3 NBA DraftKings Value Plays to Target on 2/24/21
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.
Royce O'Neale, SF/PF, Utah Jazz
DraftKings Salary: $4,800
Royce O'Neale is one of those few players that you can roster below the $5,000 but also know exactly what you're getting on a nightly basis. Typically starting at small forward for the Utah Jazz, the versatile defensive specialist sees 32.6 minutes a night and in close games tends to be closer to 33 to 38. A home matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers is tailormade for him to get substantial minutes as he combats LeBron James and company.
According to Basketball-Reference, the Jazz have won by 12.3 points per game on their home court compared to 6.8 away, but in the seven games they have either lost or won by 12 points or fewer O'Neale has averaged 33.7 minutes. And at home, despite some blowouts, he's managed 2.8 more fantasy points with a combined 1.8 blocks-plus-steals on the defensive end.
Those aren't gaudy numbers, but that's not what you're looking for from O'Neale. He is a guy you want to round out your otherwise locked-up lineup tonight.
Marc Gasol, C, Los Angeles Lakers
DraftKings Salary: $4,300
Throughout the early portions of the year, Marc Gasol just looked like an aging big that would only play 20 minutes a game and cede most of his time to Anthony Davis at the five. And for the most part that has stuck, but with Davis going down he has been forced to do more for the Lakers to compete. That's especially been the case with Dennis Schroder sidelined due to health and safety protocols.
Since L.A.'s starting point man started his quarantine, Gasol has chipped in everywhere with averages of 7.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.3 steals. He's totaled 24.3 DK points and -- per NBA Wowy -- for the year has now put up a nice 0.99 DK points per minute in the 91 minutes he's played without both Davis and Schroder.
It shouldn't be a high-scoring one versus the Jazz, yet a matchup with Rudy Gobert should lead to more minutes for a seven-footer like Gasol. He's a great stacking option with LeBron.
Lonnie Walker, SG/SF, San Antonio Spurs
DraftKings Salary: $3,700
The San Antonio Spurs are the NBA's most recent team to be hit by COVID protocols, and as a result, are without several bodies on Wednesday night. Among them are Keldon Johnson, Derrick White, and Rudy Gay, not to mention Devin Vassell. In other words, they are hurting for bodies on the wing, especially with DeMar DeRozan now away from the team for personal reasons.
Lonnie Walker hasn't enjoyed a stellar year, and of late he's missed time and been limited due to illness. But he played three games with a reduced workload, and San Antonio isn't in a place to go with a typical rotation. We should see him back to the 29 or so minutes he played before his absence.
Through 25 games, the 22-year-old is averaging 10.8 points and 18.9 fantasy points over 26.4 minutes of work. In the games he's played at least 30, though, he has averaged 16.4 points on 47% shooting in seven games (all starts). That's what we can expect from him, and based on scoring alone he could easily surpass his salary-implied total of 18.5 DK points. If he's announced a starter, Walker should be one of the most highly-rostered guys on the slate.
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 authors alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.
