3 NBA FanDuel Studs to Target on Wednesday 12/22/21
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?
Nikola Jokic, C, Denver Nuggets ($11,400)
Nikola Jokic is the only active star above $10,000, and he's the only active center above $8,000. Hello, chalk.
"The Joker" is still well worth it as the Nuggets' do-it-all man. He's averaging 1.76 FanDuel points per minute in December -- yes, this month that is almost over. The only thing that kept him from translating that to a seventh straight game over 54 FanDuel points was a blowout win over Atlanta in their last contest on Friday.
Denver is a 6.5-point favorite against an Oklahoma City team that represents a pace-up spot -- as most spots are -- for the slow-tempo Nuggets. That's still a quality spot in a vacuum considering OKC's 113.2 defensive rating in the last 10 games (10th-worst in the NBA).
On a slate loaded with value, he's essentially a lock button, personally.
Jrue Holiday, SG/PG, Milwaukee Bucks ($9,600)
On a comprehensive slate, Jrue Holiday is ridiculously over-salaried. On this one, he's still worth getting to in spots.
The reason he's over-salaried despite back-to-back contests over 52 FanDuel points? The return of Khris Middleton. Holiday has a 34.9% usage rate during floor situations without both Middleton and Giannis Antetokounmpo, but that drops to 31.4% when Middleton is on the floor. Both Holiday and Middleton are tied at 1.18 FanDuel points per minute in those floor situations.
The concern with Holiday approaching 50 FanDuel points is not as real in a full workload, but that's not a guarantee Wednesday. The Bucks are 10-point favorites over a lowly Rockets team that might be missing Christian Wood due to a knee injury. Not ideal!
At $7,700 in a nearly identical role, obviously, Middleton is the priority. He can even pay off that salary in three quarters. Holiday would be a greater risk.
Still, I'd favor Holiday's still-enhanced role in their tier pretty comfortably over Jayson Tatum on a slate where there's salary to burn. Tatum has eclipsed 50 FanDuel points just once in his past eight games, and his current role is now reduced with Jaylen Brown back.
Paul George, SF/SG, Los Angeles Clippers ($9,200)
Paul George comfortably takes the silver medal behind Jokic in stud rankings for the day.
The Clippers' star returned from an elbow injury looking much more like his early-season self. On Monday against the Spurs, George posted 1.48 FanDuel points per minute on a 34.8% usage rate. Only the blowout -- mostly due to a lack of any help from his teammates -- kept him from detonating value for this salary.
The rest may have been more impactful than anything considering the load George is carrying. His 34.0% usage rate for the reason is still second in the league. Rested and ready to go, he's a clear target into a matchup with the shorthanded Sacramento Kings.
The Clips are 6.5-point road favorites in this game featuring 2 of the top-11 teams in terms of pace. He'll be popular due to scarcity, but he's best-positioned -- outside of Jokic -- to pay off his extra attention; the Kings' 115.1 defensive rating in their last 10 games is the fourth-worst mark in the NBA.
