3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Thursday 3/9/23
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.
Nerlens Noel, C, Nets ($3,800)
Cam Thomas, SG/SF, Nets ($4,700)
I'm going to wrap two in one section. The Brooklyn Nets are super short-handed tonight as all of Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson, Royce O'Neale and Ben Simmons will be out.
That makes them a fantastic source of value on this slate, and while there are several Brooklyn pieces who project well, I want to hone in on Cam Thomas and Nerlens Noel.
We saw Thomas have some massive games in similar situations not too long ago as he posted 52.3, 53.5 and 56.5 FanDuel points in a memorable three-game onslaught in early February. We can't expect that kind of output this time around, but he should get lots of minutes and there are plenty of shots up for grabs.
Noel has barely played of late. He last saw consistent meaningful action over a four-game run in early January, a stretch in which he produced a total of 78.0 FanDuel points across 72 minutes -- although that came when he was with the Detroit Pistons. The minutes should be there today, and Noel's blocks/steals prowess aids both his floor and ceiling.
Day'Ron Sharpe ($4,400), Seth Curry ($4,200) and Edmond Sumner ($3,800) are other Nets who need to be on your radar. The only negative with this situation is that with Brooklyn playing at 8 p.m. EST, we probably won't know their starting five prior to the slate's initial lock.
Jabari Smith, PF, Rockets ($5,300)
The Houston Rockets-Indiana Pacers game is a priority for me on this slate. The total is 236.0 points, and these two have the ability to blow past that, with both sides ranking in the bottom four in defensive rating over the last 15 games.
Jabari Smith is a low-salary way to get exposure to this likely shootout, and he stands to benefit from Kevin Porter Jr. sitting out.
Smith has played at least 26 minutes in 15 of his past 16 games, and the Pacers have given up the seventh-most FanDuel points per night to power forwards this year (45.6).
I like the idea of pairing Smith and Bennedict Mathurin ($5,500) as an economical game stack in what should be one of the best DFS environments of the slate.
