3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 3/3/17
Dennis Schroder, PG, Atlanta Hawks
FanDuel Price: $6,500
Why He Will Go Overlooked:
It should come as no surprise on a 10-game slate, but point guard is absolutely loaded. At the top, Russell Westbrook has scary upside in an up-tempo matchup against the Phoenix Suns, while Isaiah Thomas gets a date with the hapless defense of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Just below them, Kyrie Irving takes on the defense of Dennis Schroder and the Atlanta Hawks, who have really struggled against point guards, while Eric Bledsoe squares off against Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Both should be firmly on the daily fantasy radar tonight.
There are also plenty of appealing options in Schroder's price range, including Derrick Rose against the Philadelphia 76ers, the surging D'Angelo Russell against the Boston Celtics, and George Hill against the Brooklyn Nets.
Among all of these options, it'd be surprising to see Schroder carry heavy ownership on Friday.
Why You Should Use Him:
Rostering Schroder is always a roller coaster experience, but he justifies the ride with plenty of ups to balance out the downs. According to our Floor/Ceiling tool, no point guard with a salary over $6,000 has a better ceiling per dollar than Schroder.
One concern with him over the past couple months has been his sometimes inconsistent playing time, but he has seen at least 30 minutes in each game coming out of the All-Star break. If he sees 30 minutes of playing time against Irving, he should have no trouble reaching value, and potentially, reaching his ceiling.
Irving is one of the worst individual defenders at point guard, ranking 68th at the position with a -1.59 DRPM. It should come as no surprise then that the Cleveland Cavaliers have allowed the sixth-most FanDuel points to opposing point guards. Schroder had no trouble taking advantage of Irving's defense in their one meeting this season, posting 28 points on 10-of-16 shooting, good for 35.4 FanDuel points.
Schroder's volatility makes him hard to trust in cash games, but his upside is immense at this price tag. Combine that with the likelihood he sees low ownership and you have one heck of a tournament play.
