3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 8/24/20

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 today.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, SF, Milwaukee Bucks ($11,500)

Nothing seems to be able to deter Giannis Antetokounmpo. Despite two blowouts in the three games in the Milwaukee Bucks' series against the Orlando Magic, Giannis is still putting up hefty individual numbers and cruising past value on FanDuel. He is averaging 59.6 FanDuel points in this series, and that comes with a floor of 52.5 FanDuel points in any individual game.

Giannis' stat line seems blowout-proof on two factors. The first of which is his 36.3% usage, which is the highest mark in the NBA playoffs, and that gap is substantial over the Bucks' next closer starter, which is Eric Bledsoe at 23.1%. Therefore, when Antetokounmpo is on the floor, he is the star of the show offensively. Giannis is also cleaning up on the glass as well, averaging 0.51 rebounds per minute. He is so productive per minute that the early nights just do not lower his floor, and is therefore still the top priority in all formats, despite a price increase.

Anthony Davis, PF, Los Angeles Lakers ($10,900)

Anthony Davis was finally able to put it all together on Saturday. While AD was producing well throughout this series, he had been plagued by poor shooting or a lack of minutes in blowouts. In a close game, Davis finally saw 40 minutes and used 61% shooting to score 28 points, which translated to 67.2 FanDuel points and smashing value at the end of the evening.

The Portland Trail Blazers just struggle to find a matchup for Davis, now playing Jusuf Nurkic and Hassan Whiteside together, but Davis is still so much more skilled around the perimeter than even those two quality big men. Davis has a very high floor in this matchup, averaging 1.60 FanDuel points per minute against a Blazers' team that gave up the second-most FanDuel points to opposing fours throughout the season -- especially with power forward a relatively weak position on this slate. Davis is a close runner-up to Giannis as the highest priority target.

Chris Paul, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder ($7,900)

The Oklahoma City Thunder might have some usage up for grabs in a pivotal Game 4 against the Houston Rockets. Steven Adams suffered a knee contusion which he did not return from on Saturday, and given the matchup against the "small ball" Rockets, it is incredibly possible Adams does not play on a bad leg. Adams holds a weak 17.5% usage inside the office, as one would expect from a center. OKC is an incredibly balanced roster as-is scoring, with five players averaging in double figures, which can create issues projecting usage inheritance.

However, among that group, Chris Paul leads the Thunder in averaging 1.26 FanDuel points per minute with Adams off the floor. The emotional leader of the Thunder is also upping his role in the offense, as despite finishing fourth on the team in usage during the regular season, he is now sitting at second on the team with 23.3% usage during the postseason. Paul is actually $100 cheaper than on Saturday's slate despite the great performance, and numberFire currently projects the star for 1.17 FanDuel points per minute on Monday, creating an implied total of 43.3 FanDuel points if he plays 37 minutes, which Paul has exceeded in all three games thus far.

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.