FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Wednesday 11/3/21

If you're new to daily fantasy basketball -- maybe you started your DFS journey during the MLB or NFL seasons, or maybe basketball is your sport and this will be your first year giving it a shot -- you're in for a treat. The NBA scene changes on a week-to-week, day-to-day, and -- depending on injury news -- even a minute-to-minute basis, making every slate a unique one that requires an ever-changing approach.

With so much changing so quickly, we're here with plenty of tools to help you out. We have daily projections, a matchup heat map, a lineup optimizer, and a bunch of other great resources to help give you an edge.

Daily fantasy basketball is very reliant on a player's opportunity, so you'll need to make sure that you're up-to-date with key injuries. Our projections update up until tip-off to reflect current news, we have player news updates, and the FanDuel Scout app will send push notifications for pressing updates regarding your players.

We'll also be coming at you with this primer every day, breaking down a few of the day's top plays at each position.

Let's break down today's main slate on FanDuel.

The Slate

An 11-game slate provides one of the largest ones we've seen in the young NBA season, and all things considered, the injury news is not drastic.

Malcolm Brogdon is expected to return for the Pacers on Wednesday after a three-game leave due to a hamstring injury.

Brandon Ingram is questionable at best with a hip injury that has sidelined him for two games. That would open up the bonus usage for Jonas Valanciunas, Josh Hart, and Devonte' Graham once again.

D'Angelo Russell is already ruled out for Wednesday with an ankle injury. Jaylen Nowell and Malik Beasley could see plenty of run with Patrick Beverley also questionable with a calf issue for Minnesota.

Tobias Harris was a surprise scratch Monday due to COVID-19 protocols, and he will remain out for several games. That lofted Furkan Korkmaz into a greater role for the 76ers.

John Collins is also questionable for Atlanta; he's dealing with a sprained foot. His leave would likely just lock in larger roles for Clint Capela and Cam Reddish.

Guards

James Harden ($9,900): Don't look now, but "The Beard" is finding his rhythm. Harden is averaging 1.53 FanDuel points per minute in the Nets' last two games, and he would have sailed past value in both contests if not for the blowout of Detroit. With a four-digit salary still attached, this large slate may provide an opportunity to buy low without insane popularity and close attention paid to the small renaissance. Atlanta is giving up the sixth-most FanDuel points per game (43.09) to primary shooting guards.

Terry Rozier ($5,500): As a player gets up to speed from injury, FanDuel's algorithm will occasionally struggle to adjust to their workload. Rozier is the latest victim. He's played 33 minutes in back-to-back contests and is averaging 0.83 FanDuel points per minute this season. A no-context projection of those two figures would exceed value in this spot, and in the long run, Rozier is likely to regress closer to his 1.05 FanDuel points per minute mark from last season.

Malik Beasley ($4,500): Beasley is one of the best value plays of the evening. This identical salary to Monday doesn't factor in Russell's injury, and his role was already expanding. He logged 32 minutes in Monday's contest, and this is a talented player that posted a 24.6% usage rate and 0.88 FanDuel points per minute without Russell last season. If he regularly starts and earns 30-plus minutes, Beasley will likely hover around $6,500 in salary, so the time to buy is now.

Others to Consider:
Stephen Curry ($10,100): Love him as much as Harden, but just less needs to be said. Exceeded 50 FanDuel points in every game seeing his customary 35-plus minutes. Great stud.
Devonte' Graham ($6,800): Really, only him and Valanciunas are stable, sure-fire roles on the Pelicans without Ingram. This salary is a touch high, but still, a value compared to JV.
Darius Garland ($5,900): Identical salary to Monday, and he exceeded value on Monday. The role is too good. Still believe there's a ceiling beyond what we've seen.
Furkan Korkmaz ($4,200): A stable value option starting for Harris. Higher usage (22.7%) than Davion Mitchell (17.6%). Both will be popular plugs in the bargain bin.

