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 one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.
Let's take a look at some players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on FanDuel tonight, using numberFire's daily fantasy basketball projections as a guide.
Davion Mitchell, PG, Sacramento Kings
FanDuel Salary: $4,900
The absence of De'Aaron Fox pushes Davion Mitchell into the starting lineup for the Sacramento Kings in a matchup against the Miami Heat.
Fox started their last game against the Charlotte Hornets but left in the second quarter. Mitchell started the second half and wound up playing 31 minutes.
He accrued 34.0 FanDuel points albeit on the back of hot shooting (5-of-6 from three and 9-of-11 overall) for 23 actual points. In addition, he had four rebounds and three steals -- but no assists and five turnovers. He did have two secondary assists and five potential assists, so he wasn't a complete liability while distributing or anything.
numberFire projects Mitchell for 13.1 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 5.4 assists tonight.
RJ Barrett, SF/SG, New York Knicks
FanDuel Salary: $5,800
RJ Barrett has been a pretty consistent -- albeit non-elite -- fantasy performer to start the season for the New York Knicks.
Barrett is yet to play fewer than 27 minutes in a game this season (with just one game below 32 and with at least 36 minutes in four of six games).
He's turned that into a low-water mark of 23.0 FanDuel points and an average of 26.9 across 35.1 minutes per game.
That works out to a per-minute FanDuel output of 0.77. In his three seasons to date, Barrett has generated 0.85, 0.86, and 0.92 FanDuel points per minute.
A 21.9% three-point percentage (down from 24.2% a year ago) isn't helping, so it's probably just a matter of time for those minutes to have even better production attached; Barrett has hoisted 10 shots or more in every game and 16.7 on average.
Mitchell Robinson, C, New York Knicks
FanDuel Salary: $5,200
Let's stick with the Knicks. Mitchell Robinson doesn't give us any sort of multi-positional eligibility and is a center-only play. The center position isn't exactly loaded despite 20 teams on the main slate, so that works in Robinson's favor as a value option.
Robinson is projected for just 6.9 points but also 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 combined steals and blocks for 25.7 FanDuel points over 26.8 minutes.
The Atlanta Hawks rank 23rd in rebounds per game allowed and also 5.7 blocks per game (21st). There's room for growth within these minutes for Robinson in this particular matchup.
Zach Collins, PF/C, San Antonio Spurs
FanDuel Salary: $4,600
The San Antonio Spurs' injury list is pretty lengthy, and even with Jeremy Sochan available, Zach Collins should be able to provide a boost at a sub-$5,000 salary.
Collins is averaging just 20.9 FanDuel points per game -- but is doing so in only 16.2 minutes per contest. That means he's giving us 1.29 FanDuel points per minute.
That would be a career-high for sure (I mean, that's a pretty elite rate for virtually anyone), but he did maintain a rate of 1.11 in his 28 games a year ago.
Collins currently has a versatility index rating of 11.2 (the NBA average is around 5.0). That's because he's netting 3.9 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 0.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks per game. Again, that's in only 16.2 minutes.
Shaedon Sharpe, SG, Portland Trail Blazers
FanDuel Salary: $4,200
Damian Lillard is out tonight, and Josh Hart is questionable for the Portland Trail Blazers, so there's a good chance Shaedon Sharpe draws a second straight start.
Sharpe's minutes extended to 29 on Friday, the Blazers' most recent game. He took 12 shot attempts for the second consecutive game and now has at least double-digit points in three straight.
There's a chance we won't see much in the way of peripherals for Sharpe (he has only four assists, two steals, and one block so far this season in 111 minutes), and he had only 26 touches last game.
That said, there's no room to go down from there -- just room for the rookie to grow. At a $4,200 salary, that's appealing.