3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Tuesday 11/23/21
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?
Russell Westbrook, PG, Los Angeles Lakers ($9,900)
Russell Westbrook might be a one-man show on Tuesday.
LeBron James is already suspended for Tuesday's game for his role in the incident with Detroit's Isaiah Stewart. Now, Anthony Davis has popped up as questionable this morning with a non-COVID illness.
The Lakers will undoubtedly rely on Westbrook to carry the squad if both indeed are missing. This season, Russ averages 1.41 FanDuel points per minute in floor situations without LeBron and A.D. That's come on a 35.0% usage rate. Talen Horton-Tucker is still the clear second option in those situations for those worried about THT eating into his role.
The Knicks' defense actually has the 11th-worst defensive rating (108.2) in the NBA -- a far cry from last year's version of the team.
Without or without Davis, Westbrook is the top option at guard returning to healthy usage in the stead of LBJ.
Paul George, SG/SF, Los Angeles Clippers ($9,200)
I tweeted last night that Paul George was a free square at his salary. It's not that simple, but it's pretty darn close.
Dry spells happen frequently in the long NBA season, so it's just always crucial to ask whether the change was due to returning teammates, specific factors, or a player is just "cold." George has failed to hit requisite "value" at this salary in four of his last six games, but nothing has changed.
The Clippers' top option hasn't lost any steam off his season-long 35.0% usage. In fact, that's actually increased to a 37.5% rate this past week. George just had six turnovers last time out, poor shooting the night before, and reduced minutes in a blowout three games ago.
At a significant salary discount from the five-digit mark he regularly was cruising by in terms of value, George is a top-shelf priority at wing with the value existing elsewhere to plug him.
Bam Adebayo, PF/C, Miami Heat ($8,000)
While Anthony Davis may not play this evening, he provided a blueprint for Bam Adebayo on Sunday.
Davis went bananas with 30 points, 10 rebounds, and 6 blocks against a Detroit squad that was left without Isaiah Stewart for a good chunk of the game. Without Stewart, and with Trey Lyles only earning 11 minutes, the Pistons played without a big man, and the athletic Davis had no issues staying on the floor for the small ball to feast.
Miami now hosts Detroit with the aforementioned Stewart, and Adebayo is athletic enough to stay on the floor (32.6 minutes per game this season) in all circumstances.
It's been a slow return from injury for Adebayo, as he hasn't eclipsed 30 minutes in either game, but he's likely closer to a full workload now after two more days off. The positive with the slow return? A lower salary.
At this reduced figure, Adebayo has a solid floor with access to a similar, monstrous ceiling Davis had. He's a great option as a lot of the Detroit value correlates well if this game stays within its 10-point spread.