Wings

Jayson Tatum ($9,600): Assuming the struggling, 2-5 Celtics don't blow out the surprisingly feisty Orlando Magic, Tatum should have a full workload in a great matchup. Orlando's 113.2 defensive rating is dead last in the NBA, and they've ceded the second-most FanDuel points per game (49.70) to primary small forwards. It's no surprise to see the star comfortably leading Boston in usage (32.8%) and per-minute production (1.12), either.

OG Anunoby ($7,300): While we all tried to guess which value Raptors would benefit from the absence of Scottie Barnes, it was just more from one of the breakout stars of the young season. Anunoby commanded a team-best 31.3% usage rate and 1.18 FanDuel points per minute in a whopping 41 minutes on Monday. He's significantly under-salaried for that role in this spot, and Anunoby already was starting to separate from his teammates with a 25.0% usage rate overall.

Luke Kennard ($4,200): All three of Kennard, Nicolas Batum, and Terance Mann are in play as the Clippers have dropped to a small-ball, concentrated rotation where each regularly sees around 30 minutes. Kennard's addition into that group was a personal surprise; he's played at least 30 minutes off the bench in the last three games. With the minutes (hopefully) a given, Kennard has the highest upside of this group to score the ball and help win a FanDuel tournament -- he still scored in double figures 21 times last season despite wild and erratic playing time.

Others to Consider:
Paul George ($10,500): Nothing wrong with George here except the salary is a deserved increase. Great game to stack with the T-Wolves.
Keldon Johnson ($5,700): 1.02 FanDuel points per minute the past two games in blowouts. He should cruise past value here if the Spurs can actually stay close for once.
Gary Trent Jr. ($5,400): Took 22 shots in 43 minutes on Monday. I'd take the under on both numbers for Wednesday, but there's still value here. Likely to be very popular.
Nicolas Batum ($4,600): The safest of the Clippers' trio since he starts, but also the lowest ceiling (13.1% usage rate; the lowest of any L.A. player this season).

Bigs

Joel Embiid ($9,700): Less than a week after stating I rarely get to Embiid in NBA daily fantasy, here's an opportunity to call me a fraud. The steady, reliable Tobias Harris is now surprisingly out for a few games in the health protocols, and Embiid's role is just insane without Harris on the floor this season. He's averaging a whopping 1.92 FanDuel points per minute in that floor condition, and he's done that on a team-high 29.6% usage rate. Especially coming off a game of rest and off the injury report, Embiid's salary is far too low for what figures to be a monster evening.

Clint Capela ($6,400): It's hard to pass up Embiid in the cornerstone spot, but Capela is a worthy pivot if John Collins sits on Wednesday. Capela's 1.09 FanDuel points per minute are solid, but the minutes have been the issue. He just finally broke the 30-minute barrier on Monday, and not surprisingly, he posted 40.8 FanDuel points in turn. He's even in the conversation if Collins plays, but the security of being the sole reliable big the Hawks have active would be a nice boost.

Khem Birch ($4,200): This will probably go poorly, but Birch is the only Toronto big worth considering given that Precious Achiuwa and Chris Boucher have failed to eclipse 18 minutes in each of their past two games. The risk is that either of those young centers gets hot and relegates Birch to the bench, but the veteran appears to be the trusted option with 28-plus minutes in back-to-back, close games. He is numberFire's top projected big man with a projected workload of 29.62 minutes, and with the minutes assumed, that's more than fair.

Others to Consider:
Karl-Anthony Towns ($10,400): Should have a massive night with no DLo. Embiid makes him hard to prioritize, but game stacks with him and George are excellent.
Julius Randle ($9,300): Salary is sliding down where I have to take a peek. Still the Knicks' top guy in usage (26.7%) by a wide margin.
Mohamed Bamba ($6,600): Well-projected again, but hasn't put his points, boards, and blocks together all in one night. The top runback option when using Tatum.
Georges Niang ($3,700): Saw 31 minutes for Philly on Monday with no Tobias Harris. Salary is low enough to take the risk his role stays despite Embiid's return.