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.
PG Rajon Rondo ($6,400) Teammate Darrin Collison has a hamstring issue that caused him to miss the Kings last game and he looks doubtful for this contest as well. If he sits, Rondo makes for an outstanding value play against a Spurs team that is giving up the 3rd most FanDuel points per game to opposing point guards. With Collison out Saturday night against the Warriors, Rondo played a whopping 44 minutes and scored 55.9 fantasy points. While I wouldn’t expect that result again, having the point to himself should allow Rondo to reach value. He can be a very up and down player, so I would reserve Rondo to tournaments only.
SG JJ Redick ($4,900) This pick hinges entirely upon the status of Chris Paul, who’d doubtful as of the now, but make sure to monitor his status before locking in Redick. When Paul was unable to play Saturday night, Redick saw a big uptick in his minutes, logging 35 against the Rockets. The Grizzlies have a tough defense, but similar minutes should allow Redick to reach value. As a caution, he’s extremely scoring dependent (meaning he doesn’t get a lot of peripheral stats like assists) so like Rondo, he’s tournament only for me.
SF Nemanja Bjelica ($4,000) 17-year-old Bjelica (and don’t ask me how to pronounce that) has been fantastic for the Timberwolves this season. Originally considered a defense specialist, the young Serbian has recently added scoring to his strong rebounding ability. He gets an average match up against the Hawks, but his playing time is going through the roof (40 minutes and 39.7 FanDuel points last time out.) If this trend continues, he should be able to pay off his modest salary while allowing you to roster more expensive players.
C Dewayne Dedmon ($4,100) This pick hinges on the status of Nikola Vucevic, who misses the last two games with a bone bruise. During that span, Dedmon has logged 30 minutes per game and totaled 52.1 Fanduel points. He’ll face a Pacers team allowing the 6th most points to opposing centers. Carefully monitor the health of Vucevic before pulling the trigger on Dedmon. Finally, this pick does not come without some risk, as Orlando coach Scott Skyles has stated the team has no set rotations, so Dedmon’s minutes are not guaranteed, even if Vucevic sits.
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