3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 10/25/19
A major key to success in daily fantasy basketball is uncovering potential value plays. If you're looking to roster a stud or two, you need to consider squeezing one of these lower-priced options into your lineup.
Let's take a look at three players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on DraftKings tonight.
Josh Hart, SG/SF, New Orleans Pelicans
Price: $3,200
Projected DK Points: 16.0
Projected Value (DK Points/$1,000): 5.01
Though he had the benefit of overtime to boost his stats, Josh Hart's 33.5-DraftKings-point performance on opening night should not go overlooked, especially at a bargain price of just $3,200 this evening. Hart, who came to the New Orleans Pelicans from the Los Angeles Lakers during the trade that moved Anthony Davis out west, finished with 15 points and 10 boards in a 130-122 loss.
More importantly, however, is that his 28 minutes were the third-most on the team. If you had been worried about him not getting solid playing time, those fears should already have been quelled.
During the preseason, Hart put up a solid 0.89 DraftKings points per minute, which would be a career best if he averaged that this season (he put up just 0.70 DraftKings points per minute last year). While we obviously cannot draw the conclusion that type of production will carry into the regular season after one game, his run on opening night certainly suggest he'll be given every opportunity to -- especially in a game tonight that has a total of 228.0 points, the highest on the slate.
At his sub-$4,000 price point tonight on DraftKings, he could once again be a major difference maker for lineups. We have him projected for a baseline value of 5.01 DraftKings points per $1,000 with much higher upside.
Tyus Jones, PG, Memphis Grizzlies
Price: $3,600
Projected DK Points: 21.4
Projected Value (DK Points/$1,000): 5.94
Tyus Jones is used to playing second fiddle. He was behind Jeff Teague in Minnesota, and he's once again coming off the bench with his new team, the Memphis Grizzlies. It's not all that surprising; the Grizzlies spend the number two overall pick on point guard Ja Morant, and they are going to start him and make sure he gets run.
While he's not starting, Jones should still get more run off the bench than he did in the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and that played out in a tough 120-101 away loss to the Miami Heat the other night. Jones saw just 17.6 minutes to Teague's 30.3 when they both played last season, but Jones and Morant saw 24 and 25 minutes of run, respectively, on Wednesday.
He outscored the rookie, dished out three more dimes than him, and turned the ball over just twice, while Morant lost it six times. While he certainly won't outperform him like that every night, he should regularly see minutes in the 20s, which should at least allow him the opportunity to do so once in a while.
Regardless of how he compares to Morant, we care more about his production compared to his salary, which stands at just $3,600 tonight. The Grizzlies have an appealing home matchup tonight against the Chicago Bulls, against whom Jones has averaged 0.92 DraftKings points per minute in his career.
We have Jones projected to be a bit under that output tonight, projecting him for 0.81 DraftKings points per minute en route to 21.4 DraftKings points and a value of 5.94 points per $1,000.
Dorian Finney-Smith, SF/PF, Dallas Mavericks
Price: $3,500
Projected DK Points: 25.0
Projected Value (DK Points/$1,000): 7.35
Hey, let's make it a trio of backups for this article and write about Dallas Mavericks forward Dorian Finney-Smith, shall we? OK, good. I'm glad you're on board.
Finney-Smith might not always get 32 minutes a night like he did in the Mavs' opening game, but he can play multiple positions, and with Dwight Powell out for at least one more game, he's likely to once again get fairly heavy run.
The fourth-year player out of Florida has never been a strong offensive option -- he made only one field goal on opening night -- but he showed aggressiveness on Wednesday, getting to the line several times and hitting 7-of-8. With that performance, he set new career highs for free throw makes and attempts in a game.
Finney-Smith has increased his per-36 scoring and rebound numbers each year he's been in the league, and his .507 effective field goal percentage last year, while nowhere close to the league leaders, represented a massive jump over his previous career best of .463. With that and increased effectiveness on the boards, he's increased his DraftKings points per minute from 0.54 in his rookie year to 0.73 last year, which is about what he averaged during Wednesday's 108-100 win over the Washington Wizards.
As mentioned with Josh Hart above, tonight's game between the Mavs and Pelicans has the highest total of the night at 228.0 points, which should lead for plenty of opportunity for production, especially if Finney-Smith once again sees solid run, as he should. numberFire projects him to, pegging him for 31.3 minutes of court time. We project him to finish with 25.0 DraftKings points and return one of the best values on the entire slate.
