FanDuel Daily Fantasy Basketball Helper: Tuesday 12/28/21

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:

Amongst the normal injuries, the most notable is Brandon Ingram. Ingram is closer to doubtful for tonight's Pelicans' game with an Achilles injury. The Pels may also be missing Josh Hart (ankle; questionable).

Cole Anthony is already ruled out for the Orlando Magic; he's been trying to play through an ankle injury but cannot on Tuesday.

Both Kevin Porter Jr. (thigh) and Jalen Green (hamstring) were active last night for the shorthanded Rockets but didn't play. They're expected to on Wednesday against the Lakers.

Miami is hopeful to get back P.J. Tucker on Tuesday from his lower leg injury. He's officially questionable.

Lastly, Aaron Gordon is questionable for the Nuggets with his hamstring issue. Denver presumably needs all hands on deck to keep pace with the Golden State Warriors.

Guards

Russell Westbrook ($9,800): The hard part of this slate is definitely the stars -- not the value. Westbrook is not the best process play in a vacuum, but his floor is by far the best of a group littered by usage drops and blowout potential. The Lakers are just five-point road favorites in by far the highest total of the day (228.5), and Westbrook should see heavy minutes with L.A. still facing some COVID woes. The top-five pace in both directions plays into the hands of the triple-double machine.

Darius Garland ($7,700): With Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen still on the pine, Garland is more than justifiable at this salary. Without the pair and Collin Sexton on the floor this season, Garland has a team-best 27.9% usage rate and the ability to light it up from deep (38.4% three-point percentage) when it comes to making it count. The Cavaliers get a decimated Pelicans team on Tuesday that wasn't very good defensively (111.1 defensive rating this season; eighth-worst in the NBA) to begin with.

Jaylen Nowell ($4,000): Nowell was a key plug for tournaments last night, but he won't go nearly as under the radar on Tuesday. He played 35 minutes and dropped in 29 real-life points to smash value alone. He'll likely come off the bench again, and Minnesota's rotation is hardly defined at the moment, but Nowell appears to have significant scoring talent. That's a huge deal for a Wolves squad that currently is missing 64.8 points per game from its lineup from Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards, and D'Angelo Russell.

Others to Consider:
Stephen Curry ($10,400): Ceiling is certainly high, but blowout risk plus the return of Andrew Wiggins likely keeps me away.
Devonte' Graham ($6,300): Should see all the offensive work he can handle without Ingram, but his ceiling is low because his efficiency is generally poor.
R.J. Hampton ($5,300): Key for the shorthanded Magic -- Hampton plays blowouts. Still should see 30-plus in a close game, too. Great floor.
Jordan McLaughlin ($3,600): Lower ceiling than Nowell, but also likely much lower popularity. 32 minutes last night.

Wings

LeBron James ($10,900): The fact the Lakers just don't blow anyone out has LeBron over Giannis Antetokounmpo today, personally. The Bucks are close to full strength and could smash a shorthanded Orlando team. LeBron, conversely, has played at least 34 minutes in his last 14 games started. A full workload for LBJ tonight could be deadly considering he's averaging 1.42 FanDuel points per minute in December, and he draws the weak Rockets' defense with the aforementioned huge game total.

Jimmy Butler ($8,500): Miami needed Jimmy Buckets back in the worst way. With Kyle Lowry on the COVID list, Butler should get all the work he can handle against the Wizards. Butler has a 29.0% usage rate that he's turned into 1.42 FanDuel points per minute this season when Lowry and the injured Bam Adebayo are off the floor. Butler and Tyler Herro are the clear options on a team that doesn't have the firepower currently to blow Washington -- even with the Wiz having COVID issues as well -- out.

Malik Beasley ($6,400): Beasley isn't the best third option with the bevy of value wings tonight, but he deserves a discussion. Boston took him out of the game entirely (just a 21.5% usage rate) with double teams on Monday, so there is a definite risk to his elevated salary despite the clear scoring ceiling he showed two games ago. He'll likely be popular as the one scoring talent in the starting lineup, so tread extremely carefully around him on Tuesday.

Others to Consider:
Talen Horton-Tucker ($4,800): Plenty of minutes but no production since Anthony Davis went down. Regression could come soon.
Malik Monk ($4,500): The top per-dollar wing of the day. Will see 30-plus minutes in the game of the day and can score (0.76 FanDuel points per minute this season) inside of them.
Garrett Temple ($3,600): Should push 40 minutes filling in for Ingram and likely Hart. Low points-per-minute mark, but minimum salary.
Josh Okogie ($3,500): Only played 19 minutes on Monday, so likely to be the one Wolves' player that's not popular. Still could see a huge boost with a hot start.

Bigs

Julius Randle ($8,700): Star bigs are brutal today. Nikola Jokic is a heavy underdog against the Dubs, and Joel Embiid is a heavy favorite over a totally decimated Raptors squad. Those two also plug center from the bevy of tremendous value options at the pivot. Randle is the star left above $8,000 by default, but I'll likely deploy Christian Wood more. With Kemba Walker on the floor this month, Randle is averaging a serviceable 1.09 FanDuel points per minute, and he's the best bring-back option to all the Wolves' value.

Jonas Valanciunas ($7,700): Valanciunas will be the Pels' top option as he returns from a non-COVID illness. Brandon Ingram is likely sidelined, and without Ingram on the floor this season, Valanciunas is averaging a gaudy 1.27 FanDuel points per minute. He's the primary reason I can't target Embiid or Jokic with question marks in their respective spots, and he should have plenty of room to operate with the Cavs missing both of their starting big men.

Nathan Knight ($3,800): A Knight-Nowell stack of Timberwolves paid out all the marbles last night, and even as someone who targeted Knight as the starting center on Monday, his 1.48 FanDuel points per minute were shocking, to say the least. The rookie played well and it services the Wolves to deploy him over Greg Monroe, so it's really hard to see any path to failure at nearly minimum salary. Monroe also clogs center, whereas Knight's power-forward-only eligibility makes him easy to pair with Valanciunas or Omer Yurtseven.

Others to Consider:
Christian Wood ($7,900): With KPJ and Green returning, most Houston wings are over-salaried. Wood is the perfect bring-back assuming a close game.
Chris Boucher ($5,500): Would be a much better play with Pascal Siakam and Gary Trent Jr. potentially returning from the COVID list. Toronto is likely blown out without them.
Jaden McDaniels ($5,400): 36 minutes on Monday, but not a lot inside of them. Likely less popular than Knight and Nowell in tournaments.
Omer Yurtseven ($5,400): "O" has been freed. 33 minutes with both Dewayne Dedmon and Tucker out. Doesn't sound like Tucker plays, so he's a great option again.