3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 1/19/17
Cermelo Anthony, SF, New York Knicks
FanDuel Price: $7,700
Why He Will Go Overlooked:
Carmelo Anthony struggled mightily last night, shooting 5-for-14 and now has scored below 24 FanDuel points in two of his past three games. With both LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard also on Thursday's slate, it seems unlikely that many people will pay up for the struggling Anthony.
Why You Should Use Him:
While Melo was hard to watch against the Boston Celtics, that was uncharacteristic of his typical performance with Kristaps Porzingis out of the lineup.
Per Nbawowy.com, Melo's usage rate jumps from 27.4% with Porzingis on the floor to 33.8% without him. His FanDuel points per minute also jumps from 0.96 without the Unicorn to 1.18 without him. For reference, check out those numbers compared to James and Leonard's below.
| Name | Usage | FP/M |
|---|---|---|
| Anthony | 33.8% | 1.18 |
| Leonard | 30.4% | 1.20 |
| James | 31.4% | 1.27 |
Essentially, Melo without Porzingis on the floor is nearly identical to Leonard and James on a per minute basis, and he comes a huge discount.
Anthony's opponent, the Washington Wizards, have decent numbers against small forwards, but have notoriously struggled to defend wings over the past few seasons. Anthony will also play quite a bit of power forward in this one with Porzingis out, and the Wizards have allowed the seventh-most FanDuel points per game to the position.
Given the way he has played recently, Melo is probably better reserved for tournament lineups. However, he has exciting upside, assuming Porzingis does indeed sit once again.
