NBA

5 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 12/18/19

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Dec 18th, 2019
Tyler Herro has played a ton of minutes in recent games and is primed for another big night. Is he worth targeting?

One of the keys to finding success in daily fantasy basketball is uncovering potential value plays. If you're looking to roster a stud player or two, you need to consider squeezing in one of these lower-priced options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at five players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Ian Mahinmi, C, Washington Wizards ($4,300)

The Washington Wizards are dealing with a ton of injuries right now, and that opens up a ton of value.

Currently, the Wizards are without Thomas Bryant, Moritz Wagner, and Rui Hachimura. All three of those players have started/played at center this season for the Wizards, and now they are down to Ian Mahinmi, who got the start on Monday. He played 24 minutes in that game and was able to post 18.9 FanDuel points. That production isn't amazing, but at $4.3K tonight, he only needs 21.5 FanDuel points to reach 5x value. While he didn't reach that the other night, tonight's matchup against the Chicago Bulls is much softer.

The Bulls are allowing 59.6 FanDuel points per game to centers -- which is dead last in the league. This is the ideal matchup for Mahinmi and our projections back that, as we have him going for 25 minutes, producing 24.1 FanDuel points tonight.

Jerami Grant, PF, Denver Nuggets ($4,100)

With a 203-point over/under, the Orlando Magic at Denver Nuggets game has limited fantasy options.

Nuggets' power forward Paul Millsap has missed their last two games, and in his place, we have seen Jerami Grant get the start both times. In those two games, Grant has managed to produce 23.3 and 18.4 FanDuel points in 31 and 26 minutes, respectively. Good, but not great production overall, but we saw a slight resurgence from Nikola Jokic in those games. Where there is a player who has a usage rate that high, Grant's role/production is bound to change. If Grant continues to be in the starting lineup, he should be viewed as a strong value play, despite the overall game environment.

On top of the lower over/under, we see both teams coming in among the league's five-slowest teams in terms of pace. This game really isn't amazing for fantasy production, but only $4.1K for a starter playing 25+ minutes can be tough to pass up.

Tyler Herro, SG, Miami Heat ($5,100)

The Miami Heat are another team hit with a number of injuries and plenty of value as a result.

Justise Winslow is out, Derrick Jones Jr. is questionable, Dion Waiters is suspended, and James Johnson is out. The Heat are very thin when it comes to their wingmen, and that should be a benefit for Tyler Herro, who comes off the bench, but has played 38 and 37 minutes in his last two games. As you can see here, Herro came off the bench against the Memphis Grizzlies and played the entire second and fourth quarter, helping him reach 34.5 FanDuel points. We should see much of the same tonight, considering the Heat could have fewer players available than they did against Memphis.

Herro comes in as our fifth-best value player on tonight's slate, going for 34 minutes and 28 FanDuel points. Although the matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers isn't ideal -- they are allowing the sixth-fewest FanDuel points per game to shooting guards -- the volume of minutes will be there for Herro due to the Heat's thin bench.

Troy Brown, SF, Washington Wizards ($4,600)

Troy Brown is our second-best value at small forward tonight, let's take a look at why.

As mentioned above with Mahinmi, the Wizards have a ton of injuries right now, and it has changed their rotation. Bench players are becoming starters, deeper bench players are seeing more minutes, opening up value all over the place. Brown has shown to have a consistent -- but modest -- role within the Wizards offense, which is primed to expand tonight and going forward. Over his last four games, he has played 27 minutes or more -- the most of any four-game stretch this season. He has turned that into 22 FanDuel points or more in each game, also the most of any four-game stretch this season.

That is great to see from a former top-15 first-round pick, which should all continue tonight given the matchup. He is up against the Bulls tonight, who are allowing 43.8 FanDuel points per game to small forwards -- the third-most in the league.

Delon Wright, SG, Dallas Mavericks ($4,300)

Coming off a monster 34.6 FanDuel point performance, Delon Wright is looking to build on that tonight.

We all know that Luka Doncic is out for multiple weeks, and that means the Dallas Mavericks need more production from everyone. Wright posted those 34.6 FanDuel points in just 18 minutes, and while that level of production might not be sustainable, his minutes should be on the rise going forward. He missed two games, and prior to that, he was at 19 minutes or more in five of the last nine games. A consistent bench player who is, generally, not playing on the court at the same time as Kristaps Porzingis. This is good since KP is a high usage player and could take away from Wright's production.

Get Wright at his modest price tag tonight -- since it should only be on the rise -- and grab a player looking to contribute more in a depleted offense.