FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Sunday 2/7/21

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy NBA is very reliant on opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel:

The Slate

There are plenty of missing totals and three big names already ruled out for Sunday's main slate, which starts earlier than normal with a 1:00 p.m. EST lock. Paul George will miss a second straight game for the Los Angeles Clippers with his foot injury. Jaylen Brown will also miss a second straight contest with a knee injury, which will leave the Boston Celtics backcourt even further shorthanded as Marcus Smart continues to sit. Mike Conley will be out for the Utah Jazz's contest with the Indiana Pacers, which is not a surprise after he left Friday's game with a hamstring injury.

The most notable other injury news lies with the Charlotte Hornets, as starting guard Devonte' Graham will miss the contest with a groin injury and PJ Washington is a game-time call to miss his third contest with a foot injury. In some ways, that may be the most notable injury situation to watch against the top-paced Washington Wizards, who are a dream matchup on any given slate.

Point Guard

Malcolm Brogdon ($7,000): The drop in salary for Brogdon is related to some recent poor performances, but all three games were blowouts entering the fourth quarter and all Pacers' starters sat. There is little concern for Brogdon to rebound soon, as after trading Victor Oladipo, Brogdon is the featured man in the backcourt. The only cause for worry would be the emergence and return from injury of Jeremy Lamb, but Brogdon has seen a 1.2-percentage-point usage increase and 0.12 FanDuel points per minute bump with Lamb on the floor so far. Utah's slow pace would normally be concern, but this salary is low enough to overcome it.

Kemba Walker ($5,700): Assuming Walker plays, he sees a direct bump in usage while Jaylen Brown is out. Walker sees an insane 9.3-percentage-point usage uptick without Brown on the floor this year -- for a team-high 38.8% usage in that split. He also averages 1.35 FanDuel points per minute in that situation. At a salary this low, seeing more than 30 minutes would be great in any capacity, especially considering the Phoenix Suns cede the 11th-most points to opposing point guards.

Other Notable Plays: Terry Rozier ($6,100), Elfrid Payton ($5,100)

Shooting Guard

Donovan Mitchell ($7,800): It has already been announced that Mike Conley will miss Sunday's game, and that leads us to Mitchell, who already leads the Jazz in usage. The season-long numbers are exactly flat for Mitchell with Conley on and off the court, but Friday's sample may have been more indicative, as Mitchell had a whopping 32.1% usage on Friday in a 30-point performance. Mitchell has benefitted with an increase in pace the past three games, scoring at least 34.7 FanDuel points in each, and that is no different against Indiana on Sunday.

Malik Monk ($4,500): The former lottery pick is back in Charlotte's rotation -- more out of necessity than performance. Terry Rozier missed two games earlier this week, and Devonte' Graham was hurt early on Friday, which has allowed Monk to average 31.7 minutes per game while leading Charlotte's bench unit. Monk will probably be off the radar as a bench option who performed poorly the past two games on frigid 38.9% shooting, but Monk showcased his ceiling Monday with 36 real-world points in a similar situation. He does not, however, need 36 points to pay off at this salary, and he could not ask for a better matchup against the weak Washington second unit.

Other Notable Plays: Bradley Beal ($10,800), Luke Kennard ($4,800)

Small Forward

Kawhi Leonard ($9,900): It is not a circumstance that comes up as often as it did last year with severe "load management," but Kawhi is still the go-to option when Paul George is off the floor. Leonard sees a 2.9-percentage-point usage increase without George, which brings his total in that situation to a gaudy 32.9%. With George out, it also is increasingly unlikely that Kawhi himself rests, which means he should be ready to take aim at a Sacramento Kings team that has allowed the ninth-most FanDuel points to opposing small forwards.

Mikal Bridges ($5,600): With Jae Crowder potentially sitting again due to his foot injury, Bridges will likely not see more minutes but is perhaps more secure in his role. He has seen 31.5 minutes per game the last two contests even with blowouts, which makes his floor incredibly solid. One of the reasons to see a potential buy-low opportunity on Bridges is that he should eventually turn around his shooting, as he shot 40.6% from three-point land in January but is 0-for-14 on treys in February. He should hit a couple soon.

Other Notable Plays: Gordon Hayward ($7,600), Nicolas Batum ($5,200), Rui Hachimura ($5,200)

Power Forward

Julius Randle ($9,000): Randle remains a dream cash and single-entry play, as his floor is just absurd -- 34 FanDuel points is his lowest total in his last 13 games, and that has come with a ceiling that has broken 47 FanDuel points four times, as well. It is largely in part to his versatility, as evidenced by his 18 double-doubles this season, but also his heavy minutes -- which have increased even more the past three contests to an average of 38.3. The Miami Heat have allowed the second-most FanDuel points to opposing forwards, which makes this another tremendous spot for Randle.

Bam Adebayo ($8,800): On the other side of Randle's matchup is Adebayo. Although the two are listed as the same position on FanDuel, they likely will not guard each other incredibly often. Bam is doing his best Randle impersonation the past eight games, going for at least 39 FanDuel points in seven of them. Adebayo, though, may have a higher ceiling given that he has eclipsed 50 FanDuel points in 3 of his last 12 contests. The increase in floor is likely directly correlated to his offensive aggressiveness, as Adebayo has scored more than 15 points in each of his last eight contests.

Other Notable Plays: Marvin Bagley III ($5,200), Grant Williams ($3,800)

Center

Richaun Holmes ($6,200): The center position is an interesting one on this small slate, as there are a lot of fine plays but not one key guy who pops off the screen. Holmes is worth highlighting because the opportunity has not presented itself to discuss the Kings yet in this primer -- and that is largely due to how difficult they are to trust. One of the few Kings players who sees fairly consistent playing time is Holmes, who has logged 30-plus minutes in 10 of his past 12 games. Holmes is averaging 34.8 FanDuel points per game in his last three and will look to keep it rolling against the Clippers on Sunday.

Other Notable Plays: Deandre Ayton ($8,300), Cody Zeller ($5,800)

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.