3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 11/26/19
Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.
A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down. A high-priced NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.
While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.
Let's get right into it and look at which top players should be the focal points of your lineups tonight.
Luka Doncic, PG, Dallas Mavericks ($12,500)
Luka Doncic's price tag is starting to climb into the territory that will make him worth fading on some slates, especially when he draws a matchup as tough as the Los Angeles Clippers. This is a two-game slate, though, which means we don't have to be as price-sensitive as we often are, and also there are no alternatives that offer nearly the same kind of blend of floor and upside that Doncic does.
Doncic has fallen below 49 FanDuel points only twice this year, and his 11 games with at least 55 are tied with James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo for the most in the NBA.
The sophomore ranks third in the NBA with 57.6 FanDuel points per game on the year, while the next highest average for a player on this slate is 45.8 and the third-highest is 40.3. His recent numbers have been especially absurd, topping 67 FanDuel points in four of his last six games, with 57.4 and 53.5 in the other two.
This raw production is backed up by a sizable workload and some great rate stats, as well, as he's showing a 35.7% usage rate, 48.9% assist rate and 15.5% rebound rate. His 33.9 minutes per game do mean that we may see his production fall off a bit, as only three players since the 2009-10 season have averaged at least 1.70 FanDuel points per minute in a season (min. 500 minutes). But on the other side of the coin, that also leaves room for his playing time to expand.
There are few fantasy options like him in the NBA, and none of them are on this slate. The opportunity cost in passing on Doncic tonight is just too high.
Bradley Beal, SG, Washington Wizards ($9,700)
The Washington Wizards are another offense with a tough matchup tonight, taking on the Denver Nuggets and their combination of the third-ranked defensive rating and league-low pace. The way that the Washington Wizards play should all but force Denver into a more fantasy-friendly contest than usual, though.
The Wiz may own a -1.0 net rating, but their 113.6 offensive rating is the second-best in the NBA, and they're playing at a top-five pace.
A huge part of this scoring-heavy team has been the play of Bradley Beal, who is taking full advantage of having John Wall on the shelf, boasting a career-high 31.4% usage rate in 37.4 minutes per game.
Beal isn't posting James Harden numbers, but his 29.6 points per game rank fourth in the NBA, closely trailing Giannis (31.1) and Doncic (30.6). He's also dishing out a career-high 7.1 assists and adding 4.6 rebounds per game.
The scoring-heavy nature of his fantasy production does make him inconsistent, but his upside is undeniable. He has scored at least 53 FanDuel points in four of his last six, and 3 of his 14 career games with at least 60 fantasy points have come in this young season. This is another situation where his upside at this price makes him a strong play despite the tough matchup, thanks to the lack of options on such a short slate.
Jamal Murray, PG, Denver Nuggets ($7,800)
Of course, with those numbers, the Wizards' opponents are usually going to be in for big fantasy days, as well. Their high pace and 114.6 defensive rating (second-worst in the NBA) has them conceding the NBA's second-most points and third-most assists per game.
Even in a neutral matchup, this price tag would be a little low for Jamal Murray, who is averaging 37.7 FanDuel points per game over his last 10, but taking on the Wiz makes this an especially appealing salary as he looks to build on the 18.9 points and 5.0 assists per game (both on pace to be career-highs) that he has posted to open the year.
He's had some issues with consistency, as duds with 17 and 20 fantasy points do show up in his last 10 games, though he has made up for those with a huge ceiling, also having games of 52.7 and 67.8 in that time.
The Nuggets are showing a slate-high 117.75-point implied total, and even with some blowout risk (they're 9.5-point favorites), Murray should have little trouble taking advantage of this matchup.
Jason Schandl is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Jason Schandl also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username Jaymun. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in his articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
