NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Thursday 5/6/21

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 May 6th, 2021
Alex Caruso is primed for another big role on the Lakers and offers plenty of value. Who else should be in your lineups tonight?

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-salaried options into your lineup.

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

Tyler Cook, PF, Detroit Pistons ($3,600)

With the Detroit Pistons in full-on tank mode -- I mean develop young players mode -- they offer plenty of value tonight.

Hamidou Diallo, Jerami Grant, Josh Jackson, Cory Joseph, Rodney McGruder, Mason Plumlee, and Dennis Smith have all been ruled out for tonight's game against the Memphis Grizzlies. This should leave the Pistons with eight or nine players and should open up some minutes for Tyler Cook off the bench. Cook has seen his minutes fluctuate in recent games, but with all of the players out of the lineup, he should see a solid role.

In fact, Cook is projected for 25.91 minutes and 26.6 FanDuel points, making him the best-projected value option on the entire slate. While this game only has an over/under of 215 points, Cook is only $100 more than the minimum salary and doesn't have to do much in order to reach his salary-based expectations. This is a classic minutes equal money spot in NBA DFS.

Alex Caruso, PG, Los Angeles Lakers ($3,900)

If Alex Caruso is going to be in the starting lineup for the Los Angeles Lakers again, he is a clear value option.

The Lakers are going to be a bit short-handed tonight since LeBron James and Dennis Schroder are out, while Talen Horton-Tucker is questionable. We saw a similar situation over the past two games, and that has allowed Caruso to be in the starting lineup in each of those games. We have seen him play 26 and 27 minutes in the past two games, filling up the stat sheet along the way. That is what we are expecting from him tonight, as he is projected for 28.92 minutes and 23.7 FanDuel points, making him the third-best value option on the slate.

While that is under one FanDuel point per minute, Caruso would still be exceeding value in a big way, making him a strong point-per-dollar play. With Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant looking like the two best top-tier options on the slate, you will need plenty of salary relief to fit them both in your lineups and that is what Caruso brings tonight.

Caleb Martin, SF, Charlotte Hornets ($5,000)

Caleb Martin is coming off a huge game the other night, but can he repeat that tonight?

Martin went for 34 FanDuel points in 33 minutes against the Detroit Pistons the other day, and we are expecting a similar performance tonight. Martin was in the starting lineup for the Charlotte Hornets since they are without Miles Bridges and Gordon Hayward, allowing him to crush fantasy value. He is projected to do much of the same tonight, set to go for 29.65 minutes and 28.4 FanDuel points against the Chicago Bulls. This game features a very close 2.5-point spread but only a 215-point over/under, giving us a bit of a mixed bag.

We'd prefer to see a higher over/under, but the fantasy production should still be strong for Martin because the Bulls are allowing 39.75 FanDuel points per game to small forwards. While Martin might not be the most exciting pick in NBA DFS, he has a clear role on the Hornets since they are short-handed, and that means fantasy production.