3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Thursday 4/6/23
Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.
A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense is shut down.
A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will post high scores just about every night.
While this consistency puts us in an excellent position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud will likely leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.
Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?
Joel Embiid, C, 76ers ($12,000)
There are really only three studs with tangible motivation of any kind on this slate, so it made it easy to pick three.
Of course, Joel Embiid's is all personal motivation. His 76ers are locked into the East's third seed, but Embiid continues to track down his first career MVP. Snubbed last year with an equal case, the Sixers' pivot isn't listed on the injury report or, apparently, leaving anything to chance despite being a heavy favorite.
His backcourt is listed, though. Tyrese Maxey (neck) and De'Anthony Melton (calf) are questionable tonight, and if they don't play, it should force even more into Embiid's hands. He's averaged an absurd 71.0 FanDuel points per 36 minutes on a 34.9% usage rate with them off the court this season.
The league's best player this season has a great chance to put a final stamp on his candidacy versus the Miami Heat on Thursday.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, SG/PG, Thunder ($10,600)
As a team, the Oklahoma City Thunder have the most motivation on the slate, clawing to stay ahead of the Dallas Mavericks for the West's final play-in spot.
As a result, we can turn to one of the most consistent superstars in the sport while largely ignoring his salary. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander might not always eclipse the 5.00 value score we want on FanDuel, but he's usually close.
SGA has tallied at least 30 real-life points in all but one game since the break. His 32.88% usage rate continues to dwarf that of his nearest teammate (24.5%), so he's going to score the ball.
The shell remaining of the Utah Jazz isn't exactly guarding the perimeter well, either. In terms of FanDuel points allowed, they're a bottom-five team against combo guards in their past seven games.
A blowout could damper SGA's outlook, but that's a minor concern compared to the wave of availability ones on the rest of this five-game slate.
Jimmy Butler, SF/PF, Heat ($10,000)
Technically, the aforementioned Heat have motivation, too. It's just unlikely to be worth the effort.
They need a win tonight to stay alive for the East's six seed. A loss would lock things up for Brooklyn, and the difference there is avoiding the play-in tournament, so unlisted on the league's injury report, it appears Jimmy Butler will give it a go.
In addition to correlating with Embiid, Butler will look to carry a Heat squad that might be down Kyle Lowry again on Thursday. With Lowry off the floor this season, Butler has 48.8 FanDuel points per 36 minutes. That's only increased as Tyler Herro's usage has plummeted to 25.0% since March 1st.
We'll have to see what Phoenix, set for a back-to-back concluding on Friday, does with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker in light of Denver totally punting their matchup on Thursday, but if those guys end up sitting, the star pool might just be as deep as these three players.
