3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 3/18/19

Paul George, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder

Price: $11,200

With the way salaries have been this season, it's strange for $11,200 to be the highest price-tag on a big nine-game slate, but here we are.

Paul George is almost never the top-priced player on a slate, either, because when he's in action, that usually means that so is Russell Westbrook. Not tonight, though, as Westbrook will be serving a suspension for picking up his 16th technical foul of the season. Westbrook's absence gives George a huge boost in fantasy value.

Averaging 36.3 minutes per game since returning from a three-game absence at the start of the month, George is almost always going to be a safe bet for big minutes. The absence of Westbrook probably won't translate directly to increased minutes for George, but that's not an area he needs much help anyway.

Where he should see a big increase, though, is in his efficiency. In 1,702 minutes played with Westbrook on the floor this season, George boasts a 28.3% usage rate (second to Westbrook's 32.0%) and averages 1.33 FanDuel points per minute. In a 714-minute sample sans Westbrook, PG sees an increase to 1.42 FanDuel points per minute, which comes on a team-high 34.6% usage rate.

A matchup with the Miami Heat isn't anything to get excited about, but George has already been offering one of the higher floors in the NBA lately, and an increase in efficiency should give a boost to both his floor and his ceiling.