3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 1/13/21
A major key to success in daily fantasy basketball is uncovering potential value plays. If you're looking to roster a stud or two, you need to consider squeezing one of these lower-salaried options into your lineup.
Let's take a look at three players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup on DraftKings tonight.
Enes Kanter, C, Portland Trail Blazers
DraftKings Salary: $4,800
On Monday, Jusuf Nurkic exited the game with a bruised quad, which has him listed as questionable for Tuesday night. If he were to miss time, that opens up an obvious start for Enes Kanter, though the situation lacks some clarity. According to NBA.com's lineup data, Portland opted for other lineups in Nurk's stead, deploying Carmelo Anthony as a super small-ball five for large chunks. Kanter ended the game with just 16 minutes against Toronto.
The reasoning behind a Kanter play is that the matchup calls for more of a traditional big. While the Raptors played Chris Boucher a lot at center, the Kings are going to send out Richaun Holmes and Hassan Whiteside. Unless Kanter gets exposed in the pick-and-roll early (that happens sometimes), he should play around 25 minutes, which has proven enough for him to produce relevant fantasy figures.
Through 10 games, Kanter is averaging 1.32 DraftKings points per minute, and in his four games he's played 20-plus minutes, he's put up 31.1 DK points a game. He has one game of 44 DK points, and over the last three, he's managed 27.2 over a minimal 16.3 minutes. Kanter is a prime tournament play given his double-double upside.
Willie Cauley-Stein, C, Dallas Mavericks
DraftKings Salary: $4,100
As you probably know already, the story of the past week has revolved around the words contact tracing and health and safety protocols. That's left a number of rosters depleted, and one of those is in Dallas. The Mavericks will be without the services of several players, but in addition to Maxi Kleber, fellow big man Dwight Powell will also be out. So, while Kristaps Porzingis makes his 2021 debut, Willie Cauley-Stein is primed for a heavy workload.
Cauley-Stein has been limited to an average of 16.0 minutes through nine contests, yet he has increased his run to 24.6 minutes over three straight starts. He's taken over the starting job, and with the combination of Kleber and Powell vacating 44.1 minutes, we could see Porzingis alongside WCS for short stints. Either way, the big man will be involved against a Charlotte team that ranks seventh-worst against centers, according to FantasyPros.
The matchup is good, but Cauley Stein's manufactured 0.88 DK points per minute this season and 0.93 in his three starts. He requires a mere 20.5 DK points to meet or exceed his salary-implied total.
Gary Trent, SG/SF, Portland Trail Blazers
DraftKings Salary: $3,600
The high-pace, high-scoring environment between the Kings and Blazers invites a lot of value, so why stop with Kanter? There could be value in a guy like Carmelo, as well, but without Nurkic, Portland's small-ball approach led to 30 minutes for Gary Trent Jr. last time out. And for a guy under $4,000 we have to dig deeper.
Trent's left a lot out there on the floor this season, averaging only 15.9 DK points in his 24.1 minutes of work. He's shot below his standards at 42.3% from the floor, although he's still hitting 42.9% of his three-point attempts. The minutes have held down his volume, but his usage is up 2.1% from a year ago.
Trent is a boom-or-bust guy, so with his points-or-nothing approach he's a prime tournament play, especially if you are stacking this game. With a 235.5 over/under, he has the chance to pop off and crush value.
Brett Oswalt is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Brett Oswalt also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username BRO14THEKID. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his/her 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.
