NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on 3/23/21

Elisha Twerski  —  @ElishaTwerski Mar 23rd, 2021
Bam Adebayo is a worthwhile start despite a tough matchup with the Phoenix Suns. Which other high-salaried plays should we target?

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.

Ben Simmons, PG, Philadelphia 76ers

FanDuel Salary: $8,200

Ben Simmons doesn't exactly make it feel like an easy decision to roster him. After all, he's put up fewer than 40 FanDuel points in seven of his last nine games. That said, he seems to be in a great spot tonight.

The Philadelphia 76ers will once again be without Joel Embiid. On the season, Simmons is averaging 1.21 FanDuel points per minute with the big man off the court, according to RotoGrinders. The 24-year-old has showcased quite a ceiling with Embiid off the court, posting totals of 48.0, 53.7, and 72.8 FanDuel points in three of the last six games in that split.

Simmons has plenty going for him in tonight's matchup. His opponent, the Golden State Warriors, play at the second-fastest pace among the 12 teams that are suiting up on this slate. Couple that with the fact that Philly is third-fastest and you have an environment that's ripe for fantasy production.

numberFire's algorithm projects Simmons to be not only the third-highest scorer at point guard but also the best point-per-dollar play at the position.

James Harden, SG, Brooklyn Nets

FanDuel Salary: $11,300

Was there any doubt? Of course James Harden will be listed here today.

The Brooklyn Nets will don the court tonight without the services of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. With those two off the court, the Beard sports a 35.4% usage rate while averaging 1.61 FanDuel points per minute. Yeah...that'll play.

Harden has eclipsed 56 fantasy points in 11 of his last 18 games, including a 78.5-point outing last Wednesday with Irving inactive.

However, it's the matchup tonight that's the icing on this delicious cake. Harden will be going up against a Portland Trail Blazers team that ranks dead last in defensive efficiency among all the teams that are playing tonight, and on the season, they've ceded the most fantasy points to opposing shooting guards, per numberFire's DvP tool. Harden has been playing a lot of point for Brooklyn, but fret not -- according to FantasyPros' metrics, the Blazers are dead last against that position, as well.

numberFire's models have Harden racking up 5.1 more FanDuel points than any other player on this slate, and they project him to outscore the third-best shooting guard by a whopping 22.9 fantasy points. Sign me up.

Bam Adebayo, PF, Miami Heat

FanDuel Salary: $8,000

There are a number of viable high-salaried plays at power forward tonight, which will hopefully prevent Bam Adebayo from seeing too high a roster percentage.

On the surface, this might not look like a great spot. After all, the Phoenix Suns do rank third in defensive efficiency and are sixth-stingiest against power forwards this season. But that doesn't paint the entire picture.

In nine matchups against teams that are top-eight versus the position this campaign, Bam has averaged 44.9 FanDuel points per game, and that includes just one output (38.2) of fewer than 40. At tonight's salary, Adebayo would only need 40 to return 5X value (or 5.0 fantasy points for every $1,000 in salary). Oh, I should also mention that Bam has exceeded 40 in 12 of his last 14 outings.