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.
The value on Friday looks to be in the backcourt, so we’ll concentrate on the smaller guys today, which will allow us to roster some of the more expensive bigs on the slate.
PG Shaun Livingston ($3,600) After getting a break and only playing a total of 8 minutes in his last two games, Livingston should be closer to his normal complement of court time, as coach Luke Walton stated the 30-year-old guard would be receiving more minutes. The Dubs look to be easing their MVP back in and this game looks to be a high scoring blowout (214 1/2 point O/U and Golden State is a 10 point favorite.) Livingston is facing a decent match up against a Portland team giving up over 41 FanDuel points per game to opposing point guards.
PG Mario Chalmers ($4,900) Grizzlies starting point guard Mike Conley is listed as doubtful for this game after sitting out Wednesday night with a sore Achilles. Chalmers slid into the starting line up and scored 49.1 FanDuel points in 39 minutes against OKC. He’ll get a dream match up against a Denver team ranked 28th in the NBA in terms of allowing fantasy points versus the point guard position.
SG Victor Oladipo ($6,000) Oladipo was benched earlier last month but was recently promoted to the starting point guard position over the slumping/injured Elfrid Peyton. While Oladipo’s strong play over the last two contests (67.4 FanDuel points) have caused his price to come up, he’s still a strong value even with Peyton expected to suit up. We always like to target players moving to the point guard position as their usage rates usually spike, as well as their ability to get peripheral stats. Oladipo will be facing a Nets team allowing 43.5 FanDuel point to opposing point guards (27th in the NBA.)
PF Jabari Parker ($4,600) While Parker has been inconsistent and has struggled with his shot at times, the Bucks finally seem to be committed to developing their second year power forward. He’s been above 30 minutes in each of his last four games and gets a great match up against a Dallas team that struggles to defend the power forward position in a game that’s expected to be close with a 201 point O/U. I wouldn’t recommend Parker in cash games, but I think he represents a good tournament option.
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