Fantasy NBA: DraftKings and FanDuel Value Plays for Jan. 20
When it comes to daily fantasy sports (DFS), and basketball in particular, there's a lot of data out there that can help you make lineup decisions. One source of helpful data is numberFire, an analytical sports resource site that features DFS projections as part of its stock of premium content.
The data at numberFire can be used in any number of ways. Can't decide between James Harden and Russell Westbrook? Use the projections to see who the stats say is likely to have a better day. Just want to know which games to target for the most expected fantasy production? There's a chart for that showing how each game on a given slate rates on a number of different metrics. Want to weight some of your favorite players and have a computer spit out some optimized lineups? Use the lineup generator.
The cost of premium content at numberFire depends on what level of membership you use, but we're going to provide a sampling for free right here on PokerNews Sports. Each day this recurring article runs, we'll go over three of numberFire's top 10 value plays on both DraftKings and FanDuel using the premium projections. We'll take a look at why these players could represent value and show you what numberFire expects out of them statistically.
All stats are projected totals at the time of writing.
FanDuel Value Plays
| Players | Price | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PG DJ Augustin (ORL) | $3,500 | 27.2 | 11.7 | 2 | 4.3 | 0.8 | 0 | 1.5 |
It's been a frustrating go for Jodie Meeks, who worked his way back from a long-term injury only to dislocate his thumb and head right back to the injury list. Where one player goes down, one must come up though, and along with an injury to Evan Fournier, a lot of minutes have been opened up in Orlando's backcourt. That gives Augustin an opportunity, and he saw 34 minutes in the blowout loss to New Orleans. Milwaukee's a middling defensive team, and the Magic desperately need shooting. Augustin should get some looks up and comes at the minimum price.
| Player | Price | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SF Matt Barnes (SAC) | $4,000 | 32.32 | 9.6 | 6 | 3.4 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
Rudy Gay went down with a torn Achilles in a brutal turn of events for him, as he was essentially in a contract year with a player option coming up that he planned on opting out of. Barnes will be a likely beneficiary, and he's projected to get starter's minutes by numberFire at about 32. The Kings are unfortunately in a pace-down spot against Barnes' last team, the Grizz, but Barnes' box-score stuffing ways could pay big dividends.
| Player | Price | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Zaza Pachulia (GS) | $4,100 | 23.55 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 2.5 | 1 | 0.9 | 1.7 |
Golden State and Houston each rank in the top four in pace, so this game will definitely be one to target — the 238 total certainly reflects that. Pachulia is probably the last guy most people are going to click out of the guys who play significant minutes for the Warriors, so he will certainly be an under-the-radar play. He's only likely to see around 20 minutes but could still easily pile up some cheap stats at low ownership in a track meet.
DraftKings Value Plays
| Player | Price | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SG Mario Hezonja (ORL) | $3,000 | 25.41 | 9.5 | 3.7 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
Another way to take advantage of the Magic backcourt injuries would be to roll out Hezonja. The second-year man's 3-point shooting is still mostly theoretical at this point as he's at just 31 percent this year and 34 for his career, but he shouldn't lack for opportunity given the playing time he might garner. Hezonja won't be a popular play, and he's priced at the bare minimum.
| Player | Price | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Mason Plumlee (POR) | $5,200 | 28.81 | 11.8 | 8.2 | 4 | 1 | 1.2 | 1.7 |
Joel Embiid has the Sixers playing competitive basketball for the first time in years, and unfortunately for the Blazers, it looks like Embiid will suit up tonight and sit tomorrow on this back-to-back. Embiid has been protecting the rim like a madman, so the Blazers will likely look to pull him out to the perimeter and use Plumlee's playmaking off of screens. Plumlee might be able to rack up some assists if he can avoid foul trouble guarding the dazzling rookie.
| Player | Price | MIN | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Greg Monroe (MIL) | $5,000 | 26.36 | 13.5 | 8.1 | 2.5 | 1.4 | 0.7 | 2 |
The "Moose" has been operating as a backup to John Henson but functionally gets the lion's share of the minutes on many nights and certainly takes the bigger chunk of usage. However, his stats have been down recently as he's made value just once in the past five games. His salary has crashed from $6,100 back to $5,000, and any minutes he sees here against Nicola Vucevic's highly suspect defense should be a huge boon to Monroe.
Want to see all of today's top plays on DraftKings and FanDuel? Try numberFire's premium tools for free!
