3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 9/2/20

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.

Chris Paul, PG, Oklahoma City Thunder ($8,200)

With value limited on Wednesday's slate, there are plenty of lower-end studs with plenty of upside. Let's look at three "salary-saving" options at the high end, who are worth considering beyond the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and James Harden.

The main event of the evening is the Game 7 contest between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets, and this game is taking place in no short part due to Thunder point guard Chris Paul. The heart and soul of the squad scored 15 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter, adding 7 rebounds and 3 assists along the way for a FanDuel points total of 49.2 in the elimination game.

Paul's newfound aggressiveness could be an inefficiency to exploit here, as a strong Game 6 has his total usage in the playoffs up to 23.6%, which is only behind bench scorer Dennis Schroder (26.1%). He was only fourth in the regular season in usage on OKC, so in desperate times, the Thunder have turned to their veteran playmaker.

Bam Adebayo, PF, Miami Heat ($8,000)

All of the Miami Heat players have something beyond their Game 1 win to be excited about, as their statistical averages (and therefore fantasy production) should rise throughout this series with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are great defensively, posting the best rating in the NBA this year, but their frantic pace was tops in the regular season and is the best in the playoffs so far of the 16 teams that qualified.

Many Heat players had great Game 1 performances in DFS as a result, and Bam Adebayo was no exception. Adebayo posted 12 points, 17 boards, and 6 assists in 38 minutes -- and that minute's load should remain high as he continues to be the primary option to defend Giannis. Adebayo is projected for 1.16 FanDuel points per minute by numberFire on Wednesday, which would surpass value if he stays out of foul trouble and sees his normal minutes load.

Khris Middleton, SG, Milwaukee Bucks ($7,500)

The Heat's defensive game plan is clear--"Anyone but Antetokounmpo". Miami limited "The Greek Freak" to just 12 shot attempts, 18 points, and only 43.5 FanDuel points--which was his lowest fantasy output inside the bubble in any game he saw his full minutes allotment. What that means is that Khris Middleton has a total green light to score, and has had no issue doing so.

The other Bucks' All-Star had 33 points on 14 shots against Miami back on August 6th and followed suit in Game 1 with 28 points on 24 shots. He struggled from the field in the second half, but at this price on FanDuel, Middleton has ample opportunity to score. His 34.1% usage led all Bucks in Game 1--even ahead of Giannis--which indicates his scoring output may be more likely to stay than Brook Lopez, who only took 10 shots and had just an 18.5% usage rate.

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.