicks won’t have guards Austin Rivers or Derrick Rose, and both Elfrid Payton and Immanuel Quickley are questionable.

Below is a list of the top-10 players of the day expected to generate the most value relative to their salary, ranked in order of how much they’ll cost you.

James Harden (BKN) $10,900
You know that I don’t like a slate when I feature multiple stars in the value section. Harden should have a huge showing against the Wizards tonight, as they surrender the sixth-most DraftKings points per game (DKPPG) to point guards, and he’ll cost you a bit less than Doncic. These teams combined for almost 300 points when they last met in January.

Bradley Beal (WAS) $9,300
Harden may not have played in the last showdown between these two teams, but Beal did, and he posted 37 points, six rebounds, and four assists in 38 minutes. He will cost you much less than Westbrook ($10,700) tonight, even though the Nets somehow give up the fewest DKPPG to point guards.

Fred VanVleet (TOR) $7,600
VanVleet’s price hasn’t caught up to where it should be post-COVID. He dropped 42.5 DK points (5.6x value against this price) in his last outing, and though tonight’s matchup isn’t a great one, someone will have to score for the Raptors. The Cavaliers rank around the league average in terms of DKPPG allowed to shooting guards, and VanVleet averages 40.9 DKPPG (5.4x value).

C.J. McCollum (POR) $7,300
As with VanVleet, I believe that McCollum’s price hasn’t caught up to his real value because of his extended absence. McCollum dropped 46.5 DK points (6.4x value against this price) on the Mavericks on Friday, and he’ll face them again tonight. He even led the Trail Blazers in scoring while playing just 28 minutes.

Montrezl Harrell (LAL) $6,500
This price isn’t great, but Harrell stepped up to post 40.8 DK points (6.3x value against this price) versus the Hawks after LeBron James went down. He’ll face a much tougher defense tonight in the Phoenix Suns, but Phoenix has allowed the 17th-most DKPPG to centers on the year. They fare worse against centers than against any other position.

Josh Richardson (DAL) $5,100
Richardson busted in the first game the Mavericks played against the Trail Blazers. He scored only 15.5 DK points (3x value against this price). However, he played 36 minutes and just had an awful night shooting (.222 FG%). If he sees the same workload, he has a good shot to bounce back, especially since Portland gives up the ninth-most DKPPG to shooting guards.

Carmelo Anthony (POR) $5,100
Unlike Richardson, Melo actually looked decent in the first game of this series. He dropped 24 DK points (4.7x value against this price) over 28 minutes played. That isn’t quite 5x value, but on a slate with so many low-scoring games, you could do much worse than the ten-time All-Star.

Reggie Bullock (NYK) $5,000
Bullock is a great pick if either Payton or Quickley misses tonight’s game. He has averaged 30.5 DKPPG (6.1x value) over his last three outings, including a 36.8-DK point showing against the Magic on Thursday. The 76ers give up the fourth-most DKPPG to shooting guards, and Bullock is well-positioned to capitalize on that weakness.

Tomas Satoransky (CHI) $4,500
Sato will remain in Chicago’s starting lineup over Coby White for the foreseeable future. He has averaged 26.2 DK points (5.8x value against this price) through that span. While he has cooled off recently, he is an affordable, high-floor play that will allow you to fit studs like Harden and Doncic into the same roster.

Bruce Brown (BKN) $4,200
Brown is one of the better bargain-bin plays in the WAS/BKN matchup. He has averaged 20.7 DKPPG (4.9x value) over his last two outings, and unlike Jeff Green, you won’t have to worry about Blake Griffin cutting into his playing time.

Studs Worth Their Salary

1. Luka Doncic (DAL) $11,000: Doncic exploded for 64.8 DK points (5.9x value against this price) when he played the Trail Blazers on Friday. Portland gives up the most DKPPG to point guards, and Doncic should capitalize with another big showing.
2. James Harden (BKN) $10,900: With so few high-scoring games to pick from, Harden is a strong option and could be a smart contrarian pivot away from Doncic or Westbrook.
3. Kyrie Irving (BKN) $9,500: The matchup with the Wizards means that Irving has slate-winning upside at a relatively discounted price. He may not be much of a threat to double-double, but he will carry you with a ton of points.
4. Bradley Beal (WAS) $9,300: Like Irving, Beal’s production comes almost entirely from his scoring. However, he is the cheapest high-upside player in the slate’s two highest-scoring games.

Notable Players to Fade

1. Julius Randle (NYK) $10,000: Randle’s salary is a bit high for me tonight, especially against a strong defensive opponent like the 76ers. He barely hit 5x value against this salary when he played them on Tuesday.
2. Tobias Harris (PHI) $8,600*: I’ll recommend fading Harris if Simmons suits up (as I suspect he will) because the point guard’s return would lower Harris’ ceiling dramatically. Otherwise, he is one of the best options at a relatively thin forward position.
3. Zach LaVine (CHI) $8,500: You can find much better options at guard elsewhere on tonight’s slate. Chicago’s game against Detroit is projected to be far too low-scoring for me to feature LaVine in any lineups.
4. Kyle Lowry (TOR) $8,100: Lowry’s salary hasn’t fully adjusted for the return of his teammates, and it’s a bit too high for how low-scoring his game should be.

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Isaiah Sirois is a featured writer at FantasyPros. For more from Isaiah, check out his archive and follow him @is_sirois.