NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Monday 2/27/23

Brandon Gdula  —  @gdula13 Feb 27th, 2023

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.

James Wiseman, C, Detroit Pistons

FanDuel Salary: $4,800

A lot of center-only options are shaping up as great values.

We have James Wiseman but also Jonas Valanciunas ($6,100), Robert Williams ($6,000), and Mark Williams ($6,600).

All of them come with some opportunity cost because we're seeing Joel Embiid ($12,000) projected for the top overall score of the night. That slate-high projection also comes with a salary that's $1,000 higher than anyone else's and $1,700 higher than anyone other than Jayson Tatum's ($11,000).

But in lineups without Embiid, we have ways to save, and it's Wiseman who is rating out as the best value of the night via numberFire's model while the Detroit Pistons' injury list is long.

Detroit gets the Charlotte Hornets' 22nd-ranked defense, and Wiseman's projected for 24.9 minutes, an uptick from where he has been in his first three games with the Pistons (22.6 per game).

Killian Hayes, PG, Detroit Pistons

FanDuel Salary: $5,400

Let's stick with the Pistons. They're going to be without a lot of key pieces. Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren are out, and Bojan Bogdanovic and Isaiah Stewart are questionable.

Killian Hayes is projected for 29.3 minutes and 27.6 FanDuel points as a result.

Hayes has averaged 0.90 FanDuel points per minute this season, and with those four players (plus Cade Cunningham) off the floor, Hayes has had a 19.5% usage rate with a per-minute average of 1.10 FanDuel points, according to RotoGrinders' CourtIQ tool.

The total in this game is 236.0 points, 9.5 points higher than any other game. It's a great one to target, even with the Pistons sitting as 7.0-point underdogs.

JT Thor, PF, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Salary: $3,600

Why not stick with this game? Especially on the Hornets' side of things because their implied team total (121.5) is six points higher than any other team's.

JT Thor is slated to start for a second straight game with PJ Washington doubtful. In his most recent start, Thor played 25.6 minutes but accrued only 5.7 FanDuel points on a line of 4 shots, 0 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, and 1 steal. Yikes.

He's not a productive player on a per-minute basis (0.55 FanDuel points), so we shouldn't expect an outburst from him. However, he is projected for good minutes (26.1), and his salary is just $100 more than the minimum.

Thor isn't a safe play, and on a larger slate, he'd likely be someone to avoid. His appeal on a four-game slate isn't slate-altering upside by himself, however. Rather, it's access to Embiid, Tatum, and LaMelo Ball ($10,300), who can separate from the rest of the field with dominant games.