NBA

3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Value Plays for 4/20/16

Alex McDonald  —  @McDonaldA12 Apr 20th, 2016
In order to roster some of the stars tonight, which players should you use to save money?

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'll need to find one of these lower-priced options to squeeze everyone into your lineup.

Let's take a look at three guys who can help fill the gaps in your lineup tonight.

Courtney Lee, SG, Charlotte Hornets

FanDuel Price: $3,900

Finding inexpensive options who play significant minutes in the playoffs is a key factor to playing daily fantasy basketball this time of year. And that is exactly what we have with Courtney Lee. Lee played 33 minutes in Game 1 for Charlotte.

Lee wasn't too valuable in the first game as he only put up 15 fantasy points on FanDuel. However, on the year, he is averaging 0.62 fantasy points per minute, per NBAWowy.com. With that fantasy production over his 33 minutes would equate to 20.5 fantasy points, or a value of 5.2 (points per $1,000 in salary).

So, if Lee can get back to even what he has averaged over the course of the season, he will be a nice asset to own tonight. His floor is higher than almost anyone in that price range.

Joe Johnson, SF, Miami Heat

FanDuel Price: $4,900

Joe Johnson will be on the other side of the ball from Lee. "Iso-Joe" may not be as good as he used to be, but when it comes to fantasy, we can still use him to win games.

Johnson played just 26 minutes in Game 1, but that was due to a 32-point blowout by the Heat. In what should be a much closer game, Johnson will play closer to his season average of 33 minutes.

Johnson averages 0.72 fantasy points per minute this season and averaged 0.82 fantasy points per minute in Game 1. He is below $5,000 and is all but a lock to play over 30 minutes. Johnson has proven throughout the entire season that he can produce stats at a nice per-minute rate.

J.J. Redick, SG, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $4,500

With a lot of solid expensive players going tonight, you'll need to save money somewhere. J.J. Redick could be that guy for you. Redick is coming in at just $4,500 on FanDuel and will be an important piece of the Clippers' offense.

Redick has been good enough for 0.80 fantasy points per minute, and given that the Trail Blazers keep the game close, he should play close to 30 minutes. In Game 1, he scored 20.6 fantasy points across 26 minutes.

Redick is valuable for the exact same reasons as both Lee and Johnson are. All three should play at least 30 minutes, they all have solid per-minute fantasy production, and they are all relatively inexpensive.