Fantasy Basketball 2021: Daily Fantasy Lineup Picks for Wednesday's NBA Playoffs
The gut reaction to building a lineup for Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals may lead you to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Trae Young.
With both players at high salaries, it may be hard for you to work both superstars into a five-man roster in FanDuel's single-game contest.
Antetokounmpo is listed at a $16,500 salary, while Young checks in at $15,000. A combination of the two would leave you with $28,500 in salary with not many quality options beneath $10,000.
Danilo Gallinari and P.J. Tucker are the only reliable options with a low salary, but it would be a risk to roster both players. Gallinari's role will be in flux because of Bogdan Bogdanovic's status, and Tucker has not been consistent enough on offense.
That leaves you with a selection of eight players at $10,000 who can be trusted enough to produce a high number of FanDuel points.
Take Giannis Antetokounmpo over Trae Young
Antetokounmpo and Young have played well for their respective sides in the postseason, but only one of them should be called upon for your DFS contest on Wednesday.
Giannis has produced over 50 FanDuel points in each of his last four games, and he enters Game 1 off an extra day of rest.
The Bucks star achieved plenty of success in the three regular-season meetings with the Hawks. He had 27 points, 14 rebounds and eight assists on January 24 and 31 points and 14 rebounds on April 15 but only played 24 minutes in the April 25 clash.
Young played in one of those three contests and only managed 15 points in 36 minutes on April 25. The Hawks guard is coming off his worst shooting performance of the postseason. He went 5-of-23 in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Young holds an advantage in assists, but Antetokounmpo makes up that difference with his rebounding ability.
If your decision comes down to who will score more in Game 1, Antetokounmpo should be the choice, since he had six 30-point outings versus the Brooklyn Nets.
Putting Antetokounmpo in the MVP (2x points) position requires some salary-cap gymnastics with the other four players, but that move should max out your lineup potential.
Utilize John Collins in a Multiplier Position
As Atlanta's series with Philadelphia went on, John Collins turned into more of a force on the glass.
Collins recorded a double-digit rebound total in each of the final four games versus the 76ers.
In Sunday's Game 7, Collins produced 14 points and 16 boards to go along with one assist, a steal and a single block.
Collins earned 38.7 FanDuel points for his Game 7 performance. He produced the same total in Game 5 of the second-round series.
Collins has been more of a scoring force than Clint Capela, and he could control a head-to-head battle with Tucker or Brook Lopez with his athleticism.
The consistency down low should make Collins a prime candidate for the Star (1.5x) or Pro (1.2x) positions to partner Antetokounmpo in the MVP spot.
Show Caution with Kevin Huerter
Kevin Huerter's 27-point Game 7 performance will draw plenty of DFS players in his direction for Game 1 against the Bucks.
However, it is worth noting the Atlanta guard is just a few games removed from failing to score a single point in Game 5.
Huerter's likely level of production in the Eastern Conference Finals is somewhere around 15 points and a few three-pointers.
The level of production could also be affected by Bogdanovic's knee injury. If he gets healthier throughout the series, Huerter may see some of his shots go away.
Huerter could carry a high roster percentage and not be able to live up to it, especially if Young shoots better than he did in Game 7.
Huerter could go off again, but it seems more likely that his production will regress back to the mean and disappoint some DFS players.
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
Statistics obtained from Basketball Reference.