3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 7/30/20

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.

LeBron James, SF, Los Angeles Lakers ($11,400)

As it stands, LeBron James will be taking advantage of at least one absence on Thursday night, and it could be more.

James is absolutely the beneficiary of Rajon Rondo now done for the season with a broken thumb. Really, it should come as no surprise that James leads the Lakers in both minutes (1619) and usage (31.6%) when Rondo has been off the floor for the purple and gold, and as such profiles to be a huge part of the offense the remainder of the year.

It could get even better for James as well. Anthony Davis is questionable with an incredibly ambiguous eye injury, and while it sounds like James' co-star will be good-to-go, the Lakers' offense would have few options besides James if AD were to miss the kickoff game in the NBA's return to action, and his usage could be astronomical.

Rudy Gobert, C, Utah Jazz ($8,200)

Things sometimes come full circle, and that may be rich irony as Rudy Gobert infamously was infected with COVID-19, which postponed the NBA's season immediately, and now he is a top option on the first slate back to action from the break for the virus.

Gobert is currently the only center projected to see over 30 minutes, expected to see 35.1 minutes according to numberFire. Really, the two viable options are the positions are Gobert, or the sure-to-be-popular Ivica Zubac, who is likely to see a bump in minutes with Montrezl Harrell outside the quarantine bubble.

Gobert could be an interesting way to spend salary, given that the Jazz now have 3.5 rebounds per game and 25.6% usage available with Bojan Bogdanovic now out for the season. The New Orleans Pelicans are also the worst defense on this small, two-game slate--giving up the third-most points in the paint in the NBA, which bodes well for the tall Frenchman here.

Paul George, SG, Los Angeles Clippers ($7,400)

Paul George is not priced like a stud on this particular slate, but no doubt the former all-star has the ability to fill it up in a hurry. The Los Angeles Clippers offense will have some soul searching to do in the backcourt, with Louis Williams definitely out due to leaving the quarantine bubble, and Patrick Beverley also has an unknown quarantine status as well.

George and Kawhi Leonard are both excellent studs to target, but the position flexibility gives the nod to George personally. Kawhi, given his listed small forward position, finds himself in the same player pool as LeBron James and Brandon Ingram, both as top usage options on their respective squads as well.

PG13 has only played 42 games this year due to injury, but with the long layoff, carries no injury designation into Thursday's matchup. With Williams and Montrezl Harrell both definitely out, George will look to continue his tremendous usage leading the bench unit with them off the floor at 33.1%, which is why he is projected with a sensational 44.0 FanDuel points by numberFire, the fourth-highest on Thursday's slate.

Austin Swaim is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Austin Swaim also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username ASwaim3. 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.