Daily Fantasy Basketball (Feb. 24th): Some FanDuel Bargains

If you play daily fantasy sports (and who doesn't these days?!), you know that one of the keys to success is uncovering undervalued players to allow you to load up on studs elsewhere.

In case you've never played daily fantasy basketball, you select your team based on a player's salary and your team's salary cannot exceed the game 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 Monday's games, Knicks PF Carmelo Anthony ($10,700) 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.

And you know that enthusiasm you have after drafting your fantasy team(s)? Well, you get to experience that feeling on a nightly basis with daily fantasy basketball.

OK, with the preliminary stuff out of the way, here are some value plays to consider for Monday (Feb. 24th) FanDuel leagues:

PG - Brandon Knight, Milwaukee Bucks (at PHI), $6,700: At roughly the average salary for the contest, Knight is a much better than an average option for tonight's games. After missing a game, Knight returned to drop 52 (FanDuel points, that is) against the league's best defense on Saturday. Tonight, Knight and the Pistons face the league's 30th-ranked defense in the Sixers (110.7 PPG allowed).

PG - Trey Burke, Utah Jazz (vs. BOS), $5,700: Burke has had three consecutive solid performances in a row. Averaging 33 minutes per game in that stretch, the rookie out of Michigan has scored 34.6, 38.7 and 31.6 fantasy points, respectively. During that span, he has averaged 17.0 points, 7.67 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 1.0 steal and only 1.0 turnover per game.

PG - Will Bynum, Detroit Pistons (vs. GS), $3,900: Bynum has been playing extremely well recently. Since the All-Star break, Bynum is averaging 12.25 points and 7.25 assists in four games.

SG - Vince Carter, Dallas Mavericks (at NYK), $5,000: Over his past three games, Carter has been productive with 24.9, 26.8 and 34.7 fantasy points, respectively. On Saturday, Carter scored 18 points and added six boards, five assists, a steal and block.

SG - James Anderson, Philadelphia 76ers (vs. MIL), $4,300: Anderson has played at least 30 minutes in each of his past three games. In those games, Anderson has knocked down eight treys to go along with seven steals.

SF - Andre Iguodala, Golden State Warriors (at DET), $5,300: Iggy has had back-to-back strong performances. In those two games, he has averaged 9.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals.

SF - Matt Barnes, Los Angeles Clippers (at NO), $4,200: Barnes followed up a strong Friday performance (15 points and seven boards) with an even better outing against the Thunder on Sunday. Barnes had 24 points, seven rebounds, two steals and assist in OKC on Sunday.

SF - Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors (at DET), $3,700: With David Lee (flu) expected to miss tonight's game, it should more minutes for Green again. With Lee out on Saturday, Green had the second double-double (career-high 18 points with 10 rebounds) of his career and added three steals and two assists in 38 minutes.

PF - John Henson, Milwaukee Bucks (at PHI), $5,600: Henson has played 25 minutes (or less) in each of his past two games, but he has the potential on any given night for big numbers if given the minutes. With both Larry Sanders and Ekpe Udoh out, Henson (and the Bucks) get a great matchup against the Sixers.

That said, if you're looking for bargains in order to load up with studs, this is the star-studded position for Monday night. In addition to Melo being the most expensive option, the next two highest-priced options tonight are power forwards as well: Blake Griffin ($9,900) and Anthony Davis ($9,800).

PF - Kris Humphries, Boston Celtics (at UTA), $4,100: With Jared Sullinger (concussion) out on Saturday, it appears that he won't play on Monday either. With Sullinger out on Saturday, Humphries took advantage: 19 points, eight boards, four dimes, two blocks and two steals in 36 minutes.

PF - Arnett Moultrie, Philadelphia 76ers (vs. MIL), $3,800: A former first-round pick, Moultrie got 31 minutes on Friday. With Spencer Hawes in Cleveland, Moultrie should continue to get extended minutes and put up roughly 20 fantasy points as a low-priced option.

C - Tyson Chandler, New York Knicks (vs. DAL), $5,500: Chandler has scored a total of 80.8 fantasy points in his past two games. While I wouldn't count on another 23-rebound performance like he had on Saturday, a double-double (plus) with a couple of blocks is close to a sure thing.

C - Enes Kanter, Utah Jazz (vs. BOS), $5,400: Frustration! That's probably the word best used to describe the emotion most experienced by Kanter's fantasy owners. That said, Kanter is getting minutes with Derrick Favors currently sidelined. In his past three games, Kanter has played 33-plus minutes each game. Not only does he have two double-doubles in that span, but he has scored 25 points in back-to-back games.

FanDuel leagues: Fantasy Basketball Games - Win Cash In Just 1 Day!

If you play in full-season leagues, check out my rest-of-season Fantasy NBA rankings or my waiver-wire post from yesterday.

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2011 NBA Mock Draft, 2.0

The 2011 NBA Draft is roughly 72 hours away.

Here is the latest update of our mock draft from Kyle Baillargeon, our NBA Draft guru, (see his first mock) with plenty of changes throughout:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - Kyrie Irving, Duke (discuss pick): Irving has the potential to be an all-star caliber point guard. In an era of great point guards, Cleveland would be smart to start rebuilding around one of their own.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves - Derrick Williams, Arizona (discuss pick): I still think Minnesota will wind up making a trade here. If that doesn't work out, however, expect them to take Williams and look to trade someone out of their front court (likely Beasley, if anyone is willing to take him). Rubio to Williams doesn't sound so bad in Minnesota.

