Welcome to Sleeper Picks. Sleeper’s newest offering promised plenty of entertainment and action, and they delivered. We will break down our top three picks for tonight’s NBA action. Sleeper is quickly becoming one of the most popular season-long fantasy platforms, and they are expanding into other areas based on demand. Each week in this space, we’ll talk about some strategy for the new platform while providing our favorite NBA more/less picks.
NBA Sleeper Picks Player Predictions (4/26)
Pascal Siakam (F – IND): 26.5 points
Pascal has been on fire for the Indiana Pacers, scoring 36 and 37 points in Game 1 and Game 2, respectively. Siakam is going extremely high volume, averaging 24 shot attempts per game. For perspective, only Jalen Brunson (27.3 field goal attempts per game on .354 shooting) and Luka Doncic (26.0 field goal attempts per game on .423 shooting) have averaged more shots per contest. However, while both of them have been inefficient (both under .425 field goal percentage), Siakam has a .646 field goal percentage through two games. Siakam should continue to dominate touches and shots for Indiana, as despite his negative effect on Tyrese Halliburton’s numbers, he is an efficient scorer with an NBA Championship under his belt. Indiana will not be able to continue to rely on Pascal to do all of the heavy lifting if they make it out of the first round, but against a short-handed Bucks team that has struggled hard under Doc Rivers, he is more than capable of leading the charge. Push the More on Pascal for Game 3.
Pick: More
Rudy Gobert (C – MIN): 13.5 points
Gobert looks much more engaged than a still hobbled Karl Anthony-Towns through two games, and as such, he has been listed with a higher point total than KAT. Just think about that for a second: a player who made the All-Star game is projected to score fewer points than a player who has been an offensive liability for most of his career and who is such a defensive liability in the playoffs that he was repeatedly benched by his former team. Gobert is not much of a scoring threat, but due to his effort, he has averaged 16 points per game during the playoffs, dropping 14 and 18 points. Dating back to the regular season, Rudy has dropped 14 or more points in four straight games and in six of his last seven. Rap the More on Rudy for Friday night.
Pick: More
Kevin Durant (G/F – PHX): 6.5 1st quarter points
KD slowed down in Game 2 but should bounce back tonight. He managed just two first quarter points in Game 2, but was much better in his previous two outings against the Timberwolves, scoring eight and 11 first quarter points. Durant is going to need to look for his shot early and often in this one if the Suns have any designs in making it out of the first round. Dap the More on KD for Game 3.
Pick: More
Writers note: The lines are constantly changing on Sleeper (and sometimes expiring), so there is a high probability that one or all of the numbers may no longer be the same when you open your app. There are excellent values when they are first posted, with the only catch being that they are not all released at the same time. Vigilance could provide a solid return on investment this season, literally.
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Raju Byfield is a featured writer for FantasyPros. For more from Raju, check out his profile and follow him @FantasyContext.
