NBA

3 Under-the-Radar Daily Fantasy Basketball Plays for 11/29/16

In a potential blowout, Marreese Speights is in position to become Mo' Buckets off the bench tonight for the Los Angeles Clippers.

We have plenty of NBA studs on tap tonight for daily fantasy purposes, but to fit more than one on your FanDuel team, you need to unearth some low-cost gems.

You'll also need to differentiate your lineups and roster some contrarian plays if you plan to take down some big tournaments. Keep in mind that you'll likely only need a few low-owned players in your lineup to go along with the chalk plays of the night. Find the best fits in the best spots for your roster construction to help set you apart from the pack.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer and a handful of other awesome tools to help give you an edge. Tonight we have a smallish six game slate that will leave you with limited options.

Consider these three under-the-radar players for your tournament rosters.

Jamal Crawford, SG, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $3,800

Why He Might Go Overlooked: James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo could run away with ownership tonight, even in tough matchups, and Crawford has scored less than 15 FanDuel points in four of his last six games.

Why You Should Consider Him:

In their matchup with the Brooklyn Nets tonight, the Los Angeles Clippers are 12.5-point road favorites with the highest projected team total of 115 points. This game has a high probability of a blowout, just like the 32 point drubbing when these two teams squared off two weeks ago.

Brooklyn has allowed the fourth most FanDuel points to shooting guards this year and play at the fastest pace in the league. Jamal Crawford took advantage of this in their previous meeting, finishing with 25.5 FanDuel points in 22 minutes. That’s about his ceiling, as he’s exceeded that total only twice with no more than 27.1 points, but that’s still pretty good for a near minimum price tag. Nevertheless, the three-time Sixth Man of the Year has been playing at least 26 minutes in each of his last seven contests and offers a relatively high floor with the potential for plenty of garbage time minutes.

In the same vein, Austin Rivers offers similar production at point guard for the Clippers, albeit with a lower floor and less guaranteed minutes.

Solomon Hill, SF, New Orleans Pelicans

FanDuel Price: $3,800

Why He Might Go Overlooked:

Anytime we have LeBron James and Kawhi Leonard on a shorter slate, they will probably hog ownership from the rest of the small forwards, and Gordon Hayward continues his stellar season. Solomon Hill is one of the lowest usage members of the New Orleans Pelicans' starting lineup.

Why You Should Consider Him:

A big part of DFS production is all about minutes and opportunity, something that Hill has in spades now that Dante Cunningham is out with a fractured fibula. Hill entered the starting lineup two games ago and has averaged almost over 34 minutes per game. His ceiling isn't super high, With the current starting unit, his usage rate is nothing great at 15.9%. But the court time is there, and a combined 2.4 blocks and steals per-36 minutes puts in a solid floor below Hill.

The real kicker here, though, is the matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers. The Pelicans have the second-highest projected team total of the night at 111 points while the Lakers play at the fourth-quickest pace in the league. The Lakers also give up the fifth-most FanDuel points to small forwards this season and allow the most steals to the position. All of these factors give Hill an extra bump, as long as he continues to receive the majority of playing time at small forward for the Pelicans.

Marreese Speights, PF, Los Angeles Clippers

FanDuel Price: $3,600

Why He Might Go Overlooked:

Anthony Davis and Kevin Love have been red-hot and are near locks as the chalk tonight at power forward. Meanwhile, Marreese Speights plays only 15.7 minutes per game with an inconsistent role in reserve.

Why You Should Consider Him:

Based on the same working premise as above with Crawford, we arrive at Speights. When the Clippers get a big lead, as they often do, their bench benefits-- and nobody eats like Mo' Buckets. This season, he averages 20.0 points, 10.7 rebounds and a combined 2.1 blocks and steals per-36 minutes played. He has topped 21.8 Fanduel points (6 times value) in one-third of his games this year while only hitting the 20 minute mark in one of 18 contests.

As you can see, Speights has the potential to explode when the conditions are right. And it just so happens that the Nets are the most generous team to opposing centers and second-most giving to power forwards, the two positions Mo' Buckets splits his time between. Of course, we already mentioned the blowout potential and fast pace of this game, so it seems the recipe is there for Speights to indeed eat.

Add to his efficient production the fact that Blake Griffin has a nagging knee injury since Friday, Speights could see even more time if the Clippers pull the plug on Griffin early. If he approaches 20 minutes tonight, we could see plenty of buckets for Mo Speights.