3. Utah Jazz - Brandon Knight, Kentucky (discuss pick): The Jazz will look to start from scratch at the point guard position and it looks like Knight gets the edge over Kemba Walker.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers - Enes Kanter (discuss pick): The Cleveland dream scenario is gone now that Minnesota has taken Williams. Expect them to go with Kanter to beef up their front court.

5. Toronto Raptors - Jonas Valanciunas (discuss pick): Colangelo loves international players, and with his recent extension he has the kind of security to make this pick. Also, Toronto doesn't have a good center on the roster.

6. Washington Wizards - Tristan Thompson, Texas (discuss pick): The Wizards can pair Thompson up with JaVale McGee and potentially trade Andray Blatche for some help elsewhere. The team is still in the early rebuilding stages, and Thompson is a good building block here.

7. Sacramento Kings - Kemba Walker, Connecticut (discuss pick): While Knight isn't available in this version of the mock draft, Walker can come in and allow the Kings to move Tyreke Evans to the SG position where he belongs.

8. Detroit Pistons - Bismack Biyombo (discuss pick): The Pistons will hope that Biyombo can be another Ben Wallace. Thankfully, the original Ben Wallace is already in Detroit and hopefully he can take the beast from Congo under his wing.

9. Charlotte Bobcats - Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State (discuss pick): New GM Richard Cho will try to make a splash by taking a player we had in the top three in our last mock. Charlotte would be very happy to see Leonard slide this far.

10. Milwaukee Bucks - Alec Burks, Colorado (discuss pick): Burks could give Milwaukee an explosive tandem in the backcourt for years to come.

11. Golden State Warriors - Marcus Morris, Kansas (discuss pick): Morris is a bit on the smaller side, but that won't hurt him as much in the run-and-gun Golden State offense. He can also inject some much-needed toughness into the front court.

12. Utah Jazz - Jan Vesely (discuss pick): Vesely could very likely be gone at this point in the draft, perhaps even to Utah with the third pick. But if he somehow falls this far, expect Utah to snatch him up.

13. Phoenix Suns - Chris Singleton, Florida State (discuss pick): Singleton can give Phoenix a strong perimeter defender from the start. While Singleton has a lot of work to do on the offensive end, who better to learn from than Steve Nash?

14. Houston Rockets - Jimmer Fredette, BYU (discuss pick): Jimmer may seem like a bit of a head-scratcher here, but are Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic really the point guards of the future in Houston? Not likely. Jimmer would be an upgrade for Houston, and likely just the first of many moves by Daryl Morey this offseason.

15. Indiana Pacers - Klay Thompson, Washington State (discuss pick): The Pacers will hope that Thompson becomes their point guard of the future. There is a chance he won't be, but he can shoot and could at the very least be a good role player.

To see the rest of our first-round NBA Mock Draft, click here. Or for our NBA Mock Draft database, click here.

2011 NBA Mock Draft, 1.0

The NBA Finals will end June 14th (or earlier if the series does not go seven games) and then all attention will turn to the 2011 NBA Draft, which will happen in Newark (NJ) on Thursday, June 23rd.

At least, it will be all of the good attention considering the NBA's current labor deal ends on June 30th and there is the threat of a shortened 2011-2012.

Back to the good stuff, here are the first ten picks of our 2011 NBA mock draft from Kyle Baillargeon, our NBA Draft guru:

1. Cleveland Cavaliers - Kyrie Irving, Duke (discuss pick): Irving has the potential to be an all-star caliber point guard. In an era of great point guards, Cleveland would be smart to start rebuilding around one of their own.

2. Minnesota Timberwolves - Enes Kanter, International (discuss pick): We can't predict trades, but we expect Minnesota to trade out and someone else to come in and take Derrick Williams. Assuming Minnesota stays with this pick, however, Kanter is the guy here, as the Wolves are already set at SF and PF.

3. Utah Jazz - Kawhi Leonard, San Diego State (discuss pick): The Jazz would rather have Kanter, for sure. But he's gone. Andrei Kirilenko will be gone soon, and the Jazz can use this pick to get their SF of the future.

4. Cleveland Cavaliers - Derrick Williams, Arizona (discuss pick): A dream scenario for Cleveland, this will allow them to not only build around two potential studs, but also trade J.J. Hickson for some help elsewhere.

5. Toronto Raptors - Jonas Valanciunas, International (discuss pick): Colangelo loves international players, and with his recent extension he has the kind of security to make this pick. Also, Toronto doesn't have a good center on the roster.

6. Washington Wizards - Tristan Thompson, Texas (discuss pick): The Wizards can pair Thompson up with JaVale McGee and potentially trade Andray Blatche for some help elsewhere. The team is still in the early rebuilding stages, and Thompson is a good building block here.

7. Sacramento Kings - Brandon Knight, Kentucky (discuss pick): Knight gives the Kings a chance to move Tyreke Evans to the SG position where he belongs. Kemba Walker is an option, but Knight looks to have the bigger upside.

8. Detroit Pistons - Bismack Biyombo, International (discuss pick): The Pistons will hope that Biyombo can be another Ben Wallace. Thankfully, the original Ben Wallace is already in Detroit and hopefully he can take the beast from Congo under his wing.

9. Charlotte Bobcats - Kemba Walker, Connecticut (discuss pick): The Bobcats have a penchant for taking known collegiate products in the draft. It hasn't really worked out for them, but Walker is an immediate upgrade over D.J. Augustin.

10. Milwaukee Bucks - Chris Singleton, Florida State (discuss pick): The Bucks could use a strong permimeter defender, and Singleton would help immediately. He needs to work on his offensive game, but that could come with time and hard work.

Click here to view the rest of the first round in our 2011 NBA Mock Draft. Or, to see more mocks from around the internet, check out our 2011 NBA Mock Draft Database.