NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 3/15/21

Elisha Twerski  —  @ElishaTwerski Mar 15th, 2021
Devin Booker looks like a worthwhile target against the Memphis Grizzlies. Which other high-salaried plays should we hone in on tonight?

Basketball is the most consistent sport for daily fantasy purposes.

A top slugger in baseball will have his fair share of 0-for-4 days, and an elite fantasy football player is at risk of having games where his team's offense as a whole is shut down. A high-salaried NBA stud is generally going to get his, though. With so many possessions in a game providing opportunities to produce, top fantasy basketball options will be posting high scores just about every night.

While this consistency puts us in a good position to identify top plays, it also means you can't afford to miss when you're paying a heavy salary to roster someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, getting a dud from a stud is likely going to leave your lineup lacking.

Let's get right into it and look at which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today.

All injury updates are via the NBA's official injury report or numberFire's player news.

Luka Doncic, PG, Dallas Mavericks

FanDuel Salary: $10,200

It's been a while since we've seen a ceiling game from Luka Doncic -- he hasn't reached 60 FanDuel points in any of his last eight games. Nevertheless, this is looking like an intriguing spot to target the 22-year-old.

Doncic comes in tied for his lowest salary in over a calendar year, and at $10,200, he wouldn't need a ceiling game to return adequate value. Tonight, 51 FanDuel points would be enough for 5X (or 5.0 fantasy points for every $1,000 in salary).

Luka will be squaring off against the Los Angeles Clippers on this slate, a team that's allowed the sixth-most fantasy points to opposing point guards over their last 15 games, according to FantasyPros.

This matchup has a projected total of 227.5, which is good for third-highest on the slate, and the 1.5-point spread is the thinnest of any game. That certainly helps Doncic's outlook.

Devin Booker, SG, Phoenix Suns

FanDuel Salary: $7,500

The Phoenix Suns carry a healthy implied total of 116.75 against the Memphis Grizzlies tonight, which is fourth-highest on the slate. Of the 16 teams taking the court on this slate, the Grizzlies play at the fourth-fastest pace, which means the Suns could be forced to play faster than they're used to -- that all helps boost the projection for Devin Booker.

numberFire's algo has Booker totaling 40.2 FanDuel points, and at a salary of $7,500, that results in a value figure of 5.36. No player at the position with a salary above $5,200 is projected to accrue a better figure.

Though they rank 9th-best against shooting guards over the course of the season (according to numberFire's DvP tool), Memphis comes into this matchup having surrendered the 11th-most fantasy points to the position over their last 15 games.

Booker has racked up fewer than 32 FanDuel points just once in his last 15 games, and he's dropped more than 40 seven times during that stretch. That's a rock-solid combination of floor and ceiling.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, PF, Milwaukee Bucks

FanDuel Salary: $11,100

Of the 16 teams suiting up tonight, no team plays at a faster pace than the Washington Wizards, and only the Sacramento Kings rank worse in defensive efficiency. That combination makes the Wizards the team to target, especially when they're going up against an offense that ranks second in the league in efficiency. The player we'll target against Washington is, of course, Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The Greek Freak enters tonight's slate as fantasy's leading scorer, averaging 56.04 FanDuel points per contest. However, over the last four weeks, that number jumps to 60.8.

In six of his seven matchups against teams that are bottom-six in defensive efficiency this season, Giannis has garnered 58.0, 62.6, 63.9, 64.7, 66.7, and 67.6 FanDuel points -- the only contest in which he failed to reach 58 was a blowout over the Portland Trail Blazers. That 64.7-FanDuel-point performance came on Saturday against the Wizards, who rank fourth-worst in defensive rating.

The Milwaukee Bucks carry an insane implied total of 125.0 tonight, which is 3.75 points higher than any other team. The two-time MVP is a great way to get exposure to those points.