NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 2/27/20

One of the keys to finding success in daily fantasy basketball is uncovering potential value plays. If you're looking to roster a stud player or two, you need to consider squeezing in one of these lower-priced options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at five players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Al Horford, PF, Philadelphia 76ers ($4,800)

Are the Philadelphia 76ers still trusting the process, or are they in full panic mode?

Ben Simmons is out for two weeks with an injury, and last night we saw Joel Embiid suffer a shoulder injury, which has him out tonight. Their lineup and usage leaders were already going through plenty of changes, and that will be impacted yet again with Embiid now out. We should see Al Horford in the lineup as the starting center, and he's one of the chalkiest players on tonight's four-game slate.

If we account for both Simmons and Embiid being off the court, Horford sees a 2.8% increase in his usage -- putting him up to 21.2% -- along with producing an additional 0.17 FanDuel points per minute, getting him up to 1.17. This shouldn't be a surprise -- when two high-usage players are off the court, the other players can benefit from that. The matchup against the New York Knicks only has an over/under at 211, but we should still see Horford as one of the chalkiest players tonight.

Rajon Rondo, PG, Los Angeles Lakers ($4,000)

With LeBron James out tonight, there is value to find in the Los Angeles Lakers' lineup.

Whenever a player like LeBron is out of a lineup, we see several other players take a step forward and become viable options that slate. The Lakers should still look to Anthony Davis as their main offensive weapon, but Rajon Rondo is a player to fill in some secondary scoring tonight. In fact, we have Rondo projected for 29 minutes and 30.1 FanDuel points tonight, making him our top-rated value play on the entire slate. Strong production per minute is great from a player who is only $4K tonight, and there is a chance he can exceed that.

Rondo and the Lakers are up against the Golden State Warriors, who are allowing 49.8 FanDuel points per game to point guards, the third-most in the league. We also have a slate-high 223-point over/under here, and both teams in the top half of the league in offensive pace.

Harry Giles, PF, Sacramento Kings ($4,500)

Playing big minutes, producing fantasy points, and still not expensive?

That is what we have with Harry Giles, who comes in with 20 minutes or more in four straight games, and 32 FanDuel points in each of his last two outings. With only four games on the slate, we don't have a ton of value options to pick from, and with Giles now in the starting lineup for the Sacramento Kings, he might be one of the better options. With him now in the starting lineup, we see Giles holding a modest 19.4% usage rate but producing a solid 1.03 FanDuel points per minute.

Our projections have Giles going for 26 minutes and 27.8 FanDuel points, putting him as the third-best value option on the slate. If your goal on tonight's slate is to pay up for Anthony Davis, C.J. McCollum, or Domantas Sabonis, you will need the savings, and these players offer that.