If you’ve read any of my NFL articles, you know I treasure value in daily fantasy sports. “Value” is represented in those players that are likely to produce well over their salaries and send your line-up rocketing to the top of a tournament contest. Value can come in several forms. It can be the back-up subbing for an injured or resting starter or it can be a player who’s been in a slump or who’s been facing tough competition suddenly faced with an easy match-up. Whatever form value comes in, I’ll try to identify it for you, so you can incorporate it into your line-ups.
I won’t be writing this column daily (I have a bar to run and an NFL article to post), nor will I be offering complete line-ups as I do for NFL. I’ll simply be pointing out those players you should probably double-check when you’re filling out your FanDuel NBA line-ups.
We have a full slate of games with some big names (and big salaries) in good spots on Friday, so we’ll need some cheap value to fit these guys into our line ups. You’ll find some of these players right here.
PG Tony Parker ($5,500) Parker began the season slowly, but has really picked it up recently. He has scored over 25 FanDuel points in his last four games, going for 35+ in his last two. His scoring has been up, but more importantly so have his assists, as LaMarcus Aldridge becomes acclimated in the offense. He’ll get a plus match up against a Denver team ranked 28th in terms of fantasy points allowed against opposing point guards.
SG Zach LaVine ($5,500) This one hinges on the health of Ricky Rubio, who hasn’t exactly been a warrior through his career, when it comes to playing through injury. If Rubio is ruled out, LaVine will get the start at the point guard position and see a spike in both minutes and usage. LaVine would see a favorable match up against Rajon Rondo and the Kings, who are allowing over 41 FanDuel points per game to the position, so monitor the injury reports.
SF Omri Casspi ($4,100) One of the automatic plays in NBA DFS is when Rudy Gay or DeMarcus Cousins are out in Sacramento, you plug Omri Casspi into your line up. Boogie Cousins missed his last start and is questionable with back issues for Friday night. When one of these two players misses a start, Casspi usually tops the 30 minute mark and sees a spike in production as well. In his last start, Casspi logged 31 minutes and scored 35.9 FanDuel points.
PF Darrell Arthur ($3,800) Denver power forwards Kenneth Faried and Joffrey Lauvergne have already been ruled out for the Nuggets’ game against the Spurs, leaving Denver awfully thin again in the front court. In the two games that Faried has recently missed, Arthur has logged a total of 64 minutes. His production can be volatile, he scored 31.6 and 15.5 FanDuel points in his two games without Faried and faces a tough match up against the Spurs, so this is a play best reserved for tournaments.
C Nikola Jokic ($4,400) The reasoning behind Jokic is very similar to that of Arthur, but is probably a little safer play. In the two games Faried has missed, Jokic has seen 24 and 27 minutes on the floor and returned 25.2 and 32.2 FanDuel points. Like Arthur, Jokic faces a tough match up, but the Spurs play a lot of big line ups, which should big minutes on Jokic. That, and his increased usage rate without, Faried should allow him to easily exceed 5X value.
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