3 Daily Fantasy Basketball Value Plays for the Two-Day 5/18/16 and 5/19/16 Slate
With only one game apiece on both Wednesday and Thursday, daily fantasy contests that begin today include both nights.
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.
Enes Kanter, C, Oklahoma City Thunder
FanDuel Price: $4,500
Enes Kanter is a bit of a risk because his playing time could be cut short due to his defensive deficiencies. He played just 18 minutes in the Game 1 win but was still able to rack up 18.2 fantasy points. The great per-minute production is nothing new for Kanter.
On the season, Kanter is averaging 1.09 fantasy points per minute. To help put that in context, that is about the same as both Damian Lillard and Carmelo Anthony.
The playing time is the only issue here. He really struggles on defense when he is away from the hoop. Despite the matchup problems, Kanter still played 18 minutes, and 13 of those minutes came in the second half when the Thunder outscored the Warriors by 19.
The risk is definitely there, but he'll only need just over 20 minutes of playing time to be a great value.
Andre Iguodala, SF, Golden State Warriors
FanDuel Price: $4,500
Andre Iguodala is going to be called to do a lot this series. He played 33 minutes in Game 1 and produced 23 fantasy points.
Iguodala is being guarded by one of the Thunder big men on most plays. He is a bit slower and less of an offensive threat than some of his teammates, so Oklahoma City is hiding their slower centers, like Kanter, on him.
While the strategy to make Iguodala beat you may work in real basketball, we get to benefit by paying his mere $4,500 salary and enjoying the value.
Iguodala won't light up the scoreboard, but we are just looking for a mixture of stats across the board to get back to his Game 1 value of just 23 points.
Patrick Patterson, PF, Toronto Raptors
FanDuel Price: $4,200
The Raptors got destroyed by the Cavaliers in Game 1. There's no way around that. Unfortunately, that also destroyed everyone's fantasy value because the minutes were scarce.
Patterson played just 28 minutes on his way to 15.4 fantasy points and a value of 3.7 (points per $1,000 in salary). All things considered, Patterson didn't kill your lineups.
Barring another blowout, he should play close to 38 minutes in Game 2 (he averaged 37.4 in the five games prior). Patterson's per-minute fantasy production was 0.55 in Game 1, which isn't incredible, but if you spread that over 38 minutes, he will produce 21 fantasy points -- or five times his cost.
