NBA Daily Fantasy Helper: Monday 4/30/18

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 ton of other great resources to help give you an edge.

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

It's a short one-game slate tonight, but let's take a look at who you should target if you're trying out FanDuel's modified single-game offerings.

Ben Simmons ($17,000)

At the top end of the pricing spectrum today, you're either paying for Simmons or Joel Embiid ($16,500). Embiid is one of the league's most efficient fantasy producers, but the gap in playing time for these two is enough to give Simmons the edge.

The Philadelphia 76ers didn't play Embiid for more than 31.2 minutes in any of his three games in Round 1, while Simmons played no fewer than 34.1 in any of his five, seeing at least 39.0 minutes three times. Embiid's 1.46 FanDuel points per minute sit well ahead of Simmons' 1.25, but when their playing time is nearly 10 minutes apart, that efficiency difference is easy to overlook. The edge in playing time means that Simmons' ceiling ends up about the same as Embiid's, while his floor is significantly higher.

If you're going with a stars-and-scrubs approach and loading up on value (which isn't too hard to do with the two guys we'll get to next), playing both Simmons and Embiid is a viable move that gives you a huge amount of upside.