3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 2/9/21
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.
Elfrid Payton, PG, New York Knicks
DraftKings Salary: $4,800
It's been merely a week since the Immanuel Quickley breakout for the New York Knicks, but since then the rookie has fallen off in a big way. Over the last three games, he's averaged just 14.3 minutes a night while Elfrid Payton has stepped up to the tune of 33.7 minutes over that same span. And with that time he's averaged 16.3 points on double-digit shots as he has worked his way to 31.9 DraftKings points per game and a 25.3% usage rate, according to NBA.com.
Payton was held to 7 points and 20 DK points against these Miami Heat, but he shot just 3-for-12 from the floor. If he's able to hit a couple more shots, that's all it will take for him to hit or surpass his salary-implied total of 24 fantasy points.
With the minutes he's seeing it's hard to see a better point guard option in this salary range.
DeAndre Jordan, C, Brooklyn Nets
DraftKings Salary: $4,600
Across both cash and tournament formats, more people should gravitate to DeAndre Jordan around this same range. After seeing his starting role handed to Jeff Green as part of small-ball lineups, the veteran big man has started two straight games for Brooklyn and has played 18 and 27 minutes, respectively. Green played a lot more at the four than the five with Kevin Durant (health and safety protocols) sidelined. KD will remain out Tuesday, so we will have more of the same against the Detroit Pistons.
Detroit is far from the NBA's best defensive team. They are 21st in defensive rating and surrender 113.7 points per game despite ranking near the bottom of the league in pace of play. For that reason, Jordan and his team are expected to tally 120.75 points as nine-point road favorites, according to NBA Finals odds.
Make sure that Jordan is starting before locking him in your lineup, though. In starts, DJ is averaging an additional 7.8 minutes and 7.0 more DK points per game than when he comes off the bench for the Nets.
Danny Green, SF, Philadelphia 76ers
DraftKings Salary: $3,800
Danny Green is an option to be the final player in your lineup on Tuesday night. While he has about a 1% chance of getting you 40-plus DK points, he has averaged 9.0 points and 20.9 fantasy points -- 1.9 above his sub-$4,000 salary-implied total.
Green's gotten the job done by knocking down outside shots and playing substantial minutes from his wing spot. The veteran sharpshooter has played a few games into the 30s, but he's averaging 27.5 minutes and consistently playing in the high-20s. He's averaged 2.3 three-point makes on the year and 2.7 over the last three games alone, a fact that should play well against the Sacramento Kings.
Not only are the Kings the worst defense by efficiency, but have given up 40 or more three-point attempts in 8 games, as well as another 7 with at least 35. Green should be able to take advantage of a high-tempo, high-scoring game -- just be sure to limit your exposure to tournaments and GPPs.
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.
