NBA

5 Daily Fantasy Basketball Value Plays for 3/31/17

Brandon Gdula  —  @gdula13 Mar 31st, 2017

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 in one of these lower-priced options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at five players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Shelvin Mack, PG, Utah Jazz

FanDuel Price: $3,600
Projected FanDuel Points: 16.1
Projected FanDuel Value: 4.46

Tonight offers a lot of value choices at point guard, but if you're looking to scrape the bottom of the barrel, consider Shelvin Mack against the Washington Wizards. George Hill and Raul Neto are out, so Mack should have no shortage of minutes. He should flirt with value at this price, but you can also look to Ish Smith ($5,300), T.J. McConnell ($5,600), and Patrick Beverley ($4,800) as strong mid-range values.

Lou Williams, SG, Houston Rockets

FanDuel Price: $4,600
Projected FanDuel Points: 25.5
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.54

Lou Williams and the Houston Rockets are 9-point underdogs against the Golden State Warriors in a game with a total of 231, so their implied total is 111. Williams scored 22.1 FanDuel points against them two games ago, the same mark he had against the Portland Trail Blazers in his last outing. He's averaged a shade over 30 minutes per game in his past three, and Houston will need his scoring tonight.

Justin Anderson, SF, Philadelphia 76ers

FanDuel Price: $3,600
Projected FanDuel Points: 20.9
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.80

Justin Anderson is by far the top value based on our algorithm at the position. He's projected for 25.6 minutes against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Robert Covington is out tonight and tomorrow, giving Anderson and Timothe Luwawu a chance for bigger workloads than usual. Luwawu, shooting-guard eligible on FanDuel, is projected for 21.1 FanDuel points at $3,900.

Zach Randolph, PF, Memphis Grizzlies

FanDuel Price: $5,600
Projected FanDuel Points: 32.0
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.72

The Zach Randolph value train continues to roll despite a matchup against the slow-paced Dallas Mavericks. Memphis will be without Marc Gasol and JaMychal Green tonight, so Z-Bo will see heavy minutes yet again.

Richaun Holmes ($5,800) is also projected for 5.72 FanDuel points per $1,000, and if you need to spend down more, consider Thaddeus Young ($4,500), who is projected for 5.38 FanDuel points per $1,000.

Brandan Wright, C, Memphis Grizzlies

FanDuel Price: $3,600
Projected FanDuel Points: 24.8
Projected FanDuel Value: 6.89

There's a big opportunity for Brandan Wright tonight, given the thinned-out Memphis frontcourt. There's also a big opportunity cost because rostering Wright means missing out on DeMarcus Cousins ($9,600) against his former team.

Still, Wright is the only player projected for more than 6 fantasy points per $1,000, making him the best value choice of the night, per our algorithm.