In case you've never played daily fantasy basketball, every player has a salary and your roster cannot exceed the game's salary-cap maximum.
For FanDuel leagues, rosters consist of nine players and the salary cap is $60,000, which averages to roughly $6,667 per player. To give you an idea of the range for Sunday's games, Thunder SF Kevin Durant ($12,000) has the contest's highest salary while many are tied for the lowest at the game-minimum salary ($3,500).
There are a number of benefits compared to traditional full-season re-draft leagues, such as:
- you don't have to worry about being saddled by players sidelined by injury;
- having a late pick doesn't rule out owning studs like Kevin Durant or LeBron James;
- you get the instant gratification of winning your league(s) that night.
OK, with the preliminary stuff out of the way, here are some value plays to consider for Sunday (March 9th) FanDuel leagues:
PG - Rajon Rondo, Boston Celtics (vs. DET), $7,500: While he's not necessarily cheap in absolute terms, Rondo is tied for the eighth-highest salary among point guards with seven games on tap for today. In other words, he's middle of the road among starting point guards in terms of cost, but in reality, he's a better-than-average option today. Over his past five games, Rondo has scored 33.6 fantasy points in all but one game and has averaged 17.2 points, 9.6 assists, 4.4 rebounds and 1.8 steals per game. On the season, the Pistons have allowed the eighth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards.
PG - Will Bynum, Detroit Pistons (at BOS), $4,400: Despite the lack of playing time, Bynum has been productive. In his past five games, Bynum has scored more than 25 fantasy points in four of those outings despite playing 21 minutes or less in each of his past four games.
PG - Jerryd Bayless, Boston Celtics (vs. DET), $4,200: Over his past six games, Bayless has averaged 31.5 minutes and 22.72 fantasy points per game. During that six-game span, he has averaged 15.5 points, 3.17 rebounds, 2.17 assists and 1.17 assists per game. As noted above with Rondo, the matchup is favorable.
* Join my free 20-team FanDuel MLB league for Opening Day
SG - Wesley Matthews, Portland Trail Blazers (at HOU), $5,500: Against the Mavs on Friday, Matthews scored 26 points and added six boards and a steal for 33.2 fantasy points. That ended a streak of modest production as Matthews had scored 22 fantasy points or less in his previous six games. On Sunday, Matthews has a favorable matchup against the Rockets, who have allowed the ninth-most fantasy points to opposing SGs.
SG - Joe Johnson, Brooklyn Nets (vs. SAC), $5,200: In his past three games, Johnson has scored 26.9, 30.4 and 33.4 fantasy points, respectively. Only the Lakers and Sixers have allowed more fantasy points to opposing shooting guards this season than the Kings.
SF - Jeff Green, Boston Celtics (vs. DET), $6,300: Even though he has had a couple of modest outings in back-to-back games, Green has an opportunity to bounce back on Sunday with a favorable matchup against the Pistons. Only three teams have allowed more fantasy points to opposing small forwards this season and none of them are playing on Sunday.
SF - Wilson Chandler, Denver Nuggets (at NO), $5,600: Chandler extended his streak of games with 30-plus fantasy points to three games on Friday. During that stretch, he has averaged 21.67 points, 6.67 rebounds, 1.67 assists and 1.33 steals per game. Even though the Pelicans have been excellent at limiting fantasy points to opposing three's, Chandler is a solid option considering his still modest salary.
SF - Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors (vs. PHO), $4,400: Green has played in 21-plus minutes and has scored 22-plus fantasy points in each of his past three games. During that stretch, he has averaged 8.33 points, 5.33 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.33 steals per game.
PF - Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets (at NOP), $5,900: Faried made this list on Friday and hopefully you started him against the Lakers as he exploded for 56.6 fantasy points (32 points, 13 rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block). Even though 50-something fantasy points shouldn't be expected tonight, The Manimal has scored at least 29.6 fantasy points in four consecutive games. The Pelicans have allowed the fifth-most fantasy points to opposing power forwards this season.
PF - Marcus Morris, Phoenix Suns (at GS), $4,100: Morris has averaged 15.0 points and 5.25 rebounds per game over his past four games. During that span, Morris has scored at least 20 fantasy points in three of those games.
C - Timofey Mozgov, Denver Nuggets (at NOP), $4,000: It's hard to trust him, but Mozgov had a solid outing on Friday against the Lakers. He finished with 13 points, six rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal for 27.2 fantasy points in 26 minutes. That last stat (26 minutes) is the most important as he hasn't played that many since Feb. 21st. If Mozgov can approach that number on Sunday, he gets a solid matchup (Pelicans allow 10th-most fantasy points to centers) that should easily allow him to outproduce his modest cost.
C - Kelly Olynyk, Boston Celtics (vs. DET), $4,200: The Pistons have allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing centers this season. Like with Mozgov, Olynyk's minutes are a concern as he played only 17 minutes with six turnovers on Friday. With 27 minutes on Wednesday, however, Olynyk scored 19 points and added five boards, three assists and a block for 29.5 fantasy points.
Compete in FanDuel's Daily Fantasy Basketball Championship: $1.2 million in cash prizes
>> Or find other FanDuel NBA games here.
If you play in full-season leagues, check out my rest-of-season Fantasy NBA rankings.
Keep track of our Fantasy NBA updates by following us on Twitter, "liking" us on Facebook and/or adding us to your Google+ circle.
No comments:
Post a Comment