3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 12/28/20

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-salaried options into your lineup.

Let's take a look at five players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Kyle Kuzma, PF, Los Angeles Lakers ($4,200)

There are multiple injury situations to monitor for the Los Angeles Lakers, and that should make Kyle Kuzma a value option tonight.

Last night, Anthony Davis was out, which pushed Kuzma into the starting lineup. After the game, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel told reporters that LeBron James is dealing with an ankle issue and is questionable for tonight's game against the Portland Trail Blazers. If Davis is out again tonight, we can expect Kuzma to be in the starting lineup, which makes things easy. But if Davis is back in the lineup, Kuzma could still be a value play depending on Lebron's status tonight.

So, there are a few moving parts here, but it could all spell good news for Kuzma. Last season, when Anthony Davis was off the court, Kuzma held a 24.7% usage rate and posted 0.87 FanDuel points per minute. Last season, when Lebron James was off the court, Kuzma had a 25.9% usage rate and produced 0.94 FanDuel points per minute. Ultimately, it doesn't matter which one of them is out, as Kuzma would have a role either way.

With the game total sitting at 225 against Portland, Kuzma will have ample opportunities to rack up fantasy points and exceed his salary-based expectation.

Derrick Jones, SF, Portland Trail Blazers ($3,600)

With Carmelo Anthony out for the Trail Blazers, their rotation will be a bit shorter tonight. Melo isn't making the trip with Portland to Los Angeles due to health and safety protocols, which means a few extra minutes should be available for a player like Derrick Jones Jr.

While Jones is already in the starting lineup for Portland, we can see in the first two game logs, that Jones and Anthony aren't on the court at the same time in a nearly-perfect on/off pattern. This is important to note because it means they are, generally, playing the same role. So if that role has fewer players to fill it, then the ones that do play it should be in for extra work.

numberFire's projections have Jones going for 31 minutes while producing 21.1 FanDuel points -- which has him exceeding 5x value. We all know that minutes equal money in NBA DFS, and when a player under $4K is projected for 30-plus minutes, you want to look to him as a good value option. The game environment -- over/under set at 225 -- could also help lend a hand to Jones and his chance to truly jump past his projected production.

Dillon Brooks, SG, Memphis Grizzlies ($3,700)

To put things simply, Dillon Brooks is too cheap tonight.

At only $3.7K, Brooks comes in as the top overall value play on the site, per numberFire's projections. He is slated for 32 minutes and 27.5 FanDuel points for the Memphis Grizzlies tonight. Brooks should be the standout value play on the slate because he is clearly too cheap. It's not as if he is a role player who's simply in a good spot. Brooks is a starter for the Grizzlies, playing 33 and 30 minutes of their first two games.

Add in the fact this game has the highest over/under on the slate (232.5) and is expected to have the highest pace of the five games tonight. On top of all this, we have to love that Brooks has taken 37 field goal attempts through their first two games. He is fully involved in their offense, has some ceiling potential with his shot volume, has a great game environment, and is under $4K. Load up plenty of Brooks tonight.