3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 12/18/18

Lance Stephenson, SG/SF, Los Angeles Lakers

DraftKings Price: $3,800

Using Lance Stephenson on any given night is a rather precarious proposition. The nine-year vet's playing time has fluctuated wildly, and so has his fantasy output.

He's been getting regular minutes in his past three games, however, and with Brandon Ingram still out with a sprained ankle, Stephenson should have a decent chance to continue to see the 23 minutes of run he's gotten in each of his past three games.

Stephenson is a fairly efficient fantasy scorer when on the court, averaging a solid 1.1 DraftKings points per minute. At a salary of just $3,800, he needs to play only 17 to 18 minutes to hit a value of 5.0 DraftKings points per $1,000 at that rate.

There should be plenty of opportunity for fake basketball points tonight as the oddsmakers have the Los Angeles Lakers as just 2.0-point favorites in a game with a 228.0 total, second-highest on the slate. You're obviously taking a gamble with Stephenson's playing time, but if he gets the minutes, our models say you'll be rewarded. We have him projected for 21.6 DraftKings points tonight, which equates to a value of just under 5.7 points per $1,000, making him our third-highest projected points-per-dollar value on the slate.

Ian Goldsmith is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Ian Goldsmith also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zoidbergs_revenge. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her personal views, he/she may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his/her personal account. The views expressed in his/her articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.