FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Friday 12/17/21

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 and Key Injuries

COVID-19 Protocol Update
Due to the advanced number of players in COVID-19 protocols, I want to provide just a manual list of those players moving forward and then discuss the other injury news separately. Only players that significantly impact the slate are listed:

The largest "other" injury news is if the shorthanded, COVID-battling Milwaukee Bucks get Khris Middleton back into the fold tonight. Middleton missed Wednesday with a knee issue, but he's probable Friday.

Cole Anthony and Mohamed Bamba are both questionable for the Magic tonight with ankle injuries.

The Kings will likely be without Richaun Holmes once more because of his eye injury, and Tyrese Haliburton (back) and Chimezie Metu (knee) are both questionable. That's not good news with the three players listed above in protocol as well.

Miami could be without Tyler Herro for a second straight game as well as he fights a sore quad.

Guards

Damian Lillard ($8,700): The Charlotte defense shut down the Spurs, but oddsmakers are less than optimistic it holds tonight. The Blazers host the Hornets in a game with a whopping 230.0-point total. Charlotte could have additional reinforcements that really muddy their salaries, but we know Portland begins and ends with Dame D.O.L.L.A. Lillard has a strong 32.5% usage rate since returning injury last week, and it'll likely stay that way until C.J. McCollum returns.

Kyle Lowry ($7,000): The 22.7-FanDuel-point dud Lowry produced on Wednesday is certainly within his range of outcomes, but so are the four straight games above 35 FanDuel points before that. With Herro questionable, he could have a massive piece of the pie again tonight in a tremendous matchup. The weak Magic defense is allowing the 10th-most FanDuel points per game to point guards (47.28), and their 112.8 defensive rating is second-worst in the NBA.

Davion Mitchell ($4,700): Mitchell likely slides into a 30-plus minute role in place of De'Aaron Fox. That will be interesting to see; the rookie from Baylor is averaging 0.83 FanDuel points per minute during floor situations where "Swipa" is taking a breather. Mitchell will be tremendously popular as an obvious plug-and-play replacement with a good floor, but his ceiling does depend on the status of Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton likely leads the offense if he's able to go through his back issue.

Others to Consider:
Trae Young ($10,000): Plenty of value exists to reach his salary, and it's hard to argue with 12 straight over 43 FanDuel points.
Stephen Curry ($9,900): A much higher floor without Jordan Poole. His salary has dropped to a point where his upside is arguably the best on the slate for a star.
Jrue Holiday ($8,200): Knocked down a peg by the return of Middleton, but he's still not too far from his normal salary with a massive role post-Giannis.
Gabe Vincent ($4,900): Higher ceiling without Herro, but at a salary that's hard to nitpick starting and playing 30-plus minutes regardless.

Wings

LeBron James ($11,000): A near triple-double from Russell Westbrook ate into LeBron's peripheral stats on Wednesday, and that left him with a disappointing FanDuel effort. Westbrook is one of many in the COVID-19 protocols for the Lakers, though, so King James will be the de facto point guard this evening. James is still riding an incredible run the past two weeks navigating Westbrook's usage; his 1.33 FanDuel points per minute in this span more than justify this salary considering the value that exists to reach it.

Khris Middleton ($7,700): On account of not playing Wednesday, Middleton's salary was largely left untouched entering a Friday contest against the Pelicans. This season, during floor situations without Giannis, Middleton has a team-best 34.5% usage rate and has averaged 1.18 FanDuel points per minute. That's a slam dunk role into this salary against New Orleans' 111.6 defensive rating (sixth-worst in the NBA).

Harrison Barnes ($5,700): Perhaps the October version of Harry Barnes returns with Fox, Haliburton, and Terence Davis II all in COVID-19 protocols. In that time period, Barnes averaged 1.10 FanDuel points per minute with a 23.0% usage rate. He's ceded more work to his teammates recently and fought a personal injury, but oddsmakers are expecting the Kings to find some offense in a game with a 223.0-point total, and the North Carolina alum should account for a decent bit of that.

Others to Consider:
Brandon Ingram ($8,800): Perfect bring-back when stacking Bucks value. He's playing like a star (1.28 FanDuel points per minute) the past week.
Buddy Hield ($5,100): Hield's upside is better than Barnes', but his floor if Haliburton plays is frighteningly low. Need to see how the news shakes.
Kevin Huerter ($4,700): A role worth considering as a pivot in spots. No injuries or COVID news here, so he could get lost in the shuffle.
Nassir Little ($4,200): 34 minutes last game for Portland. A well-projected value option in game stacks of the highest-totaled contest of the day.

Bigs

Nikola Jokic ($11,600): Really, even in a floor game where Minnesota jumped out to a giant lead, Jokic did his part. He still posted 54.5 FanDuel points, and with Giannis sidelined, he has the highest floor in the sport for a star. All the COVID-related value makes his salary pretty simple to get to, and this is still a guy that's dropped over 64 FanDuel points in three of his last five games. I will have a hard time passing him up at the pivot in most lineups.

Robert Williams ($5,300): "Timelord" has been a wild disappointment in 2021. That's crazy to say for a guy averaging 0.99 FanDuel points per minute, but there was hope the man that averaging 1.36 FanDuel points per minute last year would lock down a monstrous, full-time role. He at least should Friday. Williams likely starts and sees heavy time in the frontcourt with Al Horford and Grant Williams in the COVID-19 protocols. Golden State potentially matching him off the floor hurts his floor, but the ceiling speaks for itself.

Tristan Thompson ($4,300): Surely, for the first time in recent memory, the Kings will have a stable frontcourt rotation, right? As mentioned, Chimezie Metu is questionable, and he realistically could join Marvin Bagley III and Alex Len on the shelf tonight. Those two are in the COVID-19 protocols. Thompson has a heavy minutes projection even before Metu is potentially absent, so he's a great value plug at power forward with Jokic and Jusuf Nurkic worth prioritizing in most lineups at center.

Others to Consider:
Anthony Davis ($10,200): Raw points, not value, are the name of the game with stars tonight. Davis could be a creative way to spend it at power forward.
Wendell Carter Jr. ($7,000): A great mid-range option if Mo Bamba ends up sitting with the ankle issue. Don't think he will, though.
Jusuf Nurkic ($6,500): 31 minutes amidst foul trouble on Wednesday. Full-time role Nurkic is here. We ride!
Jaren Jackson Jr. ($6,400): Continued great production without Ja Morant (1.28 FanDuel points per minute), but his minutes are far from stable. Not sure I get here.