3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 2/15/17
Dario Saric, SF, Philadelphia 76ers
FanDuel Price: $5,300
Why He Will Go Overlooked:
Nikola Jokic has been unstoppable recently while playing at the focal point of the Denver Nuggets offense and should be highly sought after against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
There are also several appealing value power forward options tonight, including Frank Kaminsky, Channing Frye, and Juan Hernangomez. Among all of these potential plays, it seems unlikely that Dario Saric is popular.
Why You Should Use Him:
Saric has been trusted with more playing time recently, averaging 28.3 minutes over his last three contests. He has rewarded the Philadelphia 76ers and daily fantasy players with averages of 21.0 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 38.3 FanDuel points during that stretch.
There has been word that Jahlil Okafor will return tonight, which dampen's Saric's outlook slightly. However, the Sixers waited on Saric, a lottery pick from 2014, to play in the NBA for two years. With him finally starting to thrive, it seems unlikely that his minutes are limited by the return of Okafor, who was averaging just 24 minutes in the 6 games prior to missing the team flight.
Per Rotogrinders' Court IQ, few Sixers have benefited from the absence of Joel Embiid more than Saric, who has maintained a 25.5% usage rate and 0.87 FanDuel points per game without Embiid. The 1.5% bump in usage and .05 bump in FanDuel points per minute are the third- and second-largest on the team.
He will also benefit from an advantageous matchup against the Boston Celtics, who have struggled against bigs this season. Boston has allowed the 12th-most FanDuel points to opposing power forwards and the eighth-most to centers while boasting the league's 5th-worst rebounding rate.
Saric should see close to the 28 minutes he has averaged recently, and given the matchup, it wouldn't be a shock to see him post another huge game. There are safer options at power forward on such a deep slate, but few that have Saric's combination of cheap salary, low ownership, and huge upside.
