FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 11/1/19

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's main slate.

The Slate

Whew, buddy. That Brooklyn Nets and Houston Rockets total.

Power Forward

It's an eight-game slate, so we don't have to play any players we don't feel particularly great about, but the Boston Celtics -- even in a game with the lowest over/under on the board -- should provide us some value from this position.

Daniel Theis ($3,900) played 28 minutes on Wednesday and should have a safe minutes load again tonight. Robert Williams is doubtful, and Enes Kanter is out. Theis himself is dealing with an ankle injury but is probable. We also can look to Jayson Tatum ($7,700), who isn't cheap but who has played 33-plus minutes in every game so far.

Draymond Green ($8,000) is another high-floor play. With Stephen Curry out with a broken hand, Green should see a bump to his 15.9% usage rate. Lauri Markkanen ($7,300) pops for me this evening against the Detroit Pistons. Markkanen carries a 26.3% usage rate and 1.13 FanDuel points per minute into a matchup against the NBA's 24th-ranked defense.

Anthony Davis ($11,800) is always a tournament play at worst, and he's the only power forward with a 75th-percentile outcome greater than 46.0 FanDuel points in my simulations (he's up at 60.3). Given the value at the position, though, Davis is more of a tournament pivot than a core play.

Core Plays: Daniel Theis, Jayson Tatum, Lauri Markkanen
Secondary Plays: Draymond Green, Trey Lyles ($3,800), Christian Wood ($4,000)
Tournament Plays: Anthony Davis, Julius Randle ($8,200), Nemanja Bjelica ($4,800)

Center

Let's stick with the frontcourt. Center is Andre Drummond ($10,100) and then everyone else, really, even at his salary. He grades out tops in floor/ceiling combo in my model, as well as 50th- and 75th-percentile outcome value. The Chicago Bulls are 23rd in defensive rating and dead last in rebounding rate.

After Drummond, Nikola Vucevic ($8,700) would be the next place I look, so spending up at center is the plan for cash games. Vucevic owns a 25.9% usage rate and 1.15 FanDuel points per minute while playing at least 31 minutes in three of four games. Mohamed Bamba is out, so the workload is even safer. The Milwaukee Bucks are 24th in rebounding rate.

My model also likes spending up for Rudy Gobert ($8,300) and Clint Capela ($8,300) tonight as top-five center options, so prioritize saving some cash for your center slot tonight.

The standout value centers here look to be DeAndre Jordan ($5,200) and Bobby Portis ($5,500). Portis is numberFire's top projected center value and expects him to play 27 minutes against a thinned out Celtics frontcourt. Jordan has played 22 to 23 minutes in three straight but will get run in a high-paced game with plenty of shots and rebound opportunities.

Core Plays: Andre Drummond,