NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on 3/15/21

Thomas Vecchio  —  @Tom_Vecchio1 Mar 15th, 2021
Immanuel Quickley has fantastic upside versus the Nets tonight and is very affordable. What other value plays should you be targeting tonight?

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 three players who can help fill in the gaps in your lineup.

Immanuel Quickley, SG, New York Knicks ($4,600)

The New York Knicks are in a big pace-up spot tonight versus the Brooklyn Nets and should be set for plenty of fantasy production.

A pace-up spot is always good to target for fantasy production, and that is where we find the Knicks (30th in offensive pace) tonight, taking on their cross-town rival Nets (8th in offensive pace). We also know that the Nets aren't playing a ton of defense this season, as they are allowing the seventh-most (42.40) FanDuel points per game to opposing shooting guards. These two factors should help Immanuel Quickley produce plenty of fantasy points, which is exactly what he is projected to do. numberFire's projections have Quickley going for 29.3 FanDuel points in 28.65 minutes.

That projection makes Quickley the third-best value among all positions tonight. It also should be noted that Quickley generally comes off the bench for the Knicks and sees some court time when Julius Randle is grabbing a breather. When this is the case, we see Quickley producing 1.10 FanDuel points per minute, which is up from his normal 1.02 point-per-minute production rate. The over/under is sitting at 222.5 points tonight and should provide a good fantasy environment for Quickley's production.

Cody Zeller, C, Charlotte Hornets ($4,300)

If you are looking to save at the center position tonight, consider Cody Zeller from the Charlotte Hornets.

The Hornets are hosting the Sacramento Kings tonight where the over/under is set at 239 points, which is the second-highest on the slate. Both teams are also in the top 13 of the league for offensive pace, giving us a very strong game to attack. The Kings are one of the worst defensive teams in the league and any time they are on the slate, you should be targeting whoever is playing against them. Right now, the Kings are allowing a staggering 56.02 FanDuel points per game to opposing centers, which is fourth-worst in the league.

If we look to the Hornets' starting lineup, we see Zeller holding a 22.3% usage rate and producing 1.17 FanDuel points per minute. That usage rate is actually the highest among the Hornets' starting five, while the production rate is tied for the second-highest. All of this has Zeller projected for 23.7 FanDuel points in only 22.81 minutes. With so many stars at point guard and shooting guard tonight, saving some salary at center could be key with roster construction.

Mikal Bridges, SF, Phoenix Suns ($5,000)

Even though he doesn't have a high usage rate, Mikal Bridges is a great value option tonight.

Bridges has a fantastic matchup versus the Memphis Grizzlies, who are dead last in the league versus small forwards, allowing 46.27 FanDuel points per game. We also see the Grizzlies allowing 13.1 made three-pointers per game by their opponents, which is the 11th-worst in the league. This should put Bridges in a great spot since he is having his best season from behind the arc. Bridges is shooting 42.1% from three-point range this season, compared to his 36.4% career-average. This three-point upside gives Bridges the ability to break value quickly and that is exactly what he is projected to do.

numberFire's projections have Bridges going for 27.2 FanDuel points in 33.43 minutes, which makes him the best overall value option among small forwards tonight. While that is under 1.00 FanDuel points per minute, his is projected to exceed 5X salary-based value (or 5.0 fantasy points for every $1,000 in salary) and is only $5,000.