NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Friday 5/5/17

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes hugely on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and depending on injury news, even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

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.

We'll also be coming at you with a primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each price point.

Let's take a look at who you should target on today's slate.

Best of the Best

Kawhi Leonard ($11,100): This slate is hugely impacted by the absence of Tony Parker, who is done for the playoffs with a quad injury. Kawhi only has a 24.6% usage rate in this series so far, but the absence of Parker -- who has a 23.5% usage rate in 24.5 minutes per game -- will open up a ton of offensive opportunity. Looking at regular-season numbers, Leonard's usage rate jumped from 30.7% in games with Parker to 33.6% without him, and in the 1,305 minutes he played without Parker on the court over the season, he posted a 35.2% usage rate.