NBA

3 NBA FanDuel Value Plays to Target on Thursday 5/13/21

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.

Gary Trent, SG, Toronto Raptors ($4,900)

The Toronto Raptors have all of their normal starters out tonight, opening up immense value. The Raptors will have a very tight rotation of players, forcing the ones they do have available to play big minutes.

One of those players will be Gary Trent Jr., who has played 30 or more minutes in each of his last three games, a level he is projected to hit tonight. numberFire's projections have Trent going for 33.50 minutes and 24.0 FanDuel points.

Trent could certainly hit the over on that projection if he is able to get going going from downtown, as he's been known to do. Over his last three games, Trent has taken 25 three-point attempts, which is the most of any available player for the Raptors tonight. The pure scoring upside will always be there for Trent if he is going to be taking that volume of shots from deep.

Elfrid Payton, PG, New York Knicks ($3,500)

We don't know who is going to be available for the New York Knicks tonight. That's the simple way of putting things since, Reggie Bullock, Alec Burks, Immanuel Quickley, and Derrick Rose are all listed as questionable for tonight's game against the San Antonio Spurs.

Elfrid Payton is one of the lone healthy options the Knicks have, and that has given him a projection of 24.00 minutes and 20.4 FanDuel points, making him the second-best value option among point guards on this slate. That projection could jump even higher if some -- or all -- of those players are ruled out for the Knicks.

While this game against the San Antonio Spurs has an over/under of just 216.5 points, it features a close 4.5-point spread, putting us in a spot for a back-and-forth game. This is a bit of a wait-and-see situation with New York, but Payton stands to benefit from it depending on the injuries.

Kelan Martin, SF, Indiana Pacers ($3,500)

The Indiana Pacers are another team hit with a ton of injuries to close out the season.

With five players listed as out, the Pacers are in need of big minutes from their available players, including Kelan Martin. Up to this point in the season, Martin has been a deep bench player, seeing just a handful of minutes on a nightly basis. However, that has changed a bit in recent games, as he has played 18-plus minutes in three of his last five outings. This is a noticeable increase, and it falls in line with the fact the Pacers are dealing with so many injuries.

This is why he is projected for 22.58 minutes and 26.7 FanDuel points, which makes him the highest-projected value option on the entire slate. He offers immense salary relief and also gets you exposure to the Pacers' matchup versus the Milwaukee Bucks, which has a slate-high 242.0-point over/under.