3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 11/2/18

Chris Paul, PG, Houston Rockets

Price: $9,100

James Harden isn't expected to return until Saturday for the Houston Rockets, so Chris Paul should continue to play an expanded role in the offense, while his price tag has fallen a steep $500 after dropping 40.5 FanDuel points in his last outing.

Our sample sizes are very small to start this season, and while Paul hasn't actually seen a bump in usage without Harden, he has averaged 35.7 minutes per game without Harden, compared to 31.0 per game with.

If we expand our sample size to include last season, we do see a significant jump in usage, from 23.9% with Harden to 28.0% in 11 games without. That comes with a big boost in fantasy efficiency, going from 1.24 FanDuel points per minute with to 1.37 per minute without.

Tonight he brings that into a plus matchup against the Brooklyn Nets, who rank bottom-10 in defensive rating on the year.

Paul has only been shooting an egregious .281 from the field (including .200 from 3-point range) over his last two games, helping explain the drop in production and salary, but he has an effective field goal percentage of at least .550 in each of the last two seasons, so that small-sample dip shouldn't worry you.