NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target for 7/31/20

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 three players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Rudy Gay, SF, San Antonio Spurs ($4,700)

The San Antonio Spurs are at a crossroads on how to approach their time inside the Orlando bubble. They could potentially make the playoffs, but the team is now without LaMarcus Aldridge and Trey Lyles for the remainder of the year, which significantly hampers their chances to make the playoffs, much less contend for a title.

If they continue to try for a playoff seed, Rudy Gay will have to take on a huge role making up for Aldridge on the scoring front. Gay has an elevated 22.3% usage without Aldridge, and has had quite a bit of practice without the big man coming off the bench all season. If Tuesday's scrimmage was any indication, the small forward is up for the challenge, as he poured in 23 points in only 21 minutes.

He likely will not start, but is projected still for over 28 minutes, and over 28 FanDuel points, by numberFire currently, which is tremendous value at this price tag.

Nemanja Bjelica, PF, Sacramento Kings ($4,500)

The Sacramento Kings top pick of 2019 was Marvin Bagley III, but the Duke product has been unable to stay healthy. He will once again miss more games, as he exited the Orlando bubble with a foot injury earlier this week.

Nemanja Bjelica has been the one beneficiary of that pick flaming out for the Kings. When Bagley missed most of January with a foot injury, Bjelica exploded in several games as the starter, eclipsing 30 FanDuel points five times that month.

It may be why Bjelica is in line for a big first game back according to numberFire, currently projected for 28.9 FanDuel points.

P.J. Tucker, C, Houston Rockets ($3,900)

Yes, it still feels strange to type P.J. Tucker, NBA center. The Houston Rockets continue to operate fully in the small-ball era, with the 6'5" Tucker as the man in the middle. This, however, does invite Tucker to the opportunity of more rebounds as the tallest player on the floor.

Tucker is not sexy for NBA fantasy, largely because his scoring upside consists of corner threes and corner threes only, but he has delivered when given the playing time. In his last four games playing at least 30 minutes, Tucker is averaging 22.23 FanDuel points, which would be good enough for a FanDuel value score of 5.7 at this price.

A lot of injuries have been priced out already by FanDuel with the long layoff to gather news, so Tucker's consistency should not be overlooked, especially with the tiniest of usage upticks with Eric Gordon set to miss the game due to an ankle injury.


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.