3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 1/4/19

Taj Gibson, PF/C, Minnesota Timberwolves

FanDuel Price: $4,600
Projected FanDuel Points: 24.1
Projected FanDuel Value: 5.23

One of the things that seems to be most associated with Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Tom Thibodeau is an over-reliance on his starting five. Sure, it makes sense to use your best players and use them often, but Thibs has always taken it to the next level -- until this year, that is.

The Timberwolves' starters' minutes are down across the board. Andrew Wiggins is seeing 2.3 fewer minutes per game than last year. Karl-Anthony Towns' minutes are down 1.8 (and 3.2 from 2016-17). The most dramatic difference, however, has been seen in Taj Gibson's playing time.

The 10-year veteran played a career-high 33.3 minutes last year, and his numbers took a major step forward because of it. Thibs is playing him just 25.6 minutes per game this season, though. Despite the major drop in run, Gibson's numbers haven't fallen as much as you'd imagine. In fact, he's been much more efficient while on the court, as seen in his per-36 averages, which are up in almost all major counting categories, especially rebounds.

He'll take that more efficient play into tonight's contest against the Orlando Magic, a team who he's dominated during his time in Minnesota, scoring 46.8 and 37.4 FanDuel points against them in his two matchups with his current team. Of course, he saw the court for 78 combined minutes in those games, so his per-minute output of 1.08 FanDuel points is a better point of reference as he'll likely only see 25-30 minutes tonight.

At his current salary, however, even limited minutes is more than enough time for him to hit solid value. We have him projected for 24.1 FanDuel points in 26.5 minutes of run, which would equate to a value of over 5.2 FanDuel points per $1,000.