NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 8/26/20

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.

Update: The NBA has postponed all three playoff games today.

Carmelo Anthony, SF, Portland Trail Blazers ($5,400)

The knee injury to Damian Lillard that will force him to miss Game 5 has produced a titanic-sized hole in the Portland Trail Blazers rotation and scoring hierarchy. While stars like Jusuf Nurkic and C.J. McCollum will absorb plenty of that at higher price tags, Portland luckily has plenty of value scorers as well, and a lot of them come with cheap price tags.

Carmelo Anthony is second on the Blazers in usage rate with Damian Lillard off the floor at 25.8%, only behind McCollum (33.1%). The 2013 scoring champion in the NBA certainly has never been a stranger to filling it up, and Anthony has scored over 20 points five times already inside the bubble playing alongside Lillard. He is projected by numberFire for a mammoth 32.7 FanDuel points on Wednesday without Dame.

Gary Trent Jr, SG, Portland Trail Blazers ($4,000)

At one point inside the Orlando bubble, Gary Trent Jr. was grabbing headlines for his shooting 62% from three in the bubble during opening week (July 31st to August 8), but those days seem distant for the Duke Blue Devils product now. Trent is still entrenched in the Blazers' rotation, averaging 28.8 minutes per game, but at only 34.4% shooting in their series with the Los Angeles Lakers, Trent has been a difficult asset to rely upon.

However, Lillard's injury changes things dramatically for Trent. He likely will start next to McCollum and already saw an uptick in shots on Monday, where he was able to take 11. Trent also has the capability of hitting a ton of those, as seen during the bubble's opening week. Most important of all, Trent Jr. still played 34 minutes on Monday despite a heavy blowout, which is a very real possibility with the Lakers a whopping 14-point favorite already against Portland on Wednesday on FanDuel Sportsbook.

P.J. Tucker, C, Houston Rockets ($4,200)

I wanted to showcase Luguentz Dort here, but with McCollum and Trent Jr. both locked into a very nice position at the shooting guard spot, it will be important to diversify value to other positions as well. With nothing particular eye-catching at point guard, P.J. Tucker is worth spotlighting against if you choose to opt against Jusuf Nurkic or Hassan Whiteside in lieu of other Portland options.

Tucker is still incredibly affordable, and his fantasy production has dramatically increased inside the playoffs. His frustrating 0.58 FanDuel points per minute mark in this series will always lead to some groaning, but he has exceeded a 5.00 FanDuel value score in three of four games and continues to see monstrous minutes, averaging 36 minutes per game in this series despite the emergence of Jeff Green.


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.