5 Daily Fantasy Basketball Players Trending Up for 3/9/16

If you're a frequenter of our site, you've probably noticed the uptick in daily fantasy content, especially when it comes to daily fantasy basketball as of late.

Our team of writers provides you with everything from yesterday's perfect lineups to under-the-radar plays to studs to target and even players to avoid for one reason or another -- and we're not stopping there.

Now equipped with our brand spanking new daily fantasy basketball tools, we've got another for you.

So, with the use of our new trends tab, I'm here to provide you with five of the hottest players from the last five games in hopes that they'll capitalize once again tonight.

Alex Len, C, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $6,600 

Alex Len's season average is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that he's averaged a mere 21.1 minutes per game on the season. Since being inserted into the starting lineup February 27th against the Grizzlies, the big man is averaging 35.7 minutes per game and, as a result, has seen his fantasy output more than double in the last five games.

After his most recent performance, FanDuel has finally decided that enough is enough. They've increased his salary by eight bills to a season-high $6,600. However, don't let that fool you into completely writing Len off tonight. He's tallied an average value of 7.81 (points per $1,000 in salary) over the last five games, and if he can reach the 40-point plateau in tonight's matchup with the Knicks, he'll more than pay off his salary.

Devin Booker, SG, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Price: $5,700

Standout rookie Devin Booker joins his fellow teammate as one of the hottest commodities in daily fantasy this week -- and for the very same reason. Booker has finally received the minutes he deserves from head coach Earl Watson, averaging a whopping 37.5 minutes per game, or 12.7 more than his season average. 

Again, like Len, Booker has taken full advantage of the opportunity, amassing 29.80 FanDuel points and providing an average of 6.16 times his expected value over the last five. He's racking up over 20 points and dishing out more than 4 assists per game as the team's primary offensive threat. As such, look for the youngster to take advantage of a Knicks team fresh off the plane from Denver a night ago.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF, Milwaukee Bucks

FanDuel Price: $9,600

Just yesterday, I wrote on Giannis Antetokounmpo and the giant leap he has recently made into NBA stardom. The same can be said for his DFS game as he's been going just bonkers lately. Sure, he owns a respectable season average of 33.32 FanDuel points per game -- but 52.96 per game over his last five? That's insane.

Even with such a high season average, Giannis has managed to surpass it by nearly 20 points while averaging a salary-based value of 6.31 over his last five. The sites are catching up to Antetokounmpo's new role, though, as FanDuel has hoisted his salary to $9,600 -- a $900 increase from Monday night's slate. Now you might be thinking it's time to step away from the scorching hot point-forward, and there you would be wrong. Not only does his five-game average exceed his salary-based expectation by 4.96 points, but he faces a Miami team that, quite frankly, doesn't have anyone that can cover him.

Ish Smith, PG, Philadelphia 76ers

FanDuel Price: $6,800

The first and only point guard of the bunch, Ish Smith, hasn't necessarily been blowing his expectations out of the water, but he has been a solid play as of late, nonetheless, averaging over 35 FanDuel points per game over his last five. Over that set of games, Smith has had three games of 21 points or more and has provided a cash-worthy value of 5.36 to those rostering him.

Due to his consistent rather -- than volatile -- DFS play, Smith's salary hasn't skyrocketed like the others mentioned before him. His $6,800 price tag is the same as it was Sunday night, and it has actually gone down ever so slightly from where it was a month ago. That, along with Smith's juicy matchup with the Rockets, makes him a cash game player worth rostering on tonight's slate.

Kevin Durant, SF, Oklahoma City Thunder

FanDuel Price: $10,900

You could probably say that Kevin Durant has been on a hot streak on numerous occasions throughout this NBA season, but the former MVP is on a tear now more than ever. He has exceeded his already outstanding season average each of his past five games, all the while carrying an average value of 5.29 points per $1,000. Not bad at all for a guy priced at or above $10,600 over the past pentad of games.

Tonight, Durant and the Thunder have a primetime showdown with the Clippers, a game in which we can expect Durant to shine bright once again. In spite of the sizable $10,900 hit he'll take to your cap, Durant has been on fire lately -- shooting 49.5% from the field, 42.8% from three and 90.9% on 8.8 attempts from the line, and adding on double-digit rebounds in each of the last five. And it's in Oklahoma City? All the more reason to dial up Durant in cash games tonight.