NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 8/17/20

Austin Swaim  —  @ASwaim3 Aug 17th, 2020
Seth Curry has a reasonable salary today and can provide a boost of scoring for the Mavericks. Is he one of the top values players on the slate?

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.

Joe Harris, SG, Brooklyn Nets ($4,800)

With the start of the NBA's postseason, the days of needing to chase insane value amongst spot-starters for value are thankfully over. The long-term trend inside the NBA is that rotations are much shorter, and better players are on the court longer, which makes finding value amongst starters that see more minutes, but perhaps with a lower FanDuel point per minute production, is likely to be a more optimal strategy than the regular season. With only the top teams remaining as well, blowouts are less frequent, as evident by all four games on Monday currently with a spread of less than 10 points on FanDuel Sportsbook.

Luckily, there is no sacrifice of production or minutes to roster Brooklyn Nets' wing Joe Harris at this price tag. Harris averaged 28.62 FanDuel points per game in his six contests in the bubble, with a solid 22% usage, second only to Caris LeVert. Harris has flourished as the Nets' second option, and while he will face a brutal matchup against the Toronto Raptors and their second-best defensive rating in the NBA, he should see plenty of minutes and shots to pay off value at this price tag.

Royce O'Neale, PF, Utah Jazz ($4,500)

The loss of Bojan Bogdanovic has led to a total emergence on the wing for the Utah Jazz in the form of Royce O'Neale. O'Neale posted a very solid 0.91 FanDuel points per minute inside the Orlando bubble, and continues to see plenty of those minutes for Utah, as before he started resting--as many did--O'Neale averaged 31.8 minutes per game as the starting power forward.

O'Neale may also have increased usage--as all Jazz starters will--without Mike Conley, who left the bubble this weekend pending the birth of his child. The Denver Nuggets have done well against power forwards this year, allowing the fourth-fewest FanDuel points to opposing fours, but that was largely with Paul Millsap playing heavy minutes. If Michael Porter Jr. continues to play significant minutes at the spot for Denver, O'Neale may be able to take advantage of the young player that holds an incredibly low 0.032 defensive win-shares rating.

Seth Curry, PG, Dallas Mavericks ($4,000)

Seth Curry is certainly less likely than O'Neale and Harris to start and play over 30 minutes, but still has a great chance to do so for the Dallas Mavericks in their playoff opener. Curry played 34 minutes and scored 16 points in his Orlando debut against the Phoenix Suns on August 2nd, but after that point, the Mavs were locked into the seventh seed, and all starters began to see sporadic playing time. Given that, coming off an injury, he was leaned on so heavily as the starting shooting guard, he is likely the default option at the position. As of now, numberFire.com agrees, projecting Curry for 30.3 minutes on Monday.

Curry is a sniper from three-point land capable of getting hot at any time, currently sitting 6th in the NBA in three-point percentage (45.2%) of players that averaged over 20 minutes per game. With Luka Doncic likely to have his hands full defensively with Kawhi Leonard, he may defer more to his teammates, and that may lead to openings for Seth Curry against the Los Angeles Clippers, who gave up the fourth-most three-point attempts in the NBA this season.

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.