3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Monday 11/22/21
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 up for someone. Even with strong value plays in your lineup, paying up and getting a dud is likely going to leave your lineup drawing pretty close to dead.
Which top players should be the focal points of your lineups today?
Giannis Antetokounmpo, F, Milwaukee Bucks ($11,700)
Stop me if you've heard this before, but Giannis Antetokounmpo is viable in daily fantasy tonight.
Even with the return of Khris Middleton, the Bucks star is doing his thing. In Antetokounmpo's last seven games, his median output was 63.2 FanDuel points, so he more than justifies even this noticeably large salary.
His floor is just hard to argue against with value elsewhere. In just 30 minutes in this same Orlando matchup on Saturday, Giannis dropped 73.5 FanDuel Points. That 30-minute total is also the lowest amount of minutes he's played in eight games despite several comfortable wins.
That helps overcome his one potential drawback -- the 12.5 point spread -- on Monday. Other than that, his 35.9% usage rate has turned into 1.73 FanDuel points per minute, and the Magic have the third-worst defensive rating (111.0) in the league.
Another slate-altering evening may be in store for "The Greek Freak".
Ja Morant, G, Memphis Grizzlies ($9,800)
On the surface, Ja Morant looks like a terrible option at his salary tonight.
The Grizzlies are 10-point underdogs in Utah, and Morant is averaging just 38.8 FanDuel points over his last four games. Included in that sample, though, are three games with the return of Dillon Brooks and a total clunker against Minnesota on Sunday where Morant just scored 11 points.
Brooks will likely be out Monday, and that makes a massive difference for Morant. When they share the floor, Brooks (30.0%) actually has a higher usage rate than Morant (24.9%). However, in floor situations where Ja doesn't have to compete with him, he has a 33.9% usage that's turned into 1.30 FanDuel points per minute.
The Jazz are also quietly allowing the 10th-most points in the paint (46.8) in the league, and Morant scores 62.3% of his points inside the arc.
The box score may make Morant an automatic cross-off for many DFS players this evening. He shouldn't be as the top dog for his team in a contest with a healthy, 221.5-point total.
Rudy Gobert, C, Utah Jazz ($8,300)
On the other side of that game, the NBA's leading rebounder has seen a "Black Friday" discount on his salary.
After three straight blowouts, many of the Jazz starters have seen their salary reduced, and Rudy Gobert is no exception. From a peak of $9,200, Gobert has fallen to $8,300 despite posting over 43 FanDuel points in two of those three blowouts.
Works for us.
At 15.1 rebounds per game, Gobert is still soaring past his career averages to lead the league. His matchup couldn't be better in this spot, either.
Memphis is allowing the third-most FanDuel points per game (58.1) to opposing players with a primary position of center. Their league-worst defensive rating (113.0) doesn't necessarily boost Gobert as much as a scorer like Donovan Mitchell, but the easy looks that could come his way definitely don't hurt.
Gobert, like Giannis, has shown a floor of points in three-quarter blowouts. That matters in an NBA season littered with lopsided games, and it makes him a top option at the keystone spot on yet another slate.
