FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Thursday 2/24/22

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 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.

Daily fantasy basketball is very reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

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 break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate and Key Injuries

Welcome back! The NBA returns from the All-Star break with seven games, and we've got some familiar faces back on the official injury report.

Brooklyn will be without Kevin Durant (knee), Ben Simmons (mental health), and Kyrie Irving (home game) as they host Boston.

The Cavaliers have been missing Darius Garland with a day-to-day back issue, but Caris LeVert (foot sprain) now joins him on the shelf for Thursday's game in Detroit. Lauri Markkanen (ankle) has a chance to rejoin the squad out of the break.

John Collins is questionable for the Hawks out of the break after he missed three straight games with a foot issue before it. On the other side, Chicago is still without Lonzo Ball (knee) and Alex Caruso (ankle).

The big news of the weekend was Chris Paul's thumb injury. Paul will be out for at least six weeks in Phoenix. Paul is joined by a handful of Thunder players on the pine for Thursday, including Luguentz Dort (shoulder), Kenrich Williams (knee), Ty Jerome (hip), and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (foot).

Memphis is only missing Dillon Brooks (ankle) from their rotation out of the break. Minnesota is at full strength.

Both Denver and Sacramento enter this game with their usual rotations. Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. are still out with extended leaves for the Nuggets, and Terence Davis II still is out with a broken wrist for the Kings.

Finally, the Blazers' lost season got that much worse over the break. Jusuf Nurkic suffered plantar fasciitis and is out at least four weeks, and the squad is still without Damian Lillard (abdomen). Dennis Smith (elbow) is out of Portland's rotation, as well. Golden State will still be missing Draymond Green (back).

Guards

Devin Booker ($8,800): The two key injuries unaccounted for in salaries for this slate are CP3 and Jusuf Nurkic. With Chris Paul out, Booker is going to take as many shots as he can absolutely handle. Booker has a team-best 33.7% usage rate without Paul -- up 1.5 percentage points from normal. Normally, they'd be major blowout risk against OKC, but Phoenix's firepower may be muted just enough to allow Booker to see all four quarters.

Cade Cunningham ($6,000): One of numberFire's top mid-range options today is Cunningham. Some may pass on him at this salary due to Jerami Grant's presence, but Cade is averaging 1.00 FanDuel points per minute on a 26.6% usage rate sharing the floor with Grant. If anything, Grant bolsters the chances Detroit keeps things close, but that shouldn't be an issue Thursday with just a seven-point gap between the Pistons and the banged-up Cavs.

Rajon Rondo ($3,900): Rondo is certainly volatile, and many may opt for the security Aaron Holiday provides in a start for Phoenix instead. Still, when Rondo was allotted 31 minutes before the break without Garland, he posted 44.3 FanDuel points. He's a scary value option to fade if he finds the court; he's posted a solid 0.92 FanDuel points per minute in action with the Cavs.

Others to Consider:
Trae Young ($9,800): The 236-point total with just a 4-point spread in Chicago is mouth-watering. Young would be a huge piece of that environment.
Zach LaVine ($7,900): LaVine or DeMar DeRozan could drop 40 in the aforementioned environment. LaVine's salary is a lot lower.
Seth Curry ($5,900): Likely popular again despite the poor shooting effort before the break, and still no Goran Dragic threat at this moment.
Aaron Holiday ($3,500): Cameron Payne is still injured, so Holiday likely draws a start and decent minutes at minimum salary.

Wings

Jaylen Brown ($7,900): The same problem from before the break still exists -- small forward is pretty ugly. Brown and Jayson Tatum trade nights often for the Celtics, but Tatum's salary is also far more restrictive from some of the true priorities on the slate. Brown has still eclipsed 40 FanDuel points in four of his last six games and has a solid 28.6% usage rate in February. He dropped 22 points in just 27 minutes in this same Brooklyn matchup two weeks ago.

Mikal Bridges ($5,500): Here's the thing to consider with the Phoenix Suns -- their roles are very defined. We saw Landry Shamet step into a larger role for Booker earlier this season when he was injured in lieu of an objectively more talented Cameron Johnson. Therefore, Bridges is an interesting target since he's already playing heavy court time and could just see a larger usage rate without Paul. He is amongst numberFire's top projected values at wing for Thursday.

James Johnson ($4,600): As of this moment, Johnson seems like sneaky access to a Brooklyn squad without its top-three players. He's averaging 0.95 FanDuel points per minute this season when Durant, Irving, and James Harden haven't been on the floor. That's tied for the highest production rate amongst starters with Cameron Thomas. The Nets' rotation is a dumpster fire, but there's reasonable assurance the veteran should start and see decent minutes.

Others to Consider:
DeMar DeRozan ($10,600): I get nervous rostering a five-digit option that's just been scoring on absurd efficiency. But he's kept doing it for months.
Desmond Bane ($6,500): The 240.0-point total in Minnesota is massive. Bane is low-salaried access since Ja Morant feels a touch over-salaried.
De'Andre Hunter ($4,900): The Atlanta-Chicago game is tremendous, and this is a small salary to pay for a 30-plus minute role inside of it.
C.J. Elleby ($4,200): Low FanDuel-point production lately, but has had pop games playing heavy minutes. No Nurkic should keep that intact.

Bigs

Nikola Jokic ($11,400): The top stud of the day carries 1.66 FanDuel points per minute in February into a pristine matchup with Sacramento, and the 236.0-point total in Cali tonight might as well be 300 for the slow-paced Nuggets. Jokic is seventh in the NBA in paint points per game (9.2), and the Kings allow the most paint points per game (51.9) in the NBA. A repeat of his 65.5-FanDuel-point performance in this matchup in January could be in store.

Jarrett Allen ($7,200): Back-to-back poor outings massively dropped Allen's salary to here. He'll look to turn it around in a friendly matchup against Detroit. The Pistons are seventh from the bottom in defensive rebounding percentage (71.0%), and they've allowed the ninth-most paint points per game (48.5) in the league. Averaging 1.15 FanDuel points in February, this might be an overreaction to his most recent performances, and his forward eligibility is helpful with Jokic.

Trendon Watford ($3,500): The Blazers don't have a center. They'll be starting 6'8" Trendon Watford according to their depth chart. Some nights, that could destroy their chances of keeping games close. However, it should be less impactful against a Warriors squad that likes to play small anyway. Watford averages 0.90 FanDuel points per minute this season and is a decent bet for 30-plus minutes on Thursday. It's a no-brainer at minimum salary.

Others to Consider:
Karl-Anthony Towns ($9,500): Interesting pivot off Jokic in the highest-totaled game of the day.
Jaren Jackson Jr. ($7,100): Finally, his salary has dropped to account for minute concerns. Still upside (1.19 FanDuel points per minute) if he sees 30-plus.
Kevon Looney ($4,800): Double-edged sword. He could chow on the glass against a small Portland squad, or he's benched for a smaller lineup. Tournaments only.
Greg Brown ($3,600): In tournaments, a fine pivot off of Watford. Higher FanDuel-point-per-minute output (0.98) and is likely to play a potential blowout